London in the summer

London in the summer is an interesting place. Firstly, summer is a relative term. We had one week of really nice weather in June, and apparently that's about it. It's been chilly and raining since we got back from Switzerland (as of today---3 weeks!). There have been a few days of sun, but there are never complete days, and so you end up getting rained on at some point either way. Still, with so many things to do, it's hard to not love London, despite itself.

These are some things we did that made us love London...

We watched the newest art installation at the 4th plinth. For 100 days, people get to climb onto the top of a plinth (the place made to hold an equestrian statue, but it never did) and perform for 60 minutes. They've all had to apply beforehand, and apparently alot of them did. When we passed by there was a man talking (but we couldn't hear him so it looked like he was talking to himself) and playing the trumpet rather haphazardly. Interesting.

We visited the Winston Chuchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms. They are located underground in the space used for the secret war rooms during WWII. The entire museum was wonderful, but the coolest thing was seeing the war rooms. The Map Room is exactly as it was left. When the war finished, they turned out the lights, and walked out; the room wasn't opened again until the 70s...and they even found things like sugar rations in desk drawers.

We took a day out to Stratford-Upon-Avon, where Mat found a way to get posh.

Beautiful!

The first stop in Stratford was William Shakespeare's Birthplace. He was born in this house, was raised in this house, and lived there for a short time after being married.

This is Shakespeare's first folio. It's the very first "complete works of Shakespeare". Amazing!

The house was large and the garden was pretty, but the performance of scenes from Hamlet was one of the highlights. Get thee to a nunnery!

We visited the birthplace of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife. It was where he 'wooed' her. And we know what kind of 'wooing' was going on. The 26 year old Anne, found herself pregnant out of wedlock--and the father was 18 year old William Shakespeare! The scandal! Needless to say, they married, and the happy couple moved to William's Birthplace. She still outlived him by 10 years.

We saw Shakespeare's grave in Holy Trinity Church. His wife and daughter were also burried there.

The church also has his birth and death registration. He died on his birthday. Strange.

The sign marks the school of King Edward VI. It is assumed that this is where Shakespeare went to school. His father was a glove maker, so he would have been relatively well off.

We played dress up

and found all that is left of Shakespeare's final home.

Upon returning to Stratford from London, Shakespeare was a very wealthy man, and also very famous. He was well known throughout all of England and particularly in his hometown of Stratford. He returned, and purchased the most expensive house in town, where he lived the rest of his life, with a giant plot of land, a huge mulberry tree, animals and grazing rights on both sides of the river Avon. He was simply loaded. Well some time after this death, his last home was purchased by a wealthy couple. The couple were Puritans and despised the theatre and Shakespeare. The man of the house sent constant letter of complaint because of the people who would come to look at his house. The town loved the hom and were proud of Shakespeare, so all of the man's requests were dismissed. In retaliation, he cut down Shakespeare's Mulberry tree. The town went mad, and threw bricks at his house. Needless to say, this was not a good relationship. The worst part of the story is that the man of the house had enough money, and alot of hatred, and simply decided to tear the house down....and he did. Apparently he ran from the town and was never seen again.

We also took the perfect picture to show London weather. The sky is black, and it has just poured rain, but there is still a tiny little portion of sun (atleast for the moment). How crazy.

On Slavi's last night in London, we went out for Turkish

and hung out at a Blues bar. Tiny and cramped, but great music!

But the highlight of our first summer in London was being able to have a Royal Day Out at Buckingham Palace. Since Buckingham is a working palace, it is only open to public visits when the Queen is not there...and that is the months of August and September. The palace opened on the 26th, so we got our tickets and spent the day (literally 5 hours) looking at all things royal.

Aerial view. The palace is massive! We were able to see the Queen's collection, which had an exhibit on French porcelain. We also viewed the State Rooms (gorgeous drawing rooms, and a fabulous ballroom--even a secret passageway). We also got to see the Royal Mews (where all of the carriages, horses and cars are kept). Also the only place where you can take pictures.

The wedding carriage. This is the carriage used to drive brides to their wedding; the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana.

This sleigh was given to the Queen by Canada and is used every year to bring in Santa Claus for the children of the workers and servants who live at the Palace and the Mews. It was made in Montreal.

The Golden State Carriage. Used for State occassions, such as the Jubilee.

All in all, a great July. Fingers crossed for a great August to follow!!!