"Liz, Phil, meet the kids."

It was quite a day, what with meeting HRM the Queen and HRH Prince Phillip, plus the Prince of Wales and the President of the United States all in a few hours. This feat was possible only because we spent the day at Madam Tussaud's wax museum, which was free to Americans today in honor of the inauguration. The museum unveiled a new statue by way of celebration and allowed us to have our picture taken with the new President (for a fee, of course.) Madam Tussaud's is one of London's oldest tourist attractions and is without doubt one of the top contenders for the title of most kitchy attraction in the city. Still, it's a must-see, and it's even fun notwithstanding the crowds and the souvenir hawking. After a few hours of that craziness we visited Harrod's department store--one of the largest in the city. Harrods is crazy for the line of chauffers waiting at the entrance, the uniformed doorman, the uniformed store clerks, the sheer variety of available merchandise and the splendid decor of the store. From the girls' perspective, however, the best part was the pet store on the fourth floor where we saw puppies, kittens, rabbits, gerbils and guinea pigs. We only bought a few small things (including, of course, several Harrod house label wines). A puppy wasn't one of them.