Adam:  Yesterday we made the drive from Sheffield down to London, arriving in the afternoon and getting settled in our 2-bedroom flat for the next 4 evenings. We caught some lunch, then hit the grocery story for fruit, cereal and wine.

This morning, after breakfast at Starbucks, we walked over to the Natural History museum. After lunch I got the text that my folks had arrived at their hotel room. We quickly finished lunch and headed over to meet up with them and plan our afternoon.

Brenda:  Well, this vacation has certainly been beset with hardships. Last night at 3:30 a.m. Josie started throwing up. She broke my heart a little when she finished heaving into a garbage can and selflessly said, “I’m sorry, Mama. I know how much you hate puke.” She’s such a little gem! Just like her older sister! We’re just not catching any breaks with poor Josie. She was up most of the night (and so were we) but by 8:00 a.m. when we left the hotel, she seemed fine. Such are the recuperative powers of a 7 year old. We made her travel with a plastic puke bag on her lap, but she’s been more or less fine since. Now we’re just waiting to see if the illness hits anyone else. First lice, now gastroenteritis. In addition to our car not being ready, we feel like we’ve gotten bad luck out of the way early and are looking forward to smooth sailing in the next few weeks. That’s the way Karma works, right?

Today we made it into London, and the hotel we’ll stay in for the next 4 days. It’s a 2 bedroom apartment (with full kitchen) so we have a bit more room. If anyone else gets sick, this is a decent place to do it. We can stock up on things like fruit and we have the ability to cook rice, etc. if we need to, and we’re in one place for several days. I think we’re all ready to get out of the car for awhile. Colin is supposed to meet us here tomorrow and give us our forever car, so we’ll see … I am very skeptical that he’ll be on time. He’s one of those perfectionists who can never let a project go. Perfectionism is an admirable trait, but at some point it becomes a liability.

Randy, I will look at the stuff you sent on Maurice Duchamp (for the rest of you, the artist who was the infamous urinal signer), but we don’t have internet right now (as I type) so I’ll have to look at it later. I suspect you are correct, though, and that his art would have made a lot more sense (and been a bigger statement) during the time it was executed … although I might argue that “true” art has a timeless quality and needs not be confined to the social climate in which it was created. I can’t make that argument, though, without being able to see the link you referenced. It’s a spirited debate for another time! I really REALLY enjoy reading what you have to say, since almost nobody else I know likes to discuss art with me. I will say that the Tate in Liverpool, for all the things I did not like, had a couple pieces that blew me away … one was an early Jackson Pollack (stunning!), and the other was a painting Edouard Manet did as a throw-away study for a sculpture he did several years later. I spied it from across the room and made a bee-line, before I even knew it was a Manet. The artists who have “It!” have “It!” without a doubt. Spectacular. It was worth slogging through the shite just to see those two pieces, for absolute certain.

In light of Josie’s stomach and the fairly long drive into London, we didn’t do much of anything today aside from chores. We checked into our hotel, had a nice lunch in a Spanish restaurant that was willing to fix Josie a fruit plate off-menu (because of her delicate tummy), and went to a little grocery store for fruit and breakfast cereal for tomorrow morning, and a bottle of wine for tonight. I bought a medieval wine goblet — hand-thrown from Northumbrian clay — in Sherwood Forest and I need to “give it a go” as they say here. After last night, Adam and I both could use a glass (or three) of wine.

Later:  My Northumbrian goblet has turned out to be a genius of design … perfect for tepid wine, cold water, and hot tea. I imagine it would also serve well for mulled wine, beer, mead, ale, and any other beverage people would have liked to imbibe. Good design withstands the ages.

At the Natural History Museum

Fossils

We decided to take the underground to Westminster station. After walking around Big Ben and the Parliament buildings, we spent the majority of the afternoon at Westminster Abbey.

My, but Big Ben goes on up a long way, well beyond the range of my 50mm lens!

Afterwards, we walked by Buckingham Palace, caught dinner at a local Pub in Victoria neighborhood, and then returned to our flat for wine time.

St. James’ park, in front of Buckingham Palace

Grandpa, Grandma, and one happy Josie.

Mom and Dad are flat out “shatted” now (they were real troopers spending the afternoon wandering around London after an afternoon flight (talk about culture shock)) and so we’ll catch up with them tomorrow morning for another full day of fun that will try their patience and endurance to the limits!

Weather is behaving brilliantly!