2004-12 London: South Kensington

Ex-co-worker Ben and I enjoy hot chocolate at the Covent Garden Marketplace. It's interesting meeting someone in person after seeing them via videoconference. We get a chance to catch up and enjoy the ambiance.

We take a stroll around Covent Gardens, chatting, stopping only to gaze at the carousel. We part, and I pick up the family. It's time to quit the Transport Museum in favor of two other venues...

We're back on the Tube, back on the Piccadilly line, this time in the underground pedestrian way to the museums.

Here's the Natural History Museum. Beautiful, but not our destination. I liked the dramatic contrast between the lighted building and the moss-covered tree.

Here's Isaac enjoying fruit salad bought at Marks & Spencers. None was dropped down onto Papa.

We've made it to the Science Museum. In the foreground is a tugboat engine mounted in a yoke. Above it a new item, a huge multi-story silver ring with a text display on the inner surface. It's quite stunning.

This is the main exhibit hall. An ancient steam engine in the foreground, a Cray, and Apple, and a Harrier jet in the rear. Someday I'd really like to spend a quiet day wandering around here, but it hasn't happened yet.

When the Science Museum closes at 16.00 we decide to head down Kensington High Street, but after a block we come across the Victoria & Albert Museum open late hours. This is a holiday decoration hanging in the main entrance. The contrast is utterly stunning.

Here's an unexpected travelogue stop: the bathroom. We're always worried about our kids being regular when their lives are interrupted by changes in diet, lots of dehydration via air travel, and jet lag. Here the kids are reassuring us :-)

This is a forbidden panorama: one isn't supposed to take photos of the Rafael Cartoons but I wanted to give you a context for the audio of the visiting choir. (Audio to be added later.)

We quit the V&A and continue onwards. The scene on the Kensington High Street has much improved from a few years ago. The horrifying dearth of good food has been rectified, with dozens of small eateries populating the blocks near Harrods. This is the store-window of an interior decorator: this is the marble kitchen. Rose was, umm, floored.

And here is Harrods, lighted as usual. There are two skinny Christmas trees in the front, and displays in the windows.

Continuing downtown we pass a children's clothes shop. Rose really wanted me to photograph this for Lila.

And this suit for Isaac. The position of the windows and the darkness of the store gave me no chance but to use the flash.

It's time to continue on the London Underground; Hyde Park Corner, to be specific.

Here's the scene at Piccadilly Circus. The first panel includes characters from Pixar's "The Incredibles". Really.

We make a quick stop at the Cornice Lebanese Restaurant for some schwarma, falafel, and some drinks. We're energized.

The holiday goings-on at Leicester Square, including crowds, circus rides, music, and lights, captivate the kids. Isaac begs us to let him try some of the adult rides. He's not happy about to hear about the height limits...

...but he's more than thrilled to get back to the Underground. It's getting rather too late for the kids, and we have to fly tomorrow, but there are still a few things we need to have done before we go.

Most of them have to do with the Tower Bridge. Here's how it appears from the Thames nearest to the London Bridge stop. (London Bridge is a non-descript structure, but this evening it's beautifully lighted with red lights.)

Here's my favorite photo of our London leg of the trip: Isaac and Rose have a sweet moment in front of the Tower Bridge. I had to run these three pictures through Photoshop because the family had a dark bridge, which obscured the lighted bridge.

Lastly, we stroll across the Tower Bridge. I had so many thoughts of the generations who had trod here before, merchants and royalty, and mothers with children. Wonderful, it was. But a small bridge, especially in contrast with our local span.

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