London's Playground: Covent Garden

Covent Garden, one of the places Londoners traditionally have played, was our destination today. Full of shops and restaurants and thronged with people, it is the perfect place for street theater. The girls were delighted watching first a juggler and then a man who put a three-foot long balloon down his throat after he inflated it. They also liked the "bird man" who wears an outfit of green feathers and communicates only using bird sounds. But they spent most of their time watching a man who calls himself "That Man At Covent Garden." Wearing a kilt and a jacket, he towered above the crowd, using a 10-foot ladder like a pair of stilts. He only occassionally made slight adjustments to stay aloft while engaging the streetgoers in repartee. Then he pulled out knives to juggle while atop the ladder. Next, he took his clothes off, at least down to his underwear, even though it was only about 32 degrees. The girls thought that was quite amazing, and they are begging to go back. The one thing that might deter us is the climb out of the tube stop. The line for the lifts was jammed as usual so we decided to walk the 193 steps to the top. Everybody thought this was a good idea at the bottom. By the top, that line wasn't looking so bad after all.

Evensong At St. Pauls

After Covent Garden, we headed a few tube stops away to attend Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Paul's is Christopher Wren's amazing architectural contribution to London after the original cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666. A cathedral has stood on the site since 1604. The dome of the cathedral is the biggest in the world after St. Peter's in Rome and the interior is lavishly decorated with beautiful mosaic ceilings and wood carvings. The enormous pipe organ filled the space with sound as did the 30-or-so member choir of men and boys. Despite that, Olivia dismissed it as "too fancy" while Cecily complained that the high-pitched voices of the young choristers "hurt her ears." Meredith promptly fell asleep and told us it is her practice to sleep in church the better to be able to stay up later at night. All the girls were angels, however, when we were stopped by the dean of the cathedral on our way out who wanted to visit with us. This happens frequently, and I'm never sure if we stand out as Americans or if the clergy are simply amazed to see little children at an evensong event. I suspect it is the latter. Anyway, it is a rare chance to visit with some very nice people

Pit Stop

Minutes before everybody had to go potty, Laura snapped this picture of Cecily in Covent Garden beneath the Toy Theater sign. The smile on Cecily's face probably reflects her pleasure at acquiring a piece of gum from Mom more than her excitement about being at one of London's most famous and oldest toy stores.

I've never been a fan of public restrooms, but with three little girls, it's a virtual certainty that I'll see the inside of at least one every day. Today's special loo visit was to the ladies' public restroom at Covent Garden. It was interesting for several reasons. First, although it was definitely a women's room, the attendant, who was all over the restroom the entire time we were there (which was not insubstantial; little girls take a LONG time to use a public facility and, for some strange reason, have a tremendous desire to touch every nasty, germ-infested surface) was male (that did not escape Cecily's rather LOUD notice). Second, the set-up was quite strange. The passage to the stalls is virtually blocked by a solid column with a ring of electronic hand-dryers around it. When it's your turn for the next vacant stall, you have to do a little shimmy around the ladies who are drying their hands (try to do that with three little girls hanging off of you -- each trying to shove her sisters aside so SHE can get the FIRST stall). Third, the wall dispensers don't have the typical feminine hygiene products that we women are used to seeing. Instead, they offered a "Fresher-Up Pack" that included face freshener (I was tempted to buy a pack just to find out what that was), shampoo, moisturizer, a comb, an emery board, a toothbrush, hair clips, a safety pin and cotton wool (which I assume is a cotton ball). All this could be yours for a mere two pounds (about $3). It made me wonder if the restroom was a frequent stop for homeless people or perhaps a stopping-off point for backpackers or hostel-dwelling travelers. The final surprise (that I failed to see when I first entered the bathroom because I was trying to stop Cecily from yelling, "Mommy, I really gotta go or I'm gonna pee my pants!") was a scale at the front of the facility -- just where all the ladies in line can see exactly how much you weigh. Oh, and it costs 40 pence. You must PAY for the pleasure of being publicly humiliated! Why someone thought it might be a good money-maker to put a pay scale in a public restroom is beyond me. I'm shocked that it showed no evidence of vandalism! I usually complain to Scott bitterly about each trip to a public bathroom with the girls (specifically complaining about why CAN'T a man take an 8-year-old into the men's room?), but today's visit was very interesting. For that, I guess, I owe my little princesses a thank you.

Lords: The Aging House of Horrors?

London is all abuzz right now about a scandal in the House of Lords where three senior peers apparently agreed to accept cash from a newspaper reporter posing as a lobbyist in exchange for promises to use their influence to get legislation passed. The four lords involved, who are unpaid, but receive expenses, deny wrongdoing. The House of Lords is a mystery to most Americans. It is the upper chamber in parliament. Formerly, it was the aristocracy of Britain--the dukes and earls and barons and such. Reforms in 1999 however ended the tradition of inherited seats. Now, people are nominated for the Lords based on service to the nation. The chamber is supposed to be a collection of "wise heads" who temper the reactionary way of the more powerful lower chamber, the commons. In truth, the Lords are more symbolic than anything. They can suggest legislation for the Commons to consider and they can delay but not stop legislation. They can't actually do or prevent anything on their own. Traditionally, the Lords have been given great deference but in the wake of this scandal, referred to by some papers as "rent a lord", public support seems to be weakening for a non-elected chamber. One newspaper letter called the Lords the "ageing house of horrors." In the end, I suspect not much will change, however. For whatever reason, the British are deeply attached to their institutions, even those which appear to be a bit archaic. One does wonder how much good can be wring from further tinkering with the structure of this institution. It seems that the ancient hereditary body was at least as competent as this bunch.

A Trip To Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, London home of British monarchs since George III, was today's destination. It took some doing to get into because the 19 state rooms of the palace are only regularly open to the public in August and September. When we saw an opportunity to book a rare off-season evening tour (for a small fortune), we grabbed our chance. The little girls stayed at Kristin and Gareth's while Scott, Laura and Olivia made the two-hour trek through rush hour traffic to the palace. It was worth our trouble. The palace is gorgeous, with each room opening into an even more magnificently arrayed setting. It was built to be imposing from the moment you enter it, and it succeeds. As we stood in the anteroom waiting for our guide, Olivia complained about being cold. I asked, "Are you nervous?" and she showed me her shaking legs and knees knocking together violently. The art collection is priceless. We learned a little about English history along the way (Bet you've never heard of the baby race in Regency England!) and quite a bit about architecture. We were all amused to discover that George IV, who designed the palace and who fought Napoleon, was an ardent francophile who had everything French copied or purchased and installed in his new digs. We also learned to our surprise that the current stately Portland limestone facade so familiar to all of us is actually the latest addition to the palace and was not added until 1911. When we ended our tour, we enjoyed a glass of champagne, Olivia felt quite grown up to get her own flute of non-alcoholic elderflower water--whatever that is.

Reader Poll: What's Your Favorite Room?

The White Drawing room on the left was Laura's favorite room. It is by far the most gilded of the rooms and because it backs up to the queen's private apartments it has a clever little invisible door which allows her to walk through and join her guests. The Ballroom in the center was Olivia's favorite room with its massive pipe organ and chandeliers which drop an amazing 11 feet and are five feet wide. She suggested she might like to get married there some day. (We're getting a price quote.) The state dining room on the right was Scott's favorite with its enormous highly polished table and series of oversize ancestral portraits of the current queen marching down the wall.

Eavesdropping On Olivia

Olivia dictated the following email to her principal and second-grade teacher. It is so amusing and endearing, we decided to share it with all our other blog followers:

Dear Mrs. Rassmussen and Mrs. Graydon:

I miss you very much. Me and Daddy are finally getting to understand each other. Have you been looking at my blog? I like that I have my own room here in London but Daddy keeps saying that if my sisters get scared at night, they can come into MY room, which is very annoying. The most popular thing here is the tube. There are lots of them. I am learning to use the tube map. It's very fun. I have to walk to the tube which is about 5-10 minutes, depending on if Cecily is riding on Daddy's shoulders or not. When I get there, I have a choice of lines, and I have to figure out if we are going to the north, the south, the east or the west because there are trains in all directions. I like the tubes better than the busses because the busses take longer. I mean after we get to the tube stop, I don't mind the busses because they carry us to a direct spot. I'm seeing lots and lots of things. The best thing so far is probably the Big Eye. I don't really like museums although I want to go back to the British Museum because I read about a copy of the Rosetta Stone which kids can touch. I didn't get to touch it last time I was there. I'm learning to write in cursive. I think the hardest letters are the f's and the capital G's. It's fun writing in cursive, and it doesn't take as long as printing. We went to the National Portrait Gallery, and Daddy was amazed at how much I could remember from it. I told him all about James and Charles and how James II dressed up like a girl, got into the river Thames and threw his Great Seal into the river and ran away into France. What had happened before when he was a boy was he had to go to France because his father King Charles I got his head chopped off which meant him and his big brother had to run away to France. So he had to go to France two times, and he died there and he didn't get to come back. He got into a fight with Parliament and his father got into a fight with parliament and he got his head chopped off, and he didn't want to get his head chopped off, so that's why he ran away. They offered the throne to his son-in-law and his daughter, and they asked those people to come chase him away. Well, I have to go to bed now. Sincerely, Olivia

Australia Day Tastings 2009: My Big Day!

Today was the pay-off -- my reward for more than two years of writing a monthly wine column for the Central Oregonian. I was officially credentialled as "press" at the "Australia Day Tasting 2009: Winemaker's Choice" held at Emirates Stadium here in London in conjunction with Australia Day. The Stadium offices and meeting rooms make a decent venue for a wine-tasting, but the building is better known to Londoners as the home of the Arsenal football team (formed in 1886 by workers at the local arsenal armament factory). The wine-tasting included wines from more than 130 wineries, big and small. I had never been to a "trade and press" tasting before and although the basic idea is the same as those held for consumers (you choose the wines you're interested in, they pour and you swirl, sniff, taste and spit), it's a LOT better. First off, it's free. The consumer tasting last night for this same event was f25 (about $38). You are also treated better. There's free food, and if you set your glass down, a waiter will take it, but it will NOT be the end of your tasting. They'll give you a fresh one – as many times as you want! It's not as crowded, which means you have a real opportunity to interact with and ask questions of the pourer (who in some cases is the owner or winemaker). My fellow tasters were a rather sophisticated bunch. They knew to spit the wine with abandon, so I could do the same without feeling self concious. But because they were working, they weren't as "fun" a crowd as the consumers I've met at other tastings.

Australian Day Tastings 2009: What I Learned

So, what did I learn at the Australia Day Tasting? First, there is a limit to how much Shiraz I can drink. I sampled 102 wines, about 80% of which was Shiraz. Second, I really love Australian wines. (I already knew this, but this reinforced it). I especially liked the Dead Arm Shiraz by D'Arenberg at right. Because of the cost, I would never have tried it on my own but thanks to this event, I got the chance. Third, although most of the really quality Shirazes are best with food, there are a lot of good ones, and they provide good quality for the money. Fourth, when tasting, it's a good idea to pull your hair back. It keeps you from spitting through your hair when you're aiming for the bucket. Finally, I discovered that Aussies, like American winemakers, are much more willing to experiment with new grapes and new blends than most European winemakers. In Italy, France and Germany, most regions can only grow the particular type of grape that the law permits. The idea is that over centuries, experience has shown what performs well in what regions and, therefore, that is what you must grow. It's different in Australia. These winemakers and winegrowers are not afraid to mix it up--even if it means potentially falling flat (as a few of the more "interesting" wines today did). But several were quite good, and I applaud them and thank them for their intrepid nature because I was able to try several varietals that I had never or seldom had before and one that I had never even heard of -- marsanne, rousanne, petite verdot (which is one of my favorite wines, but is almost never bottled alone), Cygne Blanc (despite being white, it's a mutation of a cabernet saugivnon vine) and pinot meunier (nearly always used only in sparkling wines). It was a great day and I would definitely attend again next year -- if only I could get my editor to spring for the plane ticket!

Our Day At The Tate

While Mom wandered off to enjoy Wine Down Under, the girls and Scott ventured to the Tate Museum of Modern Art. We've seen a lot of traditional and representational art while we have been here, but this is our first foray into contemporary art. The girls were skeptical, but they had a good time and proved to have a good eye for the genre. As Olivia summed up the day "Modern art is like patterns, but they have a meaning behind them. " Olivia proclaimed one of Monet's Water Lilies to be her favorite. She came home able to explain to Mom the intricacies of a Mondrian and a Jackson Pollack. She decidedly doesn't like Henri Mattisse. Scott was impressed when she took one look at the above Phillip Gaston and immediately recognized a figure within the abstraction as a returning soldier. Throughout the day, she, Meredith and even Cecily demonstrated an uncanny ability to spot the representations that simply eluded their Dad, even before he read them the name of the piece or the explanatory panel. Maybe the works of artists who design art that looks as if it was made by children are best interpretted by children!

Taking Out The Trash

Every week at home I drag my 95 gallon roll cart full of recycling and my 65 gallon can of trash plus whatever extras I have to the curb for morning pickup. Not so here. I snapped the above shot this morning looking down our street. Notice all the garbage bags sitting on the curb awaiting pickup. This is how they do it. You simply pile your garbage bags somewhere until pick up day and then transfer them all to the sidewalk. The trash men come along and toss them into the truck. Here, we generate about two bags of trash and two bags of recycling weekly. I can't quite work out why it's so much less than at home where we regularly overfill the can. Because this is an island crowded with people, the public is pretty concious about trying to reduce waste. The Green Movement, as I mentioned before, is quite significant. It will be interesting to see how (and if) our values transfer back to home after three months here.

Random Snap

Looking out a window at the Tate with St. Paul's in the background.

Olivia's Journal: Modern Art

Water Lilies, Claude Monet, on display at the Tate Modern

Today I went to see modern art some of which me and Meredith could see but not daddy. But sometimes daddy would see stuff that we couldn't see. My favret is the lily pad one which had lotsd of lilys on it. It just had lots of bright, bright, butiful colors. I also liked the one called Returning. It had a sudger that I could see but daddy couldn't.

At Last We Find Some Animals

With Scott and Olivia headed to an organ concert, the little girls and Mom decided to visit the Children's Zoo at Battersea Park. It advertises itself as a "place where your children will see animals they wouldn't otherwise ever see!" Well, it certainly wasn't new to us to see ducks, sheep, rabbits, goats and pigs, but Meredith and Cecily didn't care; they were excited to see any animals. Cecily in particular has been missing the animal kingdom in this urban environment, havingt asked spontaneously a few days ago, "Where are all the animals?" But it wasn't just pedestrian animals we saw by any means. We especially enjoyed the mynah bird named Morris who replied to each child's farewell with a very clear "bye bye." Cecily was fascinated by Meerkats; Meredith liked the Egyptian Spiny Mice; I am a new fan of the adorable Patagonian Mara (if you saw it, you wouldn't believe it was a rodent, either); we all liked the lemur; and both girls really loved the trash can shaped like a bear! They also enjoyed the opportunity to throw oranges to the hungry Kune Kune Pigs. Meredith was worried because we didn't peel them first, but the zoo employee explained that the pigs actually like the rinds. Both girls had a nervous moment when the keeper opened a gate to feed some rather large sheep, and sheep immediately escaped and headed our direction. The keeper told us not to worry because the animals would very quickly realize that SHE was the one with the food. She was right, and it only took about 2 minutes to pry little girls off my back and arm from where they had climbed. The girls were excited and relieved to finally see something that wasn't dead and behind glass.

What's One of These Worth?

While Laura and the younger girls headed to the Children's Zoo, Olivia and Scott headed out to attend an organ concert at the The Temple, one of London's oldest churches. Built by the Knights Templars (made famous in the DaVinci Code), it has been around since the 1200s. Olivia has been asking to see a pipe organ in action since we heard one at Westminster Cathedral on Sunday. Events conspired against us, however. The train was delayed and the area where the Temple is located proved to be a medieval warren of winding streets, none of which seemed to lead to our destination. We arrived 20 minutes late to hear the organ blaring handsomely inside with the doors locked tight against late entrants. We listened from the outside for a while and consoled ourselves with a trip to Harrods where we enjoyed gelatto at the ice cream parlour and a visit to the pet store upstairs with its £ 1700 Scotty puppies, £ 900 kittens and £55 rabbits. Amazingly, people actually buy these pets at these prices.

Olivia's Top 10

We asked 8-year-old Olivia tonight how she rated London's Top 10 Attractions. Guidebooks take note!

1. Horse Guards!

2. Playground at Kensington Palace

3. Big Ben at night

4. London Aquarium

5. British hot chocolate

6. The Big Eye

7. Exploration Center at the bottom of the Natural History Museum

8. Lions at Trafalgar Square

9. Pipe organs

10. The tube

A Taxing Question

As the new administration in Washington struggles to stimulate the U.S. and world economies, it may want to heed the findings of a UK business group. The Council of British Industries, the UK's leading business group, denounced the government's decision to cut the value-added tax--the equivalent of a national sales tax--from 17.5 percent to 15 percent as a failure. The group said the cut has not stimulated consumer spending or halted reductions in overall spending. As a result, the government finds itself even more short of needed funds at a time when more government spending is viewed as one of the quickest ways to jump-start the economy. For us, the reduction in the VAT is welcome. Along with the weakness of the pound, it makes our U.S. dollars stretch farther. But I can't say we would buy any less to save the 2.5 percent of the purchase cost. VAT is actually an intriguing concept because its invisible. It is built into the price as opposed to added on to the price as sales tax is. You don't even notice it, really. However, its very invisibility probably makes its reduction an unlikely candidate as an economic stimulus. It always makes it tricky to discover if the reduction is really being passed along or whether the retailer is pocketing the savings--something most retails are prominently promising through signage not to do, but how would you ever really really know?

Quiet Time

Tired and miserable describes everybody's mood today, and certainly the blog editor's. We are all suffering to varying degrees from the same head cold. Medicine to alleviate the symptoms is out of the question because we don't know what to ask for or how to get it here where all meds, prescription and otherwise, are locked up behind the counter of the pharmacy and available on request only. While we could ask, the effort to talk to the pharmacists is more than any of us is willing to put in. With low energy levels, we stayed home today, although we managed to venture out late afternoon for a trip to the neighborhood playground. The girls enjoyed the the swingsets and slide and both Olivia and Meredith conquered their fear of the eight-foot rock climbing wall and learned to clamber up, over and back down the other side like little monkeys.
After that it was a walk down the Thames, return home and early to bed for everyone.

Groceries On The Doorstep

We took advantage of our quiet day to attack the on-line ordering system from Tesco this afternoon. Tesco and other large grocery chaines in London offer delivery to the door for a fee of about f5. It is a very reasonable price considering the price of gas. They even advertise that they'll put it all in the refrigerator if desired. All ou need is an internet connection. Since we've been trudging to the grocery store two and three times a day, that seems like luxury indeed! Now we'll see if our week's groceries delivered to the door between 9 and 11 tomorrow morning as promised. The ordering was a challenge because nothing here seems to be categorized the same as in the states. For example, string cheese is "cheesey strings". I never did figure out how to order lime juice because when you order "Tesco 250 ml lime juice", which is what it says on the current bottle in the fridge, you get lemon-lime water, Water of Life lime drink and everything else but what you asked for. Cottage cheese is another mystery. We order something that we think fits our understanding of this product, but we had to skip over a variety of options to get there. The more popular items appear to be pint containers layered with cottage cheese and pineapple or cottage cheese and onion and chives, which you are supposed to mix together and eat. We'll see how close our order matches our desires when the delivery man arrives tomorrow morning!

Olivia's Journal: The Big Eye and War Museum

Editor's note: This is Olivia's journal entry for January 26. Olivia surprised us by proposing to make the entry in cursive handwriting. She has been working on forming her letters, but this is the first serious effort at composition she has undertaken and certainly the first she has undertaken voluntarily! For a first try, it was pretty good! For those readers who don't like squinting, the entry reads: "Today I went to the big eye whitch is the biggest ferris wheel in the wold! You could see millions of miles away. I also went to the cabnit war museum and saw the bombs that Germany had dropped on Europe. They looked like mini roketships. I saw the Churchill museums. I learned that if Churcill didn't get help from America and Russia then there would be no Europe."

The Fearless Five

A Birdseye View of London

Olivia has been asking since we arrived to go on the BT (British Telecomm) Big Eye--essentially an enormous ferris wheel across the Thames from Westminister Palace. Today being an uncharacteristically gorgeous, sunny and warm day, she got her wish. We enjoyed spotting the landmarks of London in the 30-minute ride with a birdseye view of the city. Of course, for every minute of fun, a price must be paid. In this case, it was a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchhill Museum. This is the bunker beneath the defense department and Downing Street from which Britain conducted the war against the Nazis. Meredith was horrified to learn about the Blitz and the diaspora of British children to the countryside. Olivia was baffled by German aggression, and enjoyed learning that Winston Churchill was a poor student who struggled with subjects he didn't like. Cecily decided to lay down the audio guide somewhere along the tour without telling anyone, causing great embarassment when we discovered it was missing. In the end, we are slightly more educated about this important event that changed the world.

Iconic

Olivia, with the domed St. Paul's Cathedral in the background; Meredith sitting on the embankment wall in front of Big Ben at Westminster Palace.

Olivia's Journal: History and Horses

Today I went to the reenacting of Charles the 1st getting his head chpped off but noboddy got there head chopped off. I learned that they put down there pikes to show respect. If you look up above you can see the picdture that has lots of people in it. Thats the pictue of the reenacdting of charles the 1sts head chopping off. The we went to the Whitehall Palace. We went to see the inspection.

RIP: Charles I, King of England

Today marks the Sunday closest to the execution of King Charles I by the Cromwellian puritans in 1649. We marked the day by attending a commemoration event put on by an English Civil War reenactors group. We saw brightly colored period costumes from the Seventeenth Century, including the long pikes, halberds (axes) and antique firearms, and we listened as a the solemn company laid a wreath at the very site where the king was "murdered." (Their word.) We listened to the solemn beat of the drums, and along with the reenactors we kept a sharp eye out for the hated enemy, another company of reenactors known as the Roundhead Army. The girls learned all about the English Civil War, the strained relationship between kings and parliaments and their own ancestors' role in this conflict. The girls have a partisan interest in this conflict because they learned at Madam Tussaud's that the king's nemesis, Oliver Cromwell, cancelled Christmas one year. If that's what you get with Roundheads, count them as Royalists!

Canvassing Canvasses

We made it to the National Portrait Gallery at last today. Olivia had a great time reviewing her words to her "Kings and Queens of England" songs and then chasing down their individual portraits. At each stop along the way, we had a brief history lesson about what made this king or queen famous or infamous. I asked Olivia later in the day what she had learned, and she replied, "That kings don't want to be painted fat, even when they are." Well, I guess that's true, but who does? Olivia also showed great interest in the techniques of oil painting, examining up close how certain colors are used to create the impression of sheen or how perspective can be changed through the use of angles. We saw an amazing picture of Edward VI (above), which looked completely distorted when viewed head on but perfectly normal when viewed from the side.

When Enough Is Enough

This is the look you get when ask three little girls who have just toured the National Portrait Gallery if they want to continue to the National Gallery next door.

Horse Guards, Happy Girls

Olivia finally got her trip to Horse Guards at Whitehall today. We witnessed the daily 4 p.m. inspection--a tradition carried on since Queen Victoria surprised the guards one day and found them all drunk and gambling and thereafter order daily inspections. The newly opened Horse Guards museum was a great hit. The girls went to great pains to each color a guardsman to enter into a coloring contest. They enjoyed seeing the horses and colorful guards, trying on the guards' somewhat heavy unforms and armor, learning about the guards' role in various military conflicts, their vital role in guarding the monarchs of England and occasional treachery within the ranks. We laughed when we learned that the various jobs of the Horse Guards are apportioned based on the results of the daily inspection: those who clean up best get to sit on the horses at entrances to royal palaces; those in the middle get to stand; those who perform most poorly get to muck out the stables the next day. Although this out-of-the-way museum isn't well known and only infrequently visited, it is a London treasure. More people should make the trek to enjoy the 300+ year history of this institution.

So Who LOOKS Like They're In Charge?

All Grown Up

Another Sunday, More Cathedrals

Our evening ended today with a mass at Westminster Cathedral. The Cathedral is to Roman Catholicism what St. Paul's is to Anglicanism. It was a well-attended service despite the fact that it was Sunday evening. Most of the cathedral's vast nave was full. Unfortunately, the beatiful interior, renowned for its byzantine style mosaics, is undergoing is massive renovation and it was mostly out of view. However, Olivia enjoyed the giant pipe organ. As it began to play, she asked, "What's that?" I explained, and she asked, "Where is it?" "Behind the screen," I told her, pointing to the row of screens that cover the entire back of the nave. "Which screen?" she asked. "All of them," I said. It was then that she realized this thing is much bigger than the electronic organ at home. We've decided we have to find an organ concert at some point during this trip so she can feel the full power of an organ at full throttle. Also fascinating was the incense censor, the altar girls who accompanied the crucifer carrying oversize candesticks. As fascinating as all that was, the girls were thrilled after services to end the evening with a trip across the street to their favorite house of worship: The McCathedral of the Golden Arches!

Quotes of the Day

Mom: "Olivia, stop crying and get down here!"
Olivia: "I'm not crying; I'm whining!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Meredith: "We had fun at Kristin's house yesterday. We went for tea. But we didn't have tea. We had tropical punch. And we had fruit salad. But it didn't have any salad in it, only fruit."

Tea and Toys

After our failed start to the day at the Alexandra Palace Saturday, we made our way to Kristin and Gareth's for afternoon tea. In addition to their own three, Kristin and Gareth were babysitting for friends, so we had nine children in all plus four adults. If you look closely above, you can count the seven girls and two boys whom I managed to corral for just a minute and capture in a single photograph. The racket was quite something, especially given the small size of London homes, but it was a joyful noise. The girls greatly enjoyed playing with other kids, and the visitors, who dream of going to Florida, were fascinated to learn from the Americans about the perils of alligators. Gareth mostly enjoyed the meat and cheese tray we brought along, not knowing that Kristin keeps him on strict rations in that department.

A Palace For A Princely Price

left to the right: Alexandra Palace palm court entrance; the rose window built in Germany weights 2.5 tons; The BBC's was founded and began broadcasting from the palace in 1936.

The website seemed straightforward enough: "Visit the only trade show for make-up artists in the world. On in London this weekend only. Suitable for children and families." Check, check check. We set out Saturday morning to see a trade show at the Alexandra Palace, built in 1875 as a recreation center for Victorian London. It is an imposing venue in east London set on a hill with wonderful views and surrounded by a large park. We were accompanied by busloads of excited teenagers and young twenties, headed to see the same show. The tube was crowded owing to the closure of the two of the main tube lines for repairs, but we squeezed in for the 18 tube stops and the bus ride. We were dropped at the imposing Palm Court and hurried in to buy our tickets. That's when we found out we wouldn't be proceeding further. At an eye-popping f45 per person (f40 for kids) we weren't that interested. For the equivalent of $280, we'll learn about stage make up on television. The question remains how (and why) all these youngsters were willing to pay the same price. And they say there's a recession... To salvage the day we showed the girls the enormous broadcast tower that is incorporated into the building. The palace was the first headquarters of the BBC starting in 1936 and remained its principle office for many years. The girls learned that radio and tv waves are around us all the time, but you can't see them or feel them. They are still suspicious, but they understand the concept at least.

Cleanin' Reprised

Olivia informed us today that she has no plans to clean her own house when she grows up. Estimating her net worth at $261, she says that's more than enough to hire a cleaning lady to do it for her! Her sisters enjoy cleaning a bit more and had the unique experience of "slopping the stoop" today, which involved mopping and squeegeying the front porch. They thought it was great fun. It's all part of the on-going campaign to teach basic housekeeping skills to girls who are spoiled by a housekeeper at home. The idea of cleaning your own, muchless cleaning it thoroughly ONCE A WEEK (and on a Saturday to boot) is too horrible to contemplate. As Olivia put it, "That's supposed to be my play day!" (as if every day were not play day on this trip.)Nonetheless, they cleaned for several hours. It broke up an otherwise dull day resulting from Cecily's sniffly nose and bad cold, which prevented us from making a trip. We'll make up for the "lazy" day tomorrow.

Tube Stop