London

We arrived about 10:30 in the evening to our daughter's flat. We drove in right behind the truck that was delivering her groceries! What a great service it is. She places her order on line and states the time she wants it delivered and it happens! I was impressed with the quality of produce and meat selections as well as how carefully the items were packed to maintain their freshness. I also said what a great way to carry in those heavy bottles of water!  If ever DH decides to take a break from grocery shopping, this might just be the way to go for me!

 The next day, we had a walk about along the Thames and then made it to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard which is amazing to see! This statue was near the palace and I snapped the photo because of the gold combined with the grey stone.

We visited the Imperial War Museum. London is expensive; but, most of the museums are free! We purchased a "guide" and then spent about four hours wandering through four of the five floors of exhibits. The fifth floor was a special exhibit that we didn't visit. We were all impressed with this museum. It has so many interactive exhibits and there were so many docents telling stores, holding artifacts and answering questions.

On our way home we stopped at the Bermondsey Market for lunch. There are lots of good food vendors and we saw Jensen's Gin Distillery.  We did a tasting and purchased a little. It was a great day.





The following day, DD took us to the Borough Market which was one of my favorite locations the last time we visited DD in London. On this day, we sipped a special coffee, bought some special cheese and ate oysters on the half shell. During our stay, we went three times to this market!

The cheese shop was super busy; but, I couldn't resist snapping this photo of all the cheese on the counter. Also, The Rogue River Blue at 77.80 pounds is a cheese produced just about five hours south of where we live. It was fun to see a product of home among the English and French cheeses!

The line to the coffee was extra long. I took this photo of DH and DD; but, what I also wanted to capture were the quilting patterns in the arches behind them!














Can't you just see the quilting patterns on the front of the market building??

I took a photo of this blouse because it also had the circles as trim around the sleeves and bodice!


















This was the fish vendor stall. There was such a wonderful variety available.

This is the worker preparing our oysters. He was so fast with getting these ready.

Wow, they were good!!!

Speaking of quilt inspirations, check out this little house. It is called the shell house/hut. It was in the Lower Grosvenor Gardens. The design reminded me of quilt borders. There were two in the gardens. They were built in 1952 to commemorate Marshal Foch and they had a purpose too! One was to store garden tools in and the other was to house the garden attendant! They were locked so, I don't know if they hold garden tools now! It would have been an extra small space for the gardener; but, maybe he used it for a place to sit and have lunch or coffee???


Then we met a couple of DD's friends at The Goring and had high tea. My what an experience that was!!! The Goring is where Kate Middleton housed her wedding party before her marriage to Andrew. It was so cool to be able to be in a place that has been so celebrated over the years. It was also cool to see a grandmother celebrating her birthday with her daughter and granddaughter.

I enjoyed listening to DD's friends talk about their lives. What interesting people they are!! They both speak fluent Chinese and both lived/worked in Beijing. I went to China in 2009, it was a wonderful trip. They also speak fluent French. I keep trying to learn French; it isn't easy. I can't imagine being able to converse in so many languages!

The following day, we started out to explore; but, just made it to the market for fortifications before we decided it was just too wet to keep slogging about!

Tower bridge in the background is a beautiful bridge. Check back next week for the final installment of our trip.