I'm going to attempt to have these in SOME sort of order. Once I get this first "batch" up, I'll be adding more every few days. Bear with me.
I'm still not sure what sort of format these are going to end up in. d:)
March 29 - Arrived in London.
March 31 - Went shopping with Edward, to buy things for his house and to buy stuff for myself (like my phone).
The new laundry basket (you have to see it to believe it).
My UK Mobile Phone!
April 3 - Wandered around Kingston. There's a phone booth sculpture, dated mid-1980's. Hard to find information on tho.
Phone booth sculpture, Kingston-Upon-Thames
April 7 - Spent the week in Aviemore, Scotland, with Edward, his mother (Daphne), father (Bill), and youngest brother, Ally.
Cairngorms mountains, Aviemore, Scotland
Cairngorms and the golf course
Chalet, in Aviemore. Edward standing in the window, his dad sitting at the table.
Mountains and golf course.
April 8 - Wandered around the golf course.
Getting ready for golf, Aviemore, Scotland
Golfing
Examining the tee
Golf
More golf
April 9 - In the morning, there was a badminton competition at the lodge, and in the afternoon, we did some archery.
Badminton Competition (Daphne and competitor)
Edward, Ally, and competitor
Archery
Walking around downtown Aviemore
April 11 - It was a nice day, so I took pictures of the mountains, and played with my camera.
Cairngorms mountains at Del Faber golf club and resort
Cairngorms and golf course
Cairngorms
Edward, tucked up in bed.
April 12 - We took a guided tour of northern Scotland in the Highlands. We had GREAT weather, and saw some interesting places! (THESE LINKS ARE CURRENTLY BROKEN UNTIL I GET MORE DISK SPACE!!)
Lochindorb, Highlands of Northern Scotland
Bernie, our tour guide (and half of Tessa, our tour mate)
Bernie and Tessa
Feral goat, in the Highalnds
More feral goats on the roadside
Feral goat
Nick, Bernie, Edward, Ally, Tessa and Ian (tour mates)
Sueno's Stone - tallest surviving cross-slab of pictish art in scotland, dating 9th or 10th century
Sueno's Stone, 6 meters high, near Kinloss Scotland
Sea, coast off of Findhorn, Scotland
Sea and coastline
Sea and coastline
Rocks and sandy beach
Harbor at Burghead, Scotland
View of the sea from cliffside, at Burghead
View of the sea
Edward and Ally at Burghead Promontory Fort, largest known Pictish coastal fort in Scotland
Inside Berhead Well
Berghead Well
Berghead Well (again)
Path to Randolph's Leap, along the River Findhorn
Darnaway Forest, along the River Findhorn
Rocky hillsides along the River Findhorn
Bernie tying rope to Nick's wheelchair, as Ian and Tessa watch and Bill birdwatches
Pulling Nick's wheelchair up the hill (Ian and Edward pulling, Bill and Ally behind, Tessa and Bernie on the side)
April 13 - Edward and I drove to Inverness, where we drove around Loch Ness and went to the James Pringle Weavers to buy stuff in his family tartan.
Loch Ness, Inverness Scotland
Grey day at Loch Ness
Loch Ness
Me, at Loch Ness, sporting my new baseball cap
April 15 - We all drove Ally back to University in Edinburgh, then had a quick picnic lunch.
Firth of Forth, hill in the distance is Berwick Law, dormant volcano
Firth of Forth (in the distance)
April 16 - Edward got a new lawn mower and tackled the yard (garden).
Edward trying out his new Flymo grass cutter
Edward crutting grass for the first time
Cutting grass, front of the house
Yardwork
April 25 - I stayed home for the day, but saw a cool truck outside, so secretly snapped a shot.
Interesting truck "Bashed and Smashed Car Breakers"??!
April 27 - By now, I was an old pro at taking the bus in to Kingston, but hadnt gotten alot of pictures yet.
My 71 bus, in Kingston
Directional sign post, Kingston-Upon-Thames (my 'hangout')
Kingston
April 29 - Edward's car died, unfortunately in the next-door-neighbors driveway. Edward called his brother Peter to come help out.
Edward's brother Peter comes to the rescue, attaching jumper cables
Jumper cables
Examining the engine
Working on the car
Putting in new car battery
May 4 - Look at all that ivy!
Back garden and garage, Edward's house
May 7 - Edward and I went to Wakehurst Place and Sheffield Park Gardens. Both owned by the National Trust.
Wakehurst mansion, Wakehurst Place Garden
Hoof and Mouth warning
Garden at Wakehurst Place
Edward at Sheffield Park Garden
Manor house at Sheffield
Me, at one of the four lakes at Sheffield
May 10 - This is the view of Edward's street, from the 71 bus stop. His house is out of view.
Edward's street as seen from bus stop
May 15 - Finally started taking pictures around London. I went to Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, St-Martin-in-the-Fields church, Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and the Royal Mews.
Nelson's Tower, Trafalgar Square
Lion at base of Nelson's tower
National Gallery
St Martin in the Fields church
Royal Opera Arcade
Statues leading up to Picadilly Circus
Buckingham Palace
Queen victoria's Monument
Buckingham Palace
Royal Rolls Royce
May 16 - Went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum in the morning. When I came out, it was POURING down rain, so I went on several "missions"… to find something relating to Paddington Bear at Paddington Station, and to find something relating to Harry Potter at King's Cross Station (his train to Hogwarts leaves from platform 9 ¾).
Martina Navritalova (I havent looked up the correct spelling yet). Took this picture for Marge.
Whoopi and Patrick Stewart
Famous Presidents (including W)
Royalty
Princess Diana
Beatles
May 17 - Went to the Museum of London. It was very interesting! It was a very cold, rainy day and they didn't allow pictures inside, so this is the only one for the day.
May 21 - Went to Kensington Palace, Notting Hill and wandered around random places in London. Very relaxing day, despite twisting my ankle for about the 10th time.
Kensington Park Garden
Queen Victoria at Kensington
Royal apartments, Kensington Palace
Mansions alongside the park
London Eye, as seen from St. James's Park
Someplace that looks neat. I dont know what it is.
Buck House (Buckingham Palace)
May 23 - I went to Wembley Stadium to take pictures before they tear it down, then went to the Tower of London, saw Tower Bridge, St.Katherine's Docks, and found an EDS office (completely on accident… I was a little (a lot) lost…*grin*)
Wembley Stadium, home of England's Football (soccer) team
Wembley - deserted, soon to be torn down
Union Jack flying over the Tower of London
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Another view of Tower Bridge
Guess what? Tower Bridge.
Another view of the Tower of London
May 24 - Found the British Museum (somewhat on accident). Actually, I found the back of it and got in through the North entrance (no crowds!).
Inside the British Museum
British Museum
More exhibits
Top of the British Museum
Really kewl statue(?) in front of the museum
Front of the British Museum
May 27 - Edward and I went to Bodiam Castle, which is south of London. We also stopped in the town where A.A. Milne wrote all of the famous Pooh stories.
Bodiam Castle, owned by National Trust in English countryside
Bodiam Castle, completely surrounded by moat
Me, at Bodiam
Another view of Bodiam
Moat monster at Bodiam? Nah, gold fishies!
Bodiam Castle
Pooh Corner, Hartfield, England - original home of A.A. Milne
May 31 - St.Paul's Cathedral. I took more pictures and will add them later.
St.Paul's Cathedral, minutes before it started to rain (yes that's blue sky up there)
June 1 - Went to Trafalgar Square again, and in to the National Gallery (art museum). Decided that Trafalgar Square is the epitome of "London". You walk out from the Underground and immediately see pigeons, monuments, museums, a famous church/cathedral, fountains, red double-decker busses, the Tube station, black cabs, old historic buildings, historical plaques, busy people, tourists, souveneirs, statues… all by standing in once place and rotating in a 360 degree circle. If you ever go to London, go there FIRST!
A Pile of Pigeons
A BIG pile of pigeons (Trafalgar Square)
Admiralty Arch
June 4 - I fell in love… with a building. Went to the National History Museum. The architecture of the building is incredible. I'm saving my pounds and pence to buy the place….
National History Museum, and fossilized tree trunk - 300 million years old
National History Museum (BEAUTIFUL architecture! I want this building!)
National History Museum… I think I could live here…
Inside "my new home"
June 6 - Took the train in to London with absolutely no plan this day. I started out at Trafalgar Square, walked South on Whitehall past the Horse Guards, then past 10 Downing Street (election day is the 7th!), past the Cenotaph memorial, down to Parliament and Westminster Abbey. So of course, at the start, my camera batteries died. There was also this AWESOME violinist playing for money at the Westminster Tube station.
The newest 'monument' added to Trafalgar Square. Unveiled in May, 2001. Big controversy over how big, plain and ugly it is.
Guards at the Mounted Horse Guards
Mounted guard
Start of the Changing of the Guard, at the Horse Guards
Changing of the Guard (right before my batteries died!)
Believe it or not, there's still lots more to come…
Carol J. Fritchey / elims@earthlink.net
