This is from the outside of the Tower of London. Hopefully, you get an idea of how immense and huge this fortress is. It really was a self-sufficient town within the walls. The mint was even here at one point. We spent about 3.5 hours there, and saw only 2 of the buildings! We didn't even see the Crown Jewels on this trip. That's for the next trip.
This is our tour guide, a Yeoman Warder, or "Beefeater."
The next photo is the Tower Bridge. I love this bridge. It's so majestic, and it's the only draw bridge in London. We haven't been inside this yet, but it's definitely on our list!
Next is White Tower. This is the actual palace of the property. Inside, there was an exhibit of the armory of King Henry VIII. Much of it was original from his time, some were replicas. It's hard to imagine wearing such heavy armor and having to actually move and function in it! (Unfortunately, no photography allowed inside.)
Next is a trebuchet, a type of catapult used in the medieval times.
Finally, a building which is just across the river from the Tower. The old and the new, side by side. (No idea what this is. Probably an office building.)
This weekend, we were planning to go to Salisbury, to see the town, and then to take a bus to Stonehenge. However, it turns out that there are "engineering works" on the tracks going that direction, so it was going to take twice as long to get there (2.5 to 3 hours, instead of 90 minutes), so we decided to regroup and take another short trip.
We ended up in St. Albens. St. Albens is another very old town, most known for the early Roman ruins found there. They have uncovered what is believed to be a very early (AD200) Roman settlement. The museum there houses much of what they have found, including several complete and well preserved mosaics.
The Cathedral in St. Albens is very old and beautiful. (I don't remember exactly when it was built, but I'm thinking around the 1200-1300's... )
This was a worthwhile trip! Very "cute" little town. Though, I have to say, they could take some lessons from London in terms of bus maps and schedules.... It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to get places on the buses! Many of the sights are within a 3-4 hour walk around the city, however, we got there late and didn't want to miss the primary sights. We will likely visit this area again, getting there a little earlier so we can take a more leisurely stroll.
Life in London
Zane finally started school a couple of weeks ago. He attends a school that is about 5-7 minute walk from the house. He said that the first few days, the girls were all over him. He said he had to devise a DEFCON system for himself! He talked about having a hard time on the spelling test, because he couldn't understand the words (speaking of the accent...). His teacher indicates that he is doing well.
Some differences he's noticed: What we call "recess," they call "break." Our "lunch" is their "dinner." "Math" is "maths." Almost all of the schools her have uniforms. Zane's uniform consists of: black or gray trousers, black shoes, a light blue polo shirt under a burgandy sweat shirt. This school is not particularly picky about the black shoes, they just cannot be "trainers," or tennis shoes. They have a "gym kit," clothes they wear for gym. For Zane, it's blue sport shorts with his light blue polo shirt, and black "plimsoll" shoes.
These are the flimsy canvas tennis shoes...
School is year round here. But, they actually attend school for about the same number of days as in the US. Every term has a week long "half term" break, with a 2 week break at Easter, 2 weeks at Christmas. The "summer" break is basically from the end of July until the beginning of September.We are still waiting to get Gray into school. We have filed an appeal against their decision to not allow him into the schools closest to our house. They have offered him a school that will take an hour by tube and bus, and an hour and a half by bus. I don't know about you, but, I will not put my 12 year old on the tube by himself, particularly during morning rush hour. And, I will not make him go to a school that will require him to spend 3 hours a day on buses! When I talk with school people and politicians (Yes, I called the Mayor) about this, they state that a 12 year old is expected to be able to use public transportation. They don't seem to care that he has NEVER used public transit in his life, or that it will take THREE HOURS to get to and from school. There is an Appeal Hearing on 2 February, where a panel will decide if the Admissions team was wrong in their decision.
Meanwhile, we are trying this home school thing. It really sucks! We haven't ever really considered this so we are learning and making it up as we go. Fortunately, I have many friends who home school, so they have offered a lot of resources and suggestions. The deal is, it is not meant to be a viable option for working parents. So, David and I each work from home one day a week, we are going in late or coming home early various days, and using university students when they are available to provide some guidance for Gray. On the days when neither of us is able to be home, it's a lot of "remote control" via phone. Also, my sister is often on line during the day, and she encourages him via Instant Messenger. Kind of a funny way of doing things, but it's what we have for now.
Unfortunately, on his best days, Gray is not a very motivated student, and it is often a real battle to get him to do some work. We try to come up with things that are interesting to him, but he does need to do some math practice, even though it's not interesting! He also doesn't like to write (though he actually can write pretty well), so getting him to do any written work is also a battle. We try to do oral discussions/reports, but it will be a shocking reality when he actually goes to school and has to write!
We are starting to get him involved in youth activities so he can meet people his age. The church youth group met at an American style diner the other night for milkshakes. He seemed to actually enjoy that. (Not sure if he enjoyed the people, or the milkshakes, but we'll take what we can get!)
We are trying to get the hang of grocery shopping via internet. I have to say, it's much better than hauling groceries through the streets, and on buses and tubes! And, even if we had a car, we would have to fight traffic to get there and back, and fight traffic to find a place in the "car park." But, it's hard to shop when you can't see things... We're getting better and better at it, though! What is interesting, is that if they don't have the specific item you request, they will provide a substitute. And, what they think is a viable substitute for something is often quite an interesting leap! Fortunately, they point out the substitutes when they arrive with the order, and you have an opportunity to send them back.
Well, I seem to have run out of things to write. Off to church! We are recording a new album and DVD today!
