The last leg of our winter vacation trip was to London.
Unfortunately, our stay in London was not all we had expected due to a horrific stomach virus that hit our family the morning we flew from France and followed us through London and back to Spain several days later, taking us out one at a time, managing to affect every day of our stay.
We did manage to see a few things from our wish list.
First was the Tower of London.
A castle built in the 11th century by William the Conquerer. Todd and the boys were very excited about all of the armor and torture devices.
Some of the tower’s famous residents are the ravens. It is said that if the ravens leave, the Tower of London will crumble into a pile of dust. So there are 6 full-time yeoman warders, also known as beefeaters, to take care of the 8 resident ravens.
After a full day at the tower, we walked across the Tower Bridge.
and along the River Thames.
While Leo and a I spent an entire day down for the count, Todd and Oliver managed to get out to explore the huge Battersea park, a block from our Airbnb.
The next day we all got out to see the Changing of the Guard.
Followed by a walk through St. James Park on our way to see Big Ben (which was unfortunately completely covered up by scaffolding).
The Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea was beautiful, but the stomach virus made it hard to enjoy much more than the mint tea.
The virus finally, and suddenly, got to Todd part way through the day, so the boys and I had to send him back to the Airbnb in an Uber and went to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter tour without him.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but we were all completely enthralled for nearly 5 hours. We got to see sets,
costumes,
and props from the different movies.
and learn so much about what goes in to the making of the movie.
After leaving the strike in France, all of the available transportation was refreshing. We got around the big city by train, underground and double-decker bus. I was just amazed at how they were able to make such a huge and elaborate system that works so well together and runs so frequently.
double-decker bus 
crowded underground 
One planned stop that we had to miss was Hampton Courts Palace. The last time I was in London, 34 years ago with my dad, we missed out on seeing the palace due to a fire that occurred just weeks before our arrival. Maybe I’ll try it again in 2054.
Adrift in Andalucía 
Well during the illness, it really showed onOliver. Then you all look great just after. I remember being just as fascinated by the armor and torture devices. Werent those warriors of that day short?
The Harry Potter stuff is pretty interesting. Feeling envious.
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