We spent Christmas and New Years in London in 1998 and New Years in 1999. Overall this was three weeks during which we were on the go every minute of every day. Durectly across the street from Westminster is Parliament and the clock tower with Big Ben. We saw this from all angles including a view from the Thames as we took a cruise on a charter boat.

We visited Kensington, Hampstead, Mayfair, the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels (wow!) and took a pub walk along the Thames. The Pub walk was quite interesting - we went through the produce market at 10 PM in the evening and it was operating with a full staff unloading trucks in preparation for the next days deliveries. One of the pubs we visited has been operating since the 1600’s when it was opened as a coach stop.

The parks in London are lovely and allow one a quiet time amidst all the hustle of the city. We walked through Hyde park many times and when we got to the center, we could hardly hear the city noises. The birds were singing and it almost seemed we were in the country. There are huge expanses of green lawn, many tall trees, and several waterways. What a nice respite! Of course, I imagine it is not quite this quiet during the summer! A couple of smaller parks (Green & St. James), extend the feeling of openness almost up to the Thames.

While in town we took the opportunity to checked out Fortnam & Mason’s, and had tea at Harrod’s and did a bit of shopping as well.

Of course no trip to London is complete without a stop to visit Buckingham Palace. The palace is open to visitors when the queen is in there. She did this to raise funds to repair the damage that the fire at Windsor Castle inflicted. So, for 5 Pounds you can take the tour. We opted to not fund the rebuild of Windsor as it is already completed!

Yet another train ride and we were in the town of Windsor where the queen resides at Windsor Castle. As it was explained to us, she only goes into Buckingham Palace (the office to her) about three times a week.

W e ca m e ba c k to L o n d o n fo r N e w Y ea r 2 0 00 (along with several other million people). Here we are freezing in front of the Tower Bridge.

And below, the newly built London Eye. Unfortunately, it was not ready for passengers on New Years Eve, as planned. It later became operational in early February. We haven’t been back to ride it yet.

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