Merry Christmas! London is all but shut-down. There are only a few restaurants open, there is no public transportation and cabbies are few and far between. Attractions are closed.

We all set out about 1pm to view landmarks around Piccadilly. Buckingham Palace is first. Westminster Abbey's Christmas day service is at 3pm - which we attend. First a note about the abbey. An abbey is essentially a city within a building that also houses a church. The building is massive and magnificent. Its also packed full of Christmas worshipers. Service lasts for an hour, after which we head to dinner. Remind you, most all restaurants are closed! We find a steak house that is open and enjoy Christmas dinner there. There is a great desert and coffee house open. We have a few deserts and lattes then head to the hotel. This is our last night in the city of London.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Twas the day before Christmas... Dad arrived at noon today. His flights were uneventful.

We purchased all day tube passes (£4.30) and showed dad the sights. Stops at London Bridge, Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, (Queensbury stop for) and at Kensington Place were made. We then had dinner at Covent Garden area. At a cathedral next to Big Ben we met an Episcopalian lay minister and talked to him for a while. He talked about the anomalies of European speech and gave some history lessons. Sad to say but he knew more American history then we combined.

The Royal postal service and the Piccadilly line (tube) workers are on-strike. Tonight we watched Chevy Chases Christmas.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Work colleagues suggested that the Big Bus tour was not to be missed. True that as today we took the bus tour and got to view all the major attractions. Also included was a water cruise from the Tower bridge to Westminster. Most of today we spent riding. Taking this tour also helped orient us to where each church, castle, building and landmark was located.

Lunch (Chinese food) was eaten at Leicester square. Afterwards we picked up two tickets to "We Will Rock You" and headed back to the hotel for an hour of rest. (Tickets to "Mary Poppin's" or "The Producers" are so in demand they can't be had for a month out.)

The Queen and Ben Elton musical comedy, "We Will Rock You", was performed at the Dominion Theatre off of Oxford Street. This West London theatre district has a theatre on each corner, practically. The shows premise is thus: 2070 is the year; GlobalSoft has banned all musical instruments and all independent musical thinking. Teens robotically perform the company's music. Two rouge "thinkers", a guy and girl, come together (literally) to break the mold, find the one remaining instrument (an electronic guitar) and start making music again. It's about defeating the Stalin one-world style monopoly and allowing independent thinking. The finale of We Will Rock You, We are the Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody truly engaged the audience and provided a fabulous end of show.

Dad left Dulles today heading to Manchester than London LHR. He should arrive around noon tomorrow.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Twelve degrees Celsius may not feel warm to Floridians but it's a great winter London temperature. Today it is 12 deg Celsius and it does feel warm. There is no rain all day.

Mom has been corresponding with Family Futures Consortium. This is a London based child therapy group with an emphasis on treating heavily traumatized children and those with attachment disorder. She has setup a meeting at 1pm. We travel by tube to the Angel station then find our way to 35 Britannia row, N1. Mom meets with director, Alan Burnell for a few hours. Lunch/early dinner is had in Islington. My meal consists of french onion soup, an entrée of salmon fishcake ended with a banana toffee desert. After the meal we traveled to London Bridge. Here the tower bridge, London tower and London dungeon resides. The evening is cloudless and is perfect photographing weather. The night shots of the tower bridge turn out spectacular.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Before leaving Edinburgh we spend time at the Scottish National Gallery. Entrance is without charge; the main gallery spans about thirty different rooms.

Finally, we see live bag pipe players. The first is a young kid playing on the street. Across the road is a young pensioner playing. (1380-1417) We buy some Scottish gifts then board the train for London. Our four hour ride is uneventful and even more scenic then the London-Glasgow route. This eastern route travels right along the coast. For miles one can see golf courses planted right beside the rocky coast. The water beats up on the rocks spilling over onto land. It makes for a great ride. It is late evening by the time we arrive at the Park Lane hotel on Piccadilly street in London. The hotel sits just one half mile from Piccadilly Circus - an area similar to Times Square in New York. You can see the similarity especially in the electronic billboard displays. Our dual room suite is well laid-out and the staff is very accommodating. They, however, must not believe in wash-clothes. Each day practically we have to ask for wash-clothes! Dinner tonight is simple at a London café.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Let's take a few short sidetracks...

First, and foremost, TV in the UK is limited and it just plain stinks! Commercials, on the other hand, are original, funny (sometimes corny) and push the limits. The BBC (equivalent to NBC) owns multiple broadcast channels. There is news (eg CNN), feature films (eg HBO), home living (eg HGTV), etc. SKY is the main, conglomerate, cable provider. They do have a nice digital text service showing up-to-date news, weather, sports scores, etc. on your TV. (The Brit's refer to it as "the red button.") I do appreciate being able to watch atypical sports. You can view a polo match, football (say soccer), hockey (from Russia and usually in Russian), or cricket practically 24/7. Most broadcasts are presented with none or limited commercial interruption. Finally, they Brit's don't censor their TV with respect to language!

Second, a few more things I'm noticing. All electrical outlets are switched. There is a switch right beside the plug. Bathrooms have their light switches (for the most part) outside the room. Many Brit's end their verbal conversation with the greeting "cheers." Text messaging is rampant here. You see everybody from the oldest grandma to young kids textin'. Every fifth television commercial, it seems, advertise ring tones that you can text and receive. Want the crazy frog? Text Sound2 to 86104. Restaurant service tends to be spottier and less prompt. You frequently must ask to have water refilled. Bread isn't a common starter on the table.

Sometimes you need a translator to understand a Englishman's speaking. Here are some examples: pensioner = an old person; queue = a line (eg. you must wait in a queue to buy tickets); quid = an English pound; a drink driver = a drunk driver.

Posted by Justin Hall at 08:00 AM | Permalink

Today we venture out to see the Edinburgh Castle. (1217-1357) After all, this is the premiere destination in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Castle is the home to the Scottish Crown Jewels, the oldest Royal Regalia in Britain. It is also the most famous of Scottish castles. We saw 'Mons Meg' and the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James the VI and James I. A canon is fired everyday (except Sunday's) exactly at 1 pm. (1323-1357) Saint Margaret's Chapel (1285) is the oldest building in the castle. In the 12th century it was built by King David I for his mother. The great hall is the castle's main banqueting chamber. (1298) The roof is still original (16th century) and is the only piece which survived the many transformations. You see spectacular city views from the castle. Overlooking most of the city you can view the royal mile, Princess street, just to name a few.

Posted by Justin Hall at 10:00 PM | Permalink

Sheraton's executive lounge provides breakfast. Since this is Sunday we find our way to St. John's cathedral and observe their service. It's a choral matins service. Best described, this service is a singing rendition of old-time catholic aphorisms.

Edinburgh's royal mile starts at the base of Edinburgh castle. It proceeds east for a mile ending at the Holyrood palace. (Full mile: 1059-1159) "Kings have been born, crowned and died here, battles have been fought in its streets and from its castle walls. Here was the home of Scotland's parliament, until the Union; here now is the symbolic home of Scotland's kirk; the home of her legal system. Above all, it is the heart of the Scottish nation." Here is what we observed this afternoon while walking the mile.(Start of mile:1059-1060)

There are many little shops. Scottish scarves are sold everywhere. Mom buys up a scarf then comes back later to buy more for gifts. You can buy a full Scottish kilt outfit, if you have £99 to spend. Need full armor? You can buy that too for about £1,200.

The tourism and visitor center is located in an old cathedral. (1061, 1062)

St. Giles' cathedral was the church of John Knox during the Reformation. Its stained glass is its forte. Inside sits a huge pipe organ. (1064-1072)

Walkways between buildings are called "closes". (1094, 1115, 1124, 1143) For example, there is the Anchor Close. (1094) Aptly these are named; there is limited space between each. We find Advocate's Close. There sits Edinburgh's oldest house at No. 8 Advocate's Close. It was built for the merchant Thomas Harvey in 1470. The home has been used as a brass foundry, blacksmith's workshop, Song School and more. DOM, a Scottish arts charity, maintains the premises today. There are three floors each with a different style and history. (1078-1086)

Memorial's to fallen Scotsmen contain the phrase "their name liveth for everymore." We see this along the Royal Mile and also at the Edinburgh castle. (1093)

The Tron Kirk is next. (1101-1108) "350 years ago in 1637 the foundation of Christ's Kirk at the Tron was laid over the upper parts of the much earlier Marlin's Wynd, the remains of which can be seen inside the building. Important in the history of Edinburgh and the story of Scotland the Tron amply fills a strategic position on the Royal Mile close to the site of the old salt Tron or public weighbeam from which derives its name. The tower and spiral provide a landmark on the famous skyline of the Old Town."

You can't help but smile when you see the World's End photographs. (1143,1147)

The rock structure in photograph 1162 provides a sky's eye view of the Royal Mile.

Towards the end of the mile sits the current Scottish Parliament Queensberry house. And what a site it is. Its modern décor is unlike anything else in the city, bar none. (1183-1192) The Queen's Gallery and Palace at Holyrood is across the street. (1193, 1195) Once the home of Mary, Queen of Scots, Holyrood remains a working palace today.

Lunch is eaten at Piemakers. This Great Britain favorite was named best takeout in Scotland the past three years.

Our Royal Mile history walk concludes and it's time for dinner. On the way I stop to photograph town at night. (1205, 1208) You can see the Edinburgh castle in the distance. (1211) Jennings is the oldest department store in the world. (1212, 1213)

Posted by Justin Hall at 11:30 PM | Permalink