Our First Visitors

After two weeks of getting settled in our new home, we finally welcomed what we hope is the first of many visitors to London. Amy's parents arrived bright and early Saturday morning - much to the surprise of Amy as she was convinced arrival at 6:30am at the airport plus an hour and a half to get through customs and drive into London somehow added up to 9:30am. Nonetheless, we were very happy to see some familiar faces including one of Amy's father's work colleagues, Cynthia, who also joined the fun.

After a little breakfast and a quick cat nap, the crew hit the town of London for some sightseeing. First stop was right across the street from our apartment - Kesington Palace. This was the first time Amy and Anthony had been to Kensington Palace so it was an interesting tour - Princess Diana dresses, the home of Queen Victoria and a special exhibit of the last debutantes in 1958 (VVSIT-PQ).



From Kensington Palace, we headed into Kensington gardens and Hyde park. Something remarkable happened along the way - the sun came out and the blue skies emerged....this was the first time we had seen this type of weather since arriving in London two weeks ago.

On our way to lunch we walked past a flock of swans which Amy was terrified of:


Then on to Buckingham Palace. Luckily, the state rooms were open to the public (which only happens in the month of September) so we were able to tour the palace, see where state dinners happened, see the grand opulence of the palace. By far, Anthony's favorite destination so far in London.





After Buckingham Palace, we headed home to get ready for dinner. We went to Gauchos and had some great steaks and wine. The decor of the place left all of us scratching our heads a bit - dark black walls and ambience with chandeliers everywhere, with a combination of jazz music and hip hop topped only by the cow hide chairs scattered throughout the restaurant. Strange, but a good way to end a great day!