April 28, 2013–Soccer game

The England Premier Soccer playoff game between Arsenal and Manchester United was today so we went to a pub near us to watch the game.  The pub had £1.99 pints and several TV screens.  The pub was not as rowdy as we thought it would be but we had fun.

Edward watching the soccer game.

April 27, 2013–Move from hotel to apartment

Saturday, April 27.  Moved into an apartment today where we will be staying until the end of May. It is bigger and cheaper than the hotel.  We have a living room, kitchen, bath and 1 bedroom.  Much more comfortable than being in a hotel room for that long term.  Edward wanted one in a pre-war building above the club called "Love & Liquor", blackout windows and bouncers at the door.  Elaine wanted the nice ultra modern new building around the corner. Guess where we ended up. Well, there is something to be said for modern conveniences! 

The apartment is very clean and just footsteps away from the bus line and about 1 block from the Underground station.  There are several food stores, restaurants, clothing stores and even an “Everything £1” store (1 pound).  It is so nice to have the food stores close by us since we have to carry everything back to the apartment.
Edward at the computer in the kitchen/dining/living area

Living room with TV

  Bathroom

Bedroom

It is a cool pleasant rainy evening in London. High today was 56, low tonight forecast 29. Seems winter is still here in London.

April 26, 2013 Abbey Road, London England

Now this is smaller than a Smart Car.  We saw this on a walk to Abbey Road.

  We stopped in to view the art at the Ben Uri Gallery Museum, The London Jewish Museum of Art, Britain’s oldest Jewish cultural organization.

Elaine on Abbey Road near the Studio.

New London Synagogue on Abbey Road in London

  How about this flowers – the blooms appear to be upside down.

  A large Baptist Church on Abbey Road

  Edward at Abbey Road Studios.  Elaine took these pictures then was quickly run off and told we could not take pictures.  Always getting caught doing something not suppose to be doing.  It was NOT posted “No photographs”.

April 25, 2013 London’s East End and Musical “Jersey Boys”

Kim and Christina flights left London today to their homes in Houston and Dallas. 

Explored the area East End today.  We have been told the East End is similar to Bronx in New York City.  We love to use the double decker buses as a personal tour bus.  We just ride until we decide to change to another bus. 

Camberwell Public Baths opened in 1892 and has been in continuous operation as publicly funded community baths and more recently as a public leisure center.

Hermits Pub was on the way.  We do get thirsty on these tours.

Great architecture to view on the trip.

View of streets outside of center of London

 

Cotto Restaurant, the blue awning, Italian restaurant, super.  Ate here with Kim and Christina.  London eye in background

Nice view from the bridge over the Thames River of Tower and Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings.

The Monument to the Great Fire of London. The Monument offers panoramic views over London. It was built to commemorate the Great Fire which devastated the City of London in 1666.  It is 202 feet high and is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. If you climb the 311 steps to the balcony at the top you are rewarded with breath-taking views of the City, as well as a certificate of achievement. I’m not sure we will do this.

    

We saw “Jersey Boys” tonight at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End, SoHo, near Leicester Square.  Great show.  Don’t know why we haven't seen it before.  The music was great songs from the 60’s such as “Big Girls Don't Cry”, “Sherry”, “December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)”, “My Eyes Adored You”, “Stay”, “Can't Take My Eyes Off You”, “Working My Way Back to You” and “Rag Doll”, among others.

The weather is getting cooler.  It was in the 50’s today after the nice 60’s temperatures since we arrived.

 

 

April 23, 2013 British Museum

Tuesday, April 23 we stopped by Kim’s hotel to go visit the British Museum. 

  Hotel has BLACK CHANDIELIERS!  The colors are black, gray, silver and white through the hotel.

  Edward in a London phone booth in front of the British Museum.

      

British Museum outside and inside.

Below some interesting things we saw in the Museum.

     Rosetta Stone

Falcon

Above is recent discoveries

Kim looking in the lions mouth.

Rubber ducky's in the Gift Shop

April 24, 2013–Interesting buildings, etc. in London

 

  

An umbrella and stick store established in 1830.  Every kind, color, etc. of umbrellas, canes and walking sticks.

Building where Karl Marx lived 1851-56

 

  

People and traffic very heavy.  Big double decker red busses and taxis of every color – Not just black.

Interesting door knob in the middle.

Bezier Apartments on Old Street  - reminds us of beer kegs

Space ship looking building.  The building stands on the former site of the Baltic Exchange, the headquarters of a global marketplace for ship sales and shipping information. On 10 April 1992 the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb close to the Exchange.

Dirty Dick’s Pub

St. Paul's Cathedral

Cherry Blossoms

The Shard - pointed top building.  Highest apartment building in Europe.

London Eye from the bus

Restaurants and pubs on the barges and boats on the Thames River

 Elaine and Edward on the Thames River.

 

People waiting for the trains at Waterloo Station in London.  See the list of departures.

  A Pink Taxi in London

Farwell to Kim and Christina

Edward in Leicester Square

Swiss Court token of friendship to UK.  Cantonal Tree was erected in 1991 as part of the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation as a token of friendship between Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The tree bears the arms of the twenty six cantons.

Swiss Glockenspiel in Leicester Square