Day #7 - Harrods and the Palace

After I sent Steve off to work today, I got the kids moving for another day of sightseeing!  We left our flat and walked up Brompton Road.  As we approached Harrods, I suggested we walk through it so they could experience that amazing shopping experience.  Well, once I showed them the food halls, it was all over!  If you've never been to Harrods, they have these food halls that go on and on.  You can buy fancy pastries, meat, cheeses from around the world, and you can sit in various cafes and enjoy already prepared food!  In the candy shop Em said "Well, now I know where J. K. Rowling got her inspiration for Honeydukes!" First we stopped at the ice cream/pastry parlor for hot chocolate and pastries.  As you can tell from the photo, the hot chocolate was greatly enjoyed (it was truly like drinking a chocolate bar!)

We wandered a bit more around the food halls, then headed up through the other departments.  We looked at all the silver, the glassware (Pete!  Hands in your pockets!!), appliances, carpets...this store just goes on and on and on.  Just about the time I was done, the kids both asked if they could go back to the food halls for lunch.  Yes, we had been there that long!

Andy headed to the rotisserie for a steak and mashed potatoes, and Em, Pete and I headed upstairs to the Tree House Cafe on the 4th floor.  Located in amongst the children's clothing and toys, it is a kid-friendly cafe.  Pete had the lollipop burgers (basically meatballs on sticks) and Em and I had the smoked ham and guyere crepe and sauteed mushroom and stilton cheese crepe respectively.  It was all so yummy!

After food, we looked at the toys and I began to BEG to LEAVE!  We had been there 3 hours already!!  The kids really wanted to head back to the candy shop for one more thing before we left.  So, I let Peter get this marshmallow shish-ke-bab thing, And get a chocolate mousse dessert and Em get a Tiramisu (both big kid items came from the chocolate shop). I got a mini berry torte.  We walked as we ate because I really couldn't justify one more minute in that store!

We headed out towards Buckingham Palace.  I knew we'd see it from the double-decker bus, but I thought it would be nice to walk in front at our leisure and take some photos.  When the flag is on top of the palace, it means the queen is in residence, and she was!  As we approached the palace, we noticed a long line of people waiting to get in, dressed to the nines!  Turns out the queen was having a garden party, which happens three times a year, and she invites leaders in the community and others who have made a contribution to mankind.  Over 5,000 were streaming into the gardens, all by invitation.  It looked wonderful.

After the palace, we walked across Green Park towards Trafalgar Square to pick up our double decker bus tickets.  In Trafalgar Square, we passed a guy who was playing tuba, with flames leaping out of his instrument!  It was really impressive.

We found the ticket place and grabbed our tickets.  They are good for 24 hours, so our tickets started at 4pm.  We wandered a bit trying to actually find the bus stop so we could get on.  They have many different loops to choose from, so we also had to be careful about which bus we got on.  We found the one that circled back past Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.  It was a nice tour on top of a double-decker bus, with commentary about what we were seeing around us.

We looped back towards where we started, and then hopped off as we needed to meet Steve and some of his co-workers for dinner.  It was a Belgium place located down below street level.  Our table was in a tunnel.  It was all very interesting!  They are known for mussels, so Em, Steve and I had the mussels.  Andy and Peter, of course, did not.  After dinner we took a walk and stumbled upon some amazing italian ice.  Who said food in England isn't very good!  They import better stuff than we do!

After that we went for a walk and had a REAL treat!  Emily had wanted to see Much Ado about Nothing because David Tennant was in it.  Tickets were VERY expensive, so we had passed.  We found ourselves walking around the theater district after dinner, and lo and behold, what do we stumble upon but the stage door behind the theater where it was playing.  AND, there was a group of people forming...the show was about to let out!

We waited and sure enough, he showed up and Em could almost touch him.  Andy actually got to say something to him.  It was terribly exciting for her to be so close to someone she admires so much.  After a quick cab ride home, we fell into bed.  Today was exhausting!