What can I say about the past two days?

Well, aside from a nap when they first arrived early yesterday morning, my sister and her family have been going non-stop. I met them at Victoria Station and we had the pleasure of riding the tube during the morning commuter rush--an interesting way to immerse yourself into a culture! It was a beautiful, sunny day and the rest of the week was looking bad, so the decision was made to visit the Tower of London. I hadn't been since 1996, but I'm happy to report that the Yeomen Warders are as entertaining as ever. We took several buses home rather than a subway so that they could see some sights along the way. Dinner in. Bed early.

Today we were out the door as early as possible considering seven people had to shower (and dress in clothes that we were wearing for Thanksgiving dinner). Did part of a hop-on/hop-off bus tour that goes past our house. Got off at the London Eye and had a beautiful view of the city and beyond on this second glorious day (I'm happy that the weather predictions are often so wrong here). Walked across the Westminster Bridge to Westminster Abbey, then walked down Whitehall past the horse guards and Trafalgar Square to St. Martin-in-the-Fields' crypt to do some brass rubbings. Tired yet? We then walked to Covent Garden for some shopping. My youngest nephew Andrew was picked to be in a busker's act--very cute. Then we "cabbed" it over to our (5:30 PM) Thanksgiving dinner at Villandry where we met up with Gord, other faculty, and the students. It wasn't a bad meal (it was a beautiful restaurant, in fact), but it wasn't like home. I heard the pumpkin pie was good, but the pecan pie just wasn't close to the real thing. My sister and family finished early and left to walk down Oxford Street to see the Christmas decorations (the stores are finally open late-- new holiday hours!). Gord and I finally met up with them in Selfridges about 8:30. Walked around for another half hour, then took the subway home to plan tomorrow's activities. It was a very mild, clear night.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Favourite plaque: J. M. Barrie