We spent the day in London.  We took the underground into Picadilly Circus and hopped on one of the tourist buses.  We’ve been to London a handful of times now, but we’ve stayed underground and popped up at our destination like some burrowing mammal.  It was fun to see how different parts of the city connect to each other and the commentary was quite interesting.

We just happened to sit at table number 7 for lunch.  Que fortunidad!

One might notice that she is wearing the hat knit for her by her wonderful auntie Karen.  She loves it!  Thanks, Karen!

We got off the bus at the Tower of London.

Sage has been interested in Victorian times and the eponymous queen.  She particularly wanted to see her crown:

Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown

We went on the tour with the Yeoman Warder (aka beefeater) which was very interesting and entertaining.  We enjoyed his stories of prisoners, executions, and ravens.  The crown jewels were pretty amazing.  It must be pretty crowded there sometimes since they have a conveyor belt to funnel people past the display cases.  We went around about eight times!

From there, we got on one of the river boats and headed back to Westminister.  We got a good commentary on the buildings along the banks of the Thames.  One of the buildings, our guide joked, was designed by an unemployed window cleaner!

Back ashore in Westminster, we checked out Parliament and Big Ben.

We waited across from the London Eye before catching the bus around the West End and then back on the tube to head back home.

It was a long day, but I think Sage enjoyed her birthday!

I have to say that I loved Kew Gardens! I would certainly return there again. There was so much to see; we hardly scratched the surface, and it changes as different plants bloom and senesce throughout the year. I still love the New England Wildflower Society’s Garden in the Woods, but this place is wonderful as well!

I think that the brochure said that the Temperate house, below, is the largest Victorian greenhouse in the world. We walked around the balcony, which brought us up into the canopy. There was also an interesting aquarium underneath the Palm House.  Remarkable to think that the glass is all hand-blown!

Some of the cherry trees had started to bloom, along with the daffodils. The snowdrops were just finishing up for the year.

River was disappointed that she couldn’t climb on the Henry Moore sculptures displayed in the garden (more on that soon), but she did find this nice tree which partially compensated.

This pagoda made a nice focal point for several approaching paths.

I wish I’d done better with the people picture, but the landscape was so remarkable that I got distracted. Here are the backs of Sage and Sterrett as we walk along. We all enjoyed meeting our cousin. I hope we get a chance to visit again soon!

We found this peacock resting in a shed near the royal compost pile. It was advertised as the largest compost pile in the world, but we felt we’d seen bigger. At least it was ROYAL compost, I guess!

There were more peacocks roaming about the lawns.

Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to return soon. I know I’d have a membership if we lived only a bit closer.

On the Westminster side of the Thames, we found this statue of Boudica, the queen of Britons who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire, and the namesake of Sage’s deceased kitten, Little Bo.

Across the river, we also found Big Ben near the parliament building.

Wandering further in search of dinner, we caught a glimpse of the tower bridge. Nearby, we soon supped in a French restaurant.

We then headed to the O2, formerly known as the Millennium Dome, to see the King Tutankhamun exhibit. I though the artifacts from his tomb were well presented and amazingly beautiful. The level of artistry that the Egyptians possessed is truly remarkable.