London!

We just completed the second trip with students that is part of the Yorkshire Semester program - a weekend in London.  The students wanted to wait to go until all the Christmas decorations were up and that was a great idea.  The city was beautiful!  After an orientation tour Saturday afternoon...

The Marble Arch... and the Admiralty Arch

...we all had dinner at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - supposedly the oldest pub in London (it was rebuilt in 1667). The food was just OK, but the atmosphere was great. We walked back to our hotel - from the 'City' to 'Bloomsbury' - going through Covent Garden along the way...a very nice stroll in the dark with all the Christmas lights. 

The next day was packed with a walk through Green Park (we were surprised to see some trees in blossom).....

and around Buckingham Palace...

We saw the Horseguards.....

and then walked down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square to Westminster.  We took a boat tour down the Thames to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

The Tower Bridge

The Tower of London...

...and the Beefeater who gave us a fantastic tour at the Tower of London

We wrapped up the afternoon with a glorious Evensong at Westminster Abbey with the students and John's niece Laurel and her daughter Claire.  The students went on to meet up with a friend and John and I went out to dinner with Laurel and the delightful Claire.

Laurel and Claire at Bangalore - the Indian restaurant where we had dinner.

The Celtic Hotel was rather noisy both nights, so we didn't get much sleep, but still managed to do most of what we wanted to do.  On Monday before catching the train back to York we went to Harrods (amazing - I could have spent hours 'eating with my eyes' in the food court) as well as a quick tour through the National Gallery and the British Museum.  We could have easily spent 2-3 more days....

Harrods

The Neried Monument and a statue from Easter Island in the British Museum

Interestingly, these two famous Japanese prints were a special exhibit in the British Museum rather than the National Gallery (which has a DaVince exhibit going on).

A great trip.