Days Seven & Eight: Edinburgh and London

On Sunday, we were sad to leave Edinburgh, one of our favorite sites so far on tour. We packed up our bags and dragged them a few blocks to Waverly station (near Princes Street Suites, where we stayed -- not a bad place, but the combo waser-dryer didn't dry, leaving us with a nice load of damp laundry to deal with). Here are the kids doing their part pulling bags to the station and hanging out while we waited for the train:













Here we are on the train ride. Although it was a five hour ride, this is the way to travel with kids... much less hassle than flying and it's fun to watch the scenery go by. The trip took us down the Scottish coast of the North Sea, which provided spectacular views...














We arrived in London and took a taxi over to our hotel, the Marriott at Marble Arch. It was early evening so we strolled over to Hyde Park, which was absolutely filthy with litter -- as we found out later, the government ran an experiment by cutting cleaning services over the weekend to see how well the general public would carry out their own litter (in anticipation of 25% cuts to their budget). I can say it was an epic failure and not a great indicator of self-governance. Here's the Jelly Baby sculpture at Marble Arch; kind of reminded us of another family:







We had dinner Sunday night at Zayna, a Pakistani restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. It was the BEST meal of our trip so far! It was recommended to us, highly authentic, and perfect for the kids since we could order a variety of choices, family-style. Luckily, our kids are adventurous eaters and even Emma, our resident vegetarian, declared Indian/Pakistani food her new-found favorite.

On Monday, we ventured over to Buckingham Palace where we happened to catch the chaining of the guard as well as some sort of parade. It was fun, but very crowded. We can't imagine what the wedding must have been like.













We decided to skip the tour of the Palace due to the crowds and queues and ventured instead over to Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey was incredible -- the number of historical figures buried in this thousand year-old institution is overwhelming, with crypts ranging from kings and queens of the twelfth century to Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.
























After Westminster Abbey, we took a ride on the London Eye, a 440-foot Farris wheel right on the Thames. It was quite a ride with a view of the entire city, and the kids really enjoyed it. Here's Big Ben and Parliament, viewed from our capsule:













After the Eye, we took a boat cruise up the Thames to the Tower of London, but got there too late to get in, so we walked around some more and then took a taxi to Leicester Square.







Of course, when in London, one must visit the... M&M store! This flawless example of American capitalism was in full force... Only here can six kids get a few bags of candy for £44!






We walked from Leicester Square to Covent Garden, where I showed the kids where our offices are, and we had a nice simple meal at Byron's, a self-styled American burger joint.

Best part of the day? Westminster Abbey.