Day 7 Continued

Got on the subway at Westminster and proceeded to St. Paul's Cathedral. Didn't go inside and the kids just posed on the front steps with the crowd. See if you can find them in the picture.

Stopped over at the Starbucks Cafe next to the cathedral for some drinks afterwards and posed infront of the archway into the courtyard.

Got back on the subway to go to King's Cross Station to find the spot that was featured on the Harry Potter movies. Mom and I just stayed behind and took some pictures.

Got on the bus this time for the London Bus double-decker experience to go to Baker Street to see Sherlock Holmes residence but ended up going the opposite direction and getting stuck in traffic so we just got back on the subway and proceeded to Abbey Road instead. Here are the kids crossing the famous crosswalk coming and going. We had to wait for the street to clear up since there is no traffic light. The drivers were nice though and stopped for the tourists.

Got back on the subway and headed to Marble Arch at the corner of Hyde Park. Just took some quick shots and didn't stay long because we were meeting up with mom's classmate Alyce at the Picadilly Circus. Did a little bit of shopping and then walked through Leicester Square/Soho/Chinatown and got some souvenirs.

We had a bit of excitement meeting with Alyce though. She was running a little late and told us that she would we in a taxi already and to meet her by Leicester Square. I started walking to Picadilly Circus looking in at the taxis and was lucky enough to spot her right away but then I had to run after the taxi. Grabbed another taxi when I caught up with her and we headed to the Covent Gardens.

This is quite a classy place with fancy restaurants and the theaters for the Broadway shows are mostly here. The first restaurant we looked at was full and the waiting time was 1 hour so we just walked around until we found a nice Irish restaurant. It had a nice, homey atmosphere and our waitress was very friendly helping us with the food choices and drinks. We pretty much stayed here until we had to leave to catch the last subway train to Victoria Station.

Day 7 London Day Tour

Had breakfast at the Victoria Station and walked to the Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. Found out later that it wasn't scheduled for the day so we just walked around and took pictures infront of the gates to the Buckingham Palace (l) and to the Queen's residence (r).







Family shot in front of Buckingham Palace and the kids imitating the statues on the Queen Mother's memorial infront of the palace.



Walked through St. James Garden and the kids tried to feed the ducks with the leftover ramen noodles which they promptly ignored. Here's a pelican that's a bit out of place.


The beautiful flowers along the walkway and a shot of the Horseguards Stables from the park.


Continued on to the Horseguards Stable grounds, had some group shots and as usual, the kids clowned around including Romar trying to fly with his Big Bus raincoat/cape. It started to rain a little bit and mom broke out the raincoats from our visit last April.

















Passed throught the Admiralty Arch which was under renovation and then on to Trafalgar Square.


Continued along the road passing by Tony Blair's office at Downing Street which was fenced in and and had armed guards with no sense of humor.





Kept on walking towards the Parliament Buildings to view Big Ben and the surrounding scenery. It was a very clear day and the view was excellent.

And of course a picture with the famous red phone booth. I'll continue on the next post because this entry will not accept anymore photos.

Day 6 Adios Espana, Hello London

Got up about 8:30, had breakfast and loaded the luggage in the car. Had to take the protective cover off to make it all fit. The drive to the airport was uneventful and made it there in no time. The earlier flight is still checking in so we staked our spots at the end of the line to get low numbers. We still got the higher numbers (90+) because there were groups in front of us and we all ended up sitting away from each other except mom and I.

Landed at Stansted London on time and hung around the baggage area to wait for Rich who was arriving 20 minutes later. Received a text message from him when his plane landed but didn't answer since we're still inside the arrival/baggage claim area. The kids met him and we all went down to the train platform, got our tickets and boarded the train which was already leaving.

Arrived at the Victoria Train Station which is the main hub for the trains, subways, buses and taxis. Broke out my map and started walking to our hotel which was only about 5 blocks away. It was actually like a hostel and can accomodate backpackers as well as families in a room and has shared and private bathrooms. Our room had a single bed, a double bed and a bunk bed. Theresa and Leanne took the bunk beds, Rich had the single bed, mom and I had the double and Romar had the floor. Not much room to move around with the suitcases on the floor but we're all in one room with our own bathroom. The kids mapped out their places of interest and we headed out to the subway station after having a group shot.

Our first stop was the Parliament buildings so we got off at Westminster. Exiting the subway, we came out right at the foot of Big Ben and the kids got really excited and started shooting away.

Here's the view of the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, London Aquarium and the London Eye from the Westminster Bridge.











The tourists.













Walked across the Westminster Bridge for a better view and took more pictures: Parliament buildings and Big Ben, Theresa with one red eye.










Kids' group shot (Romar with the monkey face) and family shot (who has the most teeth?).










Walked back across the Westminster Bridge to the front of the Parliament building and then to the Westminster Abbey. It wasn't well-lit as the other buildings so the pictures didn't come out as good. Just did a bit of touch-up to make the details come out. The picture on the left is the side entrance and other is the front. Not sure about the third picture.





Got on the subway again and headed to the Tower Bridge. We barely made it too because right after taking a couple of pictures, the guard asked us to leave. Walked by the Tower of London Palace, took some shots and then headed back to the hotel.

Day 5 Gibraltar, Barbecue night

Got up a little early, had breakfast, prepared sandwiches, loaded the cooler and headed out to Gibraltar. According to the ITT office, it used to take about 3 hours to get there but due to the new freeway, it is only an hour now (depending on how fast you drive). It was another beautiful day and the freeway scenery reminded us of driving down I-5 in San Joaquin Valley because of the rolling hills and farmland. We passed herds of grazing cows and sheep and there wasn't much traffic.

We encountered a bit of traffic once we got to the town of La Linea de Concepcion which shares the border with Gibraltar. It was even worse going into Gibraltar due to the border checkpoint and it's always recommended to park at the Spanish side to avoid getting stuck in the traffic going out. We parked at the underground pay parking by McDonald's and then walked to the border gate. The kids expected to get another stamp on their passports but the border guards just waved us through.

We planned on walking to the bus tour station but got a private taxi tour just before we even left the customs building. It was a minivan just for us and the quote was 4 for the price of 5. It was a very good deal since we saved time going to the tour station as well as not being with a big group where the people are rushed to the destinations. The tour included taking us to the the top of the rock with visits to the memorial, St. Michael's Cave, the Great Siege tunnels, the Ape's Den with pictures of the monkeys.

The drivers are experienced operators and licensed by the city to drive guests all the way to the top. The kids were not prepared for the trip to the top since the road was very narrow steep and the drivers don't even slow down. Our first stop was the entrance to the national park with a sweeping view of the harbor and a marker. We walked over to the marker after being dropped off and took pictures of the scenery.

Our next stop was St. Michael's Cave which is one of the main attractions. There was a lot of people and the tour taxis were backed up so we got off a bit farther back and started walking. We have been warned about the monkeys but Theresa made the mistake of taking out a couple of power bars and before she knew it, one bar was quickly swiped from her hands. I was walking ahead and didn't see it happen but saw a monkey walking away with a candy bar in its hands when I looked back. I then heard Theresa saying 'He took my candy bar' and pointing at the monkey while Mom, Romar and Leanne were laughing. That would have made a nice video shot.

Went into St. Michael's Cave and admired the stalactite and stalagmite formations. The kids took plenty of pictures and then followed the trail going down and deeper into the caves. It was a lot drier this time and there were no mini-waterfalls or water cascading from the ceiling compared to the first time that we came. Here are the kids seated at the ampitheater seats. Theresa was quite watchful of the monkeys when we went outside.

We headed up to the top afterwards with a stop at the monkeys' den. If you're scared of heights, this is not the place for you because it is the slimmest ridge of the rock where both sides of the road are steep. It was a very clear day and the rock tip stood out in sharp contrast to the sky and the ocean. There was a blanket of fog on the bay though so were not able to see Morocco across the straits. The kids had their chance with the monkeys and took turns having one sit on their shoulder. The tour guide prompt them by placing a hand on your shoulder and the monkey knows that he'll get a treat afterwards. The trick is trying to keep still so as not to spook it.

We headed to the Great Siege tunnels afterwards and the kids clowned around with the displays in the entrance. We pretty much gave the tour and pointed out specific things as well as looking out through the openings that were dug on the side of the mountain. Posed with the displays again and then took pictures of the Mediterranean side upon getting out.

This was pretty much the end of the tour and we started heading down. Romar sat in front with the driver and was quite tense because the road was narrow and steep and the driver wasn't even slowing down. There were some points where there was only about an inch of clearance on either side and the driver just zoomed along. We got back downtown without any problems though. The drivers/operators are probably required to meet strict requirements to get their permits.

Walked down the promenade and bought some souvenirs - no screaming monkeys though. We walked back this time and crossed the runway to the border gate. Gibraltar has a small airport and the runway runs across the roadway to the city and pedestrians/vehicles have to be careful and observe the safety warnings before crossing.

The kids had a McDo stop while I went to get the car. The drive back was uneventful and we all crashed out for a couple of hours upon getting back.

For dinner, we had a Hawaiian cookout with a Spanish theme and had shrimp kebabs with 2 slabs of smoked ribs.

Mom, Theresa and Leanne wore Spanish style skirts with flowers in their hair and we all had straw hats.

Lit up the tiki lamps when it got dark and Mom wore her Survivors t-shirt while I wore my advance b-day t-shirt.

They also managed to sneak a quick swim just before sunset. Another fun day.