September Sightseeing

September 17-25


September was a memorable month in our London Adventure. First of all, I returned to Atlanta for 3 weeks in August and this marked my first return to my London home. I found that as great as it was to be in my Atlanta home, London now feels like home too!!!

September was also the month when Erin and Matt visited us for a week and we got to celebrate Erin’s birthday at Nobu where Matt ate sushi for the first time and proclaimed it “not too bad!!!”
Enjoying all the London sights only gets better when the experience is shared with family and friends. Rick worked many of the days during Erin and Matt’s visit so I got to see all the usual attractions with them and when Rick was able to join us we explored many new sights. On a day trip to Cambridge we experienced the two “must do” events that this city offers. First we took a guided Punting Tour on the River Cam where we saw the famous Cambridge College “Backs” from a traditional Cambridge Punt. Our guide, a 20 year old college student, talked about the college landmarks as we leisurely passed by them. The punt is a flat-bottomed boat which is propelled by pushing against the river bed with a pole. Many tourists choose to rent a punt and navigate the river on their own but I am not sure why you would want to do that…it looked neither relaxing nor safe to us especially as we passed a woman, holding a baby, while attempting to punt and was actually traveling down the river sideways (there is so much wrong with that picture…I can’t even comment)!!! We also took a guided walking tour of Cambridge College where we saw all the famous buildings and several chapels while hearing stories of the notable people connected to this historic university.

Another highlight of Erin and Matt’s visit was our tour of the Buckingham Palace State Rooms. Buckingham Palace is only open for tours during August and September when the Queen is on vacation at Balmoral so we were excited that we were able to share this experience with them. There is really no way to describe the interior of a working royal palace!!! It is beautiful and grand and everywhere there are treasures of furniture, porcelain, and painting by masters.

For a totally different experience, we visited The Churchill War Rooms. Again, this is a unique museum housed in the underground complex that was the British government command centre throughout the Second World War. The complex, located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area, became operational in August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of war in Europe. The War Rooms remained in operation throughout the Second World War and were abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan. The rooms have been restored to the state they would have been in during their period of use and this is one of those museums where “history comes alive.”

Of course their visit ended much too soon! Since then Rick and I have been making plans to see as much as possible in October when the weather is still nice enough to enjoy! Stay tuned for the next blog when I describe our trips to Brugges, The Cotswolds, and Rome!!!

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/ErinAndMattInLondon?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7_0cbs1YDz6gE&feat=directlink