Wednesday, June 15th

The weather today was cool. It rained in the morning, but cleared up by the afternoon.

Before we left the States, mom asked her friend Joanne to pick us up tickets to the London production of the Lion King. Jo got us tickets to the Wednesday (today) matinee performance. So we headed to the “entertainment” district of Covent Garden [or another Covent Garden site for more info].

We got there fairly early so we would have time to explore the Transportation Museum. The museum tells the history of transportation in London beginning with the 1800s. Here we got to see [and climb on] old horse and buggies and double decker buses. We also learned about the London train system and the building of the tube. Keaton got a little scavenger hunt map. At each exhibit there was a stamp for him to put on his map. In the end he had 15 stamps from all of the exhibits at the museum. It was really interesting to see how tranportation has evolved in London.

We didn’t really have enough time to grab lunch so instead we just got a big cookie and some hot chocolate. It wasn’t as cold as it had been the last few days, but it still was far from hot out.

After our cookies were gone, we headed down to the Lyceum Theatre where the Lion King is at. There was a line clear around the block to get in. And it was filled with school children. The education system is slightly different in England. [When I told mom's friends Keaton would be entering middle school next year none of them were really sure what that meant, so I had to explain it was school for 11 and 12 year olds.] Their school year is a little longer than most schools here in the states. So the kids were still in school in London. And, apparently, they take a lot of school trips. We saw groups of kids at the Britian War Experience, the Transportation Museum, the Lion King, and the Museum of London [which I haven't talked about yet because we didn't go there until Thursday].

So we shared the theatre with lots and lots of kids. And they were really in to the performance. They clapped through every song. Even “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” [which if you remember is more of a love song instead of a clapping song]. It was really annoying. But it was still an awesome show. The theatre was beautiful. I tried to take some pictures of the detail on the walls and the balconies, but it was too dark so you’ll just have to take my word for it. The costumes were fantastic. And the actors were great. I highly recommend this show. I think Keaton even enjoyed it and he’s not usually too keen on musicals.

After the Lion King I wanted to go to the Theatre Museum, but Keaton didn’t want to go. I’m really bummed that I didn’t force him in to it. It looks really cool. But instead we just hung out in Covent Garden, got a little bite to eat and drinks and looked at the shops for a while. Keaton went in to a toy store and bought Skyler some mood bracelets. They change colors with your mood. They’re really pretty cool. I actually had Keaton buy one for me, but I couldn’t get it over my hand so then it became Skylers.

When we were well rested, we walked to Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is London’s most famous square. It was laid out in 1829 to 1841 to commemorate Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Since this year marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, there were tons of memorials and photos commemorating the event. In fact some of the locals were complaining they were tired of all the “war stuff” all over town.

Dominating the square, on a column that is 185 feet high, is the 17 foot high statue of Nelson himself. Around the base of the column are the four giant bronze lions by Landseer. These lions are huge! Some people were sitting on them so Keaton wanted to sit on one of them too. Only he couldn’t get up on to it. He tried to jump on the lion’s rear, but he never made it. He even got a running start from the other side of the base. When he did that he got a little higher up, but still couldn’t pull himself up. He always ended up sliding down the lion’s butt. It was hilarious.

Around the sides of the square are the church of St Martin’s in the Fields and the National Gallery which houses one of the world’s richest collections of paintings. If you look at my pictures you will see the National Gallery. It is the huge building at the top of the stairs in the square. On the doorstep of the gallery is a little pigeon hangout. I assume people feed the pigeons there [although there really are pigeons all over London and they aren't scared of people at all...I guess they get lots of food from people]. Keaton stood right in the middle of the pigeons and one of them came flying up to his shoulder. I think Keaton was a little frightened at first. But then the pigeon landed right on his shoulder and he was thinking he was pretty cool [Keaton I mean, not the pigeon...although maybe the pigeon thought he was cool too.]

As we left Trafalgar Square, we headed back to Piccadilly Circus. We decided to have dinner at Planet Hollywood. This Planet Hollywood was really no different than any of the Planet Hollywood’s in the States. And that’s why I liked it. This one did have a DJ though. That was kind of cool. I can’t remember if the other Planet Hollywood’s I’ve been to had DJs or not. The DJ played some music and showed some movie clips. It was pretty cool. And after we were done eating we, of course, stopped in the store to pick up a few t-shirts.

As we made our way back to the hotel, we stopped in the Trocadero. The Trocadero is really just a big mall. But it’s huge. Gigantic. Extremely large. I think you get the point. On the upper three floors there is Funland. Funland was similar to the Namco Station only much, much bigger. They had a bowling alley, air hockey, tons and tons of arcade games, skee ball, everything you could think of. There is even an “adults only” section with gambling. Keaton was in heaven there. But grandma was getting tired and her knee was bothering her so we headed back to the hotel after about an hour.