10-27 today was a walk in the park - Hyde and Kensington, with the north wind; predicted by the weather man so we were prepared, looking like two large pillows walking down the street. They're both really big parks, and they're together, so it took quite a while to cover them both. Then Harrods provided us with entertainment; the big very expensive store was claustrophobically crowded as we bumped our way up the Egyptian escalator past the live soprano singing arias, onto the forth floor sportswear, down through fine jewelry, a perfume area that brought tears to your eyes; not from the cost of the perfume but from the mist that wafted in the air caused by the squirts from curious testers, then through a gun area selling shot guns priced from $1600 to$83,000, and finally through the Christmas area where most of the items were name items  from Harrods. Then home for rest then off to the theater. The tube brought us to Covent Garden, a walk with the north wind, now accompanied by rain, took us to "Top Hat". Afterword wandering the theater district with all the other theater people, gathering together in large numbers down in the tube we return to our homes, joyful in our memories of play, and cold, and wet in the hoity-toity theater district of London.

10-28 this day we decided to change the guard, with the help of the local constabulary, and the red coated, beaver hatted fellows. The change went well, the new guards put in their proper place, the old ones marched off to some secret location for debriefing, the horses put back in the Mews, and the second march begun - The March of the Horse Poop Picker Uppers. Getting with the program we marched down The Mall (The path of the guard changing march) then to The National Gallery where we exposed our senses -again - to the great works of art. I must admit our enthusiasm has waned a tad regarding art appreciation growth, and we were quite selective in our exploration. Then back home for rest followed by a wander around London town in the rain, finally getting back at 10 pm, having enjoyed our extra hour of existence today.

10-29 today was a day filled with the events that mold men's lives; inevitably, we world class athletes migrated to the land of the Olympics, wandering the lands that those like us have dared to tread. Unfortunately, the park was not only closed but fenced, and they were dismantling some of the venues. Sadly, we were only able to climb, assisted by an escalator, to the third floor of the official department store of the Olympic Games and look at the grounds from the official room of the official store, whilst we were looking over the official souvenirs. We did, however, experience the aura of the games:) next came the British Museum where most of the artifacts from Egypt are kept; Lynn and I concluded, after wandering through The Louvre and this museum, there couldn't be much left in Egypt. A note about the London tube - it's smashing! Brilliant! It's clean, very well signposted, and the people that work there actually help you:) we've been whizzing around London on the tube, and it's fun.

10-30. Another walk in the park day, we took to the tube and off to Regent's Park, the famous rose gardens, the zoo, and Madame Tussaud's wax museum, the most popular attraction in London - I read that, and it appeared to be true, validated by the length of the que; maybe three abressed, and at least a quarter mile long - we opted a not. The park turned out to be one of the best I 've seen; London really know how to do parks. It is late in the season so the rose garden wasn't as spectacular as it can be, but beautiful none the less. The zoo turned out to be crowded (A school holiday), the queue was a couple hundred yards long, and thus the inside was also filled. We did enjoy many of the animal venues, especially the spider monkey's reminding of old times (I used to have one as a pet.) Then back down to food, and the underground; our trip mirrored the underground trip to Heathrow, so we had a chance to dry run the  departure, concluding that we will take a taxi to Paddington, then the fast track to Heathrow.

10-31 happy Halloween! The alligator tear day, the last day of the trip:) there were three things yet to do: The Tate Museum, Oxford Street (The busiest shopping area in the world), and Parliament to view The House of Commons, and The House Of Lords. The Tate Museum had a small collection of impressionist painting, and a fair amount of 20th century art. We enjoyed the Impressionist work, and remain confused about the 20th century stuff: why it's called art, what is art, etc. Then on to Oxford Street; where we found ----- people, lots and lots of people: the place was a zoo! And, every body knew where they were going and were in a hurry to get there. Humor was added by two large banners hanging across the four lane street; it read "Merry Christmas from Marmite you either love it or hate it". Then to Parliament and a long queue;  we were asked to come back at 6:00, so a wandering we went, down the Strand and the Thames for some last minute Lynn pictures. Returning to the now absent queue we went through several security screens, through a couple of very large old rooms where pageantry prevails during parliamentary ceremony, and finally were seated in the nose bleed seats, called the visitor balcony. The dear Lords had adjourned for the night, but as luck would have it, the House of Commons was engaged in a lively debate about the funding to the European Union; that included a final vote, so we got to see a whole array of pageantry, which turned out to be important enough to be aired on BBC later that night. It was truly interesting. Then for our final meal we chose to eat pub food, in a lively atmosphere of Halloween - a grand conclusion to a grand trip::)) 

11/01  Time to go home :( and :)  Walked to Mail Boxes Etc to send package of rocks to Lotti (An explanation is required here: Lotti collects rocks and we picked up one in the Cotswalds and one in the Jurassic Beach) then loaded up into London cab for trip to Heathrow.  Turned out to be a lovely sunny morning so trip was special seeing stuff we hadn't seen in cheery sunlight, but made it a bittersweet goodbye.  Arrived at airport 3 1/2 hours early so did some last minute shopping ;)

Phil almost lost his trusty Swiss Army knife (again) but the security guy let him keep it, because now there is a blade length minimum for a "threatening knife". The flight was an uneventful but fast 11 hours, as was going through customs, putting us at the shuttle at 8:00.  Waiting for shuttle and the drive home, however, took on the feeling of a safari. we validated the "first on last off" hypothesis. Three loops around LAX, the full van departed for: Lakewood, Disneyland, Villa Park, Orange, and finally Murrieta. We wound around Orange County like an intoxicated hunter ant, going hither and thither; some excitement was achieved when we went by Lynn's old house in Anaheim Hills. Then finally off to Murrieta: almost immediately however, break lights - a big fix underway on the 91, down to one lane. Ah, the delights of So Cal. The great finish was a walk in the door at 1 am, the end an absolutely marvelous vacation!