The First Couple of Days

I'm glad to report that, after 5 days, Chloe and I are time-zone adjusted. To be sure, it did take a couple of days, especially for Chloe who for the 1st couple of mornings found herself waking up at 10a or later. I was on schedule by Wednesday, in large part to waking up when Peggy was getting up and out for work.

In the days intervening our arrival and now, we've had some pretty busy times both sightseeing and getting the flat in order. On Tuesday, after getting myself a pass for the Tube, I took Chloe to Westminster just so she could see some of attractions in person which up until now she had only seen in pictures on the web. Withing minutes of exiting the Tube station, Chloe was able to see Big Ben/Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and The London Eye. After another short Tube ride, I took her to see Buckingham Palace (you can see some pix of these in earlier posts.) She got a kick out of the guys with the big, black bushy hats!

The hustle and bustle of city life was a little bit of a shock to Chloe -- being accustomed to the more laid-back style of Boulder -- and the whole looking Right-Left-Right thing when crossing a street is not an easy adjustment, but she is catching on.

Wednesday's highlight was enjoying a true English experience -- watching the England v Slovenia World Cup match in a pub. Peg's office, like apparently many others, shut down just before 3:00p so people could catch the game. It was an exciting affair, and the passion for football was on full display. (Of course, it was all capped off by the USA winning their match, and thus winning their group!)

On Thursday, Chloe and I played full-blown tourist by taking a double-decker sightseeing bus around the city, viewing the key sites like St. Paul's, Hyde Park, Tower of London and London Bridge, Bond Street, etc. We tweaked the plan a little bit by using one of the sightseeing river boats on the Thames to make our way back to the Westminster area, where we boarded the bus again to finish the tour.

Today (Saturday) was/is a pretty full day... I took a 35 mile bike ride with a local cycling club (THAT was an experience with the urban setting, and roundabouts and such), and came home to make hotel reservations in Edinburgh for a long weekend next weekend. Peggy and Chloe went over to the huge playground in Kensington Gardens and possibly a paddle boat ride in Hyde Park (pictures to come in a later post.) And after I post this, I'll be joining them up in Lyric Square (Hammersmith) for an outdoor movie, promptly followed by a visit to a local pub to catch the USA v. Ghana match.

Some blog potpourri:
- Saw someone with a Franklin & Marshall shirt and another with a Philadelphia Phillies hat, and whilst on the bus tour, there was a small group of people from Fort Collins, CO.

(Pictures, top to bottom: Peggy & Chloe on our patio shortly after our arrival, with the Thames in the background; Chloe and I coping with the 7-hour time change; Chloe and Tower Bridge.)