Wednesday, October 03, 2007

London Vacation Long Ago

When I was very young and living in Ireland my parents took my brother and I to England for a Christmas vacation. My parents had done some research on hotels in London and came up with a nice one on Curzon street. Don't ask me why I remember that street but the whole vacation is very vivid in my mind still, because we had so much fun. My brother and I used to play elevator tag which probably annoyed those people waiting for the elevator! We went to see Jesus Christ Superstar which was fantastic and we visited the Tower of London, whose dungeons I will never forget. The largest diamond in the world back then was also stored at the tower, if my memory serves me correctly, in a safe with incredibly thick walls. I think it was the Queen's diamond and it was HUGE. The largest ravens you will ever see, kept a vigil on the lawns there. We saw very lifelike wax people at Madame Tussaud’s famous wax museum and adjoining the museum was the planetarium. Another awesome experience. We saw the changing of the guards, and although it was not as colorful during the winter when they wear drab grey, it was still quite a spectacle and we had fun trying to get the guards to smile or even acknowledge us.

Other areas that we would have liked to visit, but just ran out of time, were Birmingham and Manchester. I am still a fan of Manchester United Soccer Club and my brother still watches all the games on cable. Birmingham is known for it's botanical gardens which my mother would have liked to see. I hope to go back there some day and if we do we can stay in the same hotel in London and now use the internet to find hotels in Manchester and hotels in Birmingham

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