London with Olia or The Adventures Of The Four Red Jackets

On Monday morning, I sent our kids off to school and hopped onto the train to London with Olia and the little ones. First stop--Tower Bridge. 

We didn't just get to LOOK at it. This time we climbed inside it to see the Tower Bridge Exhibit.

This was one of the most exciting parts--the glass floor of the walking bit above the road and the river. Kind of freaky to see those cars just driving under us. 

I know our kids would also enjoy coming here and reading all the facts about the bridges around the world that were displayed as part of the exhibit. So maybe we'll come back. But a few interesting facts for you about the bridge. It took 8 years to build in 1886-1894, it is 800 ft long, and sits 143 feet above the water (the walking part) at high tide. It takes 5 minutes for each half (bascule) to be raised for vessels to pass. And apparently it opens about 1000 each year! I did not know it as I have never seen it being raised. One interesting snippets: In 1952, the bridge began to open while a double-decker bus was still on it. The bus driver had to accelerate and jump a small three foot gap. The best part is--he was awarded £10 for bravery:) 

From the Tower of London pier we took the boat to Westminster. 

It was an awkward kind of time of the day, around 4 pm, when we didn't want to start anything major to do and weren't quite ready for dinner. So we walked around by Big Ben, saw the outside of the Westminster Abbey and played in front of the Lincoln's and Churchill's monuments. All while I was trying to sort out the situation that happened back in Huntingdon because Katya forgot to grab her key to the house. I was on the phone with multiple neighbors and trying to reach Robert at the dental clinic (apparently I didn't sound quite urgent to the receptionist;). But it all worked out at the end and the kids were all taken care of.

We hopped on a double-decker bus (which the kids loved) and sat in the very front and on top. We got off at Hyde Park Corner and walked over to a beautiful woody area for kids to run around on. It was a nice break before we got back on the tube and towards King's Cross to have dinner there at the station. Although we didn't get to see a whole lot, I think the kids will remember this London visit for a while:). I hope:) 

Lyana.

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