Christmas Day 2010 and We're Off to Jolly Old England!

Good Old Santa! He found us. The Boys were so excited to find their presents waiting for them.

 A Policeman Nutcracker for Officer McColley!

 Trucks for Truck-Guy Brady!

 And Legos and Duplos for them both!

We finally made it to the airport, where we located an NYPD hat for McColley. Thanks to Warren and Brian, we were able to get seats on the same plane - all back row, but, together!

Transportation on Boxing Day was expensive and inconsistent. Warren and I had a London cabbie who will be celebrating 50 years of driving a cab in March! We all had reservations at the Lancaster Gate Hotel. KC and the Boys were supposed to check in at the base and then return to London. Without cell phones, it was impossible to tell them to stay at the base. Thankfully, they figured that out themselves.  That left Warren and me alone to explore London for a day and a half before heading out to the base.

This was our short street, close to Hyde Park, Oxford Street and Marble Arch. The hotel itself was covered in scaffolding because they are repairing the exterior, which was in pretty sad shape.

On the 27th, a Monday, the Underground was on strike. The workers were upset that they did not get the observed Boxing Day off, so took it anyway. We needed to stay close to our hotel. We walked through Hyde Park, down the street past Selfridges Department Store (another ZOOOOOOOO!!) and got ourselves a cell phone. Then, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral - WOW! We climbed to the very top on a windy day.

There is quite a fabulous view from the top of the Cathedral. It was a most inspirational place to be during the holiday season.

 Then, off to the British Museum. Another amazing place on this planet.

Warren in front of the Warren Cup. It's actually kind of a weird cup, but, hey! Who else has a cup named after 'im? I have an entire portion of England named after me!! Or, am I named after it? The chicken and the egg...If you look at the area around his belly button, you'll see the iPod tour guide. The headphones on the exhibit indicate the number you push to hear more about what you are looking at. It's technology at its best!

It was, overall, a tiring and fabulous day exploring a fantastically interesting city. We ended the night with a literal FEAST at a Lebanese restaurant close to our hotel. We were not sure what to expect when we walked in, but it was DEElicious!

TTFN