The Eye

In case you haven't heard, we are moving to Russia late December. Yes, I cried too. I know it is the dead of winter but then again I did grow up in Montreal and somehow the cold should not scare me. P has been living in Moscow since July but through various fortuitous events has managed to be back every 3 weeks or so.

P was here for his last week in London recently to help me sort out the packing. Our 300 odd boxes are now on the road to Moscow. On his last weekend here, we took the children to see the lights on Oxford Street ( and shop at John Lewis!) On the way home, we stopped to have a look at the London Eye.

Snow Day!

Back garden Frosty at 6:30 am!


Go ahead make my snow day...


Anyone for a game of snow rugby?

We had only two snow days this winter, one in January and one early February. At most it was 6-7cm but all of England was paralysed on both days. The school remained open though to the children's disappointment. From what you see it is a mere sprinkling or dusting compared to Canada. But for the 3 M's, being their first snowy winter ever, it was heaven sent and truly magical.

The Tube

You either hate it or love it. But no question, the Underground is London. The best resource is Transport For London on this link, which gives you the most up-to-date map in English and many other languages from Arabic and Bengali to Urdu and Vietnamese.

Kensington Palace

The Big D aka "Lola" (Granny in Filipino) spent Christmas with us in London. We toured Kensington Palace on a rainy afternoon. The palace was the birthplace of Queen Victoria and was once the home of Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales. We were able to tour some of the rooms that served as their private apartments. There was also a special exhibit of Diana's photographs by Mario Testino and some of the gowns she wore for the photo shoot. Very beautiful and indeed also sad. Afterwards, we had a nice hot meal at Wagamama, one of the city's trendy food chains, soon to hit the US. You heard it here first.

The Money Shot of Trafalgar Square

The best place to get Trafalgar Square with the Christmas tree, Nelson's Column and Big Ben in the background is by standing on the balcony of The National Art Gallery opposite. The Christmas tree on the Square has been donated by Norway to London yearly since 1946, in recognition of the city's aid to Norwegians during the Second World War.

Windsor Castle

England is all about history and there is nothing we enjoy more than spending weekends delving into great castles and the country's many magnificent historical landmarks. Twenty five minutes from where we live is Windsor Castle, which sits high above the River Thames and has maintained this glorious position as the oldest and largest occupied castle since it was built by William the Conqueror in the 1070s.

When we visited in May, and again in August, Her Majesty The Queen's Royal Standard, a yellow flag with three red lions, was flying high above the Round Tower. This flag on the mast, rather than the British Union Jack, indicates HM is in residence at the castle. We did not get a chance to see Liz but we did enjoy touring her lovely home and St. George's Chapel which housed her many great dead relatives, from Henry VIII to her sister Princess Margaret.

Click here to read about Windsor Castle and all Her Majesty's Royal Residences. When you visit, we will likely take you to Windsor as we have annual passes!


St.George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

Stonehenge

Gotta call my broker about big rock futures...

We have been in England now for 6 months and managing to visit some of the tourist sites and there are many! We literally came upon Stonehenge during a drive to Wiltshire to visit a friend in their farm park. I was just mentioning to P on our drive that Mary lived near Stonehenge when what should we see once we crested the hill...yes, big rocks! Windy plains housed a giant's broken Lego fort, right next to a busy highway, lots of people - the crowd is kept away from doing any further damage or pagan worshipping by a thin rope. M1 was really into the audio guide and we soon learned the entire history of Stonehenge on the drive.

For more info try, the official site : Stonehenge