We made our way into the heart of London to look at Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square. We were going to go look into Westminster, but the ticket prices were ridiculous, so we decided to look from the outside and enjoy the sunny day instead. It paid off as we got to see the horse guard parade by. There were of course heaps of double deck buses to see too, if anyone is into that sort of thing.
The girls went down to the commons to have a bit of a run around and play. It was so nice to be able to let them get some of their energy out without having to take them to the park. We calmly made dinner while they played, and we could just peak out every once in a while to see what they were up to.
When we came out of the British Museum there was a very conveniently parked ice cream van. It wasn't a Mr Wippy but it did in a pinch. Clever place for him to be as both kids and adults were more than happy to have a nice little treat. Afterwards we walked through the neighbourhood and back home.
We walked around some more of the museum but made a decision not to try to see the whole thing. The museum is way too big and the collections far too extensive to be able to see them all in one day. We looked at some of the classic Greek and Italian exhibits and made a point to look at the Cypriot ones as well to prepare for when we go there in a few weeks. We also made sure to visit the fantastic gift shop which had really good gifts. One thing which was a bit of a let down was the Australian and Pacific Isalnds exhibits which was really tiny, maybe they have most of it in the back. Overall a fantastic museum and we certainly need to come back again.
Since we missed out on actually going to Egypt, we went and looked at the second best collection of artifacts located at the British Museum. The collection of Egyptian and North African artifacts is really impressive. There are some spectacularly large pieces which are well preserved. We were all impressed and quickly found our personal favourites to admire.
We weer quite keen to visit the British Museum before all of the artifacts had to be returned to their native countries. We're just kidding, sort of. In any case we picked a lovely day to visit the museum after we strolled through the park and got a little snack. The main atrium of the museum is quite impressive and we took it in for a few minutes. The girls also got some sort of kids activity pack which they liked. Once we finished at the foyer and the lion with an underbite statue, we went straight to look at the Rosetta Stone. It was quite cool to see it in person.
We got to go to a beautiful pub called The Warrington Hotel. It is quite near the Abbey Road crossing of Beatles fame. We only went to the pub though to have a few drinks and dinner. Uncle Lawrence joined us and we had a great time. The pub is beutiful, the food and drinks were good, and they had games to boot. It was a really nice evening out in London. It was also the first of several birthdays on this trip.
