McHop Adventures: A Correction and the New Year Celebration!

I stand corrected - this is the Cromwell whose museum is in Huntingdon!

From Wikipedia - Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known in England for his overthrow of the monarchy and temporarily turning England into a republican Commonwealth and for his rule as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland his record is harshly criticized.^[1]Cromwell was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.

Onto the end of our lovely trip to England...

After signing the papers at the house, we all hopped on the train to King's Cross Station in London.

It was a nice trip into the city. We were on a double decker train, which was fun!

LONDON, here we come!

We checked into our fabulous hotel, the Renaissance Chauncery Hotel in the Covent Garden area. Sir McColley is taking a bow in front of the lovely decorations in the lobby. His trusty aide, Brayton, stands by his side.

A hug in front of the outdoor Christmas tree.

The Grand Staircase in the hotel was created out of approximately 7 different marbles, some of which are extinct. This beautiful staircase is located in a rather hidden location, which surprised us!

A Maguire family portrait on the Grand Staircase.

We decided to take a Hop On, Hop Off bus tour. It was somewhat abbreviated due to the number of streets that were being closed to prepare for the evening's fireworks. We spent the day contemplating whether or not to brave the crowds and weather to see them in person...

The evening's light displays were beautiful all over the city.

I just love Christmas time with all the lights!

As evening fell, we walked around town and headed back to our hotel.

Wow!

We walked through Covent Garden, stopping to watch a man juggling machetes!

Once we got back to our room, we decided to order room service. It was quite a spread and very tasty!

Katharine in her last hours of being 29!

When Katharine and Brian decided to go check out the fireworks viewing options, we had to keep the boys busy. They were enthralled with picking ice cubes up with tongs, moving them back and forth between the pitcher and glasses...or off the floor!

With no Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve or any British New Years Eve show, we opted to watch a variety show from Paris - in French. It was most enjoyable and amusing, especially since we didn't understand a word of what the most enthusiastic hosts were talking about. It included magicians, jugglers, acrobats, animals, etc. and was probably the best NYEve show I've ever seen!

When the Boys conked out at 11:30, we decided to watch the fireworks on BBC1. They were SPECTACULAR! I would definitely try to be there in person next time.
Then, at 12:02 on 1/1/11, our baby girl celebrated her 30th birthday!! What an adventure!

At 7:00, Warren, McColley and I headed down to the buffet breakfast in the ballroom. Grandpa and McColley stopped for a portrait by the tree.

We were just about the only people there that early. It was a marvelous buffet with a huge assortment of food and attentive staff.

To our surprise, the birthday girl came down to get McColley, so we were able to say "goodbye" to her with one last picture on the Golden Birthday Couch. I must admit, it truly choked me up to leave them this time.