Sunday in London

It was a very hot day in London as we made our way through that busy city.  Sunday, September 9, was the last day of the Paralympic Games, which were very much in evidence, as some roads were closed to traffic due to the marathon taking place that day.  Even though we did not have the opportunity to see the runners, we did share in the general ambience as thousands upon thousands of tourists, as well as the local population, took to the streets to watch the competition and enjoy the sunny weather which, as they keep telling us, is very unusual at this time of year.

Some of the things we did in London:

We arrived at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.  The Expeditionary Force took their worksheets from their teachers and into the Observatory they went.  Once they had visited the site where Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was invented, and they had gathered all their data, we sat outside and had a pic-nic.

And here's a short video as we arrived at the Observatory:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIR_DMfaZ9c&feature=youtu.be

We then walked to the river bank where we boarded a boat on which we would sail up the river.  As we sailed, we got to see many of the traditional landmarks of the city, albeit from a different perspective.  

Below you will see some photographs and video footage of our sailing experience.

And now, videos; three of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_MVQO1s940

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSjwdWgR2ds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBxbkfwPqgo

We got off at Big Ben.  We walked across the bridge to the South Bank, and headed directly for the London Eye.

We queued up to get on the Eye and, incredibly, we got to fly the Eye on the only orange capsule of the 32 capsules, or pods, on the Eye – all the remaining 31 capsules are white.  The reason for this, we were told, is that there may be no advertising on the river banks.  People will ask “Why is there only one orange pod?” and the answer will be “Because EDF own the EYE, and that’s their corporate colour”.  That way they can actually do some advertising without actually breaking the law. 

So up we went on the orange pod.

Here are some pictures and video of that experience:

Video!!    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE-zbQIKsk4&feature=youtu.be

Once we left that most famous of London landmarks, we headed for the Tube so we could go shopping on Oxford Street.  

Here's a video of that Tube trip:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O4s4nKbGZ8

Both boys and girls were excited about the shopping bit of our visit to London.

Once they'd shopped to their hearts' content, we directed our steps towards our coach, which awaited us at the end of Oxford Street.

After a smooth ride, we arrived "home".  It was 9:45 in the p.m.