So long, farewell, aufwiedersehen, adieu!

Dear UK Surprises fan,

I know I should have something witty to say, but I don't. It gets harder and harder to leave a place I have noticed as I age - maybe that is just because it gets harder and harder to 'bounce back' from long voyages ;)

I enjoyed London immensely - so much to do, so much to see. I am most grateful though for the people I got to meet, what they taught me and for the memories.

Au revoir London! I shall return to you, but alas for us, the longer I stay away from you, the less I have to pay in tuition. Sorry that I'm cheap! But I am and so I shant see you for a while....

Take care everybody and I hope you enjoy the next blog.....and away we go!

'It's the Final Countdown!'...

Me friends came to wish me luck at me last Russell Square Lunch - thank ye kindly!








I had to say goodbye to Jeremy Bentham - I hope he understands....





















And there you have it! The last view of our loverly garden/graveyard! I will miss it all!

On the way to church I saw....

We pass by this every time we go to church - these big pock marks from 'enemy', i.e. German, bombing during WWII. Ahh! I hate war! I hate it!

Off to Parliament we go...

There is the clock tower of Parliament - apparently 'Big Ben' refers to the bell within the clock tower. Umm...ok....









Here I am waiting in line to see the House of Lords (the Reds) and the House of Commons (the Greens).









A very warm day in front of Parliament. It's called Westminster Palace officially (was the monarch's residence until 1529 and in 1549 the House of Commons moved into the newly-defunct St. Stephen's chapel) and the current building was built after a fire destroyed it in 1834.

The Commons was interesting - plain, big glass barrier, etc; the Lords on the other hand was beautiful, decorative, red 'velvety' all over.

Westminster is full of churches - reminds me of 'Church Row' in Salt Lake.

This is St. Margaret's Chapel (Anglican) right next to Westminster Abbey. This was Parliament's chapel for a very long time and Sir Walter Raleigh is buried here (beheaded by James I).





Then we have across the street Methodist Central Hall. This was finished in 1912 for the centenary of John Wesley's death. It was also the site of the largest air raid shelter during WWII and where the first General Assembly of the UN was held in 1946.


Here is an inside shot of Central Hall. It felt more 'my style' than the other churches, but I think that is just because it reminds me of the Tabernacle in Salt Lake.

Westminster Abbey

There she is, the loverly Westminster (Anglican) Abbey where just about anyone who was anyone in British history is buried (Darwin, Newton, Elizabeth I, Winston Churchill, etc.)! This is the north entrance...




Here is the west entrance. That is where I went through twice to go to 'Evensong' (a singing service at night - kind of a nice sung prayer before you were supposed to go to bed.) - once with a men's choir and then with a boys choir. The music was nice and I got to sit in the 'Choir' (fancy part where the seats face each other)....






Here is the West entrance in greater detail. I guess these are the 'modern martyrs'. The fifth one from the right is Martin Luther King Jr.







Loverly sentiment indeed. I really like this...

A picnic in Hyde Park with Albert....

Here he is, the man Victoria loved so much! I think it's cool that they liked each other so much - that seems to be one in a million with royal-arranged marriages.

Then right across from the memorial is the world-famous Royal Albert Hall where they do concerts and plays. I still haven't been inside....


And it was even loverlier with the Salvation Army band playing songs for everyone's enjoyment - after hanging out in Europe...I am just impressed to find anyone that believes anything!

What does all of this mean?!!

Notice that world-famous traitor to the Crown?! Why yes, it is a statue of George Washington in Trafalgar Square right in front of the National Gallery. Why is he there?!!


Then you have on the other side of the Gallery, a statue of James II. Why do you put a statue of the king you deposed and asked his daughter and son-in-law to come rule in his place (William and Mary) in such a prominent spot?

Then the confusion just grows because they have a statue of Charles I (just off to the bottom left of this pic - he's on a horse) whom they beheaded?

Is this the 'British' way of doing penance (we're sorry Charlie for cutting your head off - here's a statue)? Or are these just memorials to the 'Great Traitors of the people of Britain'? I just don't know...

'On the roof tops of London...'

This is Westminster (Catholic) Cathedral. I write Catholic so as to point out to the peeps abroad that this is different from Westminster (Anglican-Church of England) Abbey where Queen Elizabeth was crowned (I didn't realize this). Sarah Paul and I went up the very tall clock tower for some amazing views...






That 'spired' building in the middle is part of the museum complex that is on the same road as my ward chapel.



This is the direction that I live. I think Langton Close is between those two cranes off in the distance....








And another great view of the city! Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the Gherkin, etc. Lookin' great everybody!

Buckingham and I, I mean me, I mean...

Here's my sister Julia's future house - if only she'd hurry up with that mission thing ;)



I had just seen 'Mission Impossible III' so I guess I thought I could break into any door as easily as Tom Cruise did....


My Alaskan bruthas and sistahs know what this is all about! (Secret combinations - oi!)

And the parade goes on!

The other groups looked good, but...honestly, when I saw these type of guys I just started singing (in my head of course) 'Oh-wee-womp, Yee-ohh-omp!' or whatever the soldiers sing in 'The Wizard of Oz'. Poor guys...they probably get that a lot!

Happy Birthday Queeny dear!

And there you have it! Buckingham Palace! I went that morning to see the 'Changing of the Guard' that's so famous, but instead got to see the practice for the 'Trooping of the Colour', i.e. the Queen's official state birthday party! Her real birthday is in April, so after lengthy discussion, we think this is because she was crowned in June, so it's her 'birthday' as queen.

The 'commoners' gather to witness the grandeur!

The parade begins with rows and row of soldiers - surprisingly very little poo was witnessed by us.

The Hills are alive...

We decided to go to a 'Sound of Music' singalong. Here is a group - the lady made all of these outfits for her friends! They even had a Baroness Schraeder! The anticipation grew seeing how 'into it' so many people were...



Here's the group of us all ready to have some Austrian fun!










Then things started to change. Our host, a drag queen named Candy Floss, began to explain what to shout and what to do during the show. He was fine, no problems, no worries - but then he started saying innuendoish comments, etc. That was bad enough, but then he said 'we've got to keep it clean dahlings, there are children here.' He then pointed out a little girl on the front row, but continued with his comments. I don't know...it didn't last too long, but I felt a loss of the Spirit and it ruined things for me. The movie was good and it was fun to sing along, but then they had the bar open and so drunk people started shouting vulgar things at the screen, etc. It just didn't feel good in the end....what's even more strange is that I couldn't figure out why I felt 'bad' until 2/3 of the movie was over. I wrote the theatre about having separate shows for 'bachelorette parties, drinkers' and kids and people who don't want to be around that - we'll see what happens...

PS I've done a 'Lilo' and punished Candy Floss for his actions - he's been ex'd from the picture! Don't cross me, see what I am capable of?!

Hello Mr. Prime Minister...

Somewhere back there is #10 - where the bidnezz happens...

The Queen's Royal (Horse) Life Guard...or something like that...

The Thames by Night...

Loverly, loverly....what more is there to say?

The Thames by Day...

Ahh the Thames, it's seen so much: Romans, Vikings, Normans, Mormons ;) The Thames is also...full...of so much. For example, they released a study in Novemberish 2005 that said by analysing the Thames they were able to determine that 80,000 lines of cocaine are done in one day in London! (The government was devastated because that is 5 times the amount they thought!) Anyone for a swim?

Nevertheless, I still love it! It's so beautiful...what pretty views eh?

More wandering....

So, this would have been the Scotland Yard just off of Whitehall that our very own cocaine-using, 'who knows what he was smoking', world-famous detective, Sherlock Holmes would have frequented....

I honestly believe I am happy in this photo...honestly!