London
London, like Cambridge, needs little introduction. Even Kassie had visited the metropolis before our first official visit since moving to England. In late February 2003, while I spent time (blissfully alone) at the Tate Britain Gallery, taking in masterpieces from the Romantic period, including William Blake's fine drawings, and the works of the Pre-Raphaelites, John and Kassie visited the London Eye, where they enjoyed magnificent views of the city, some 135 metres above the River Thames.
The brochure claims that the London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel as it was originally called, has become the UK's top paid-for tourist attraction. For those of you who haven't visited London in a while, it's the largest observation wheel in the world and one of the highest structures in London, and was designed to celebrate the new millennium and particularly Britain's "technological innovation and [to] provide a spectacular panorama of London", observed from capsules, 32 in total capable of carrying 800 people (or 25 per capsule). Apparently Kassie wasn't one bit intimidated by either the structure or the view.
After the London Eye John decided to fulfill Kassie's year-long wish to visit the Queen, so they made the trek to Buckingham Palace, where a guard pointed out the curtain fluttering in (apparently) a bathroom window and proceeded to tell Kassie that yes, indeed, Her Majesty was in and actually in the loo. Kassie was delighted. (I'd remembered the guards as stoic-faced and bound by a vow of silence but, then again, the last time I took my turn outside the gates I did not have a child in tow.)
The three of us met up again at Covent Garden Market, did the usual tour of the shops, street hawkers, buskers, etc., and then made our way to our favourite London eaterie, Belgo, to feast on moules et frites and award ourselves after our exhausting day with cold Belgian beer (and chocolate milk for Kassie).
Since that visit in 2003, I've had a chance to tour, in the Spring of 2004, the newly re-opened Red House in Bexleyheath, South East London, home of Jane and William Morris from 1859 to '65. Also, for Kassie's eighth birthday we made a repeat visit and reintroduced her to Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Piccadilly. We also visited the London Zoo – her pick, of course – and finally, finally! took her for a ride on a double decker bus.
Date of Our Last Visit: June 2005