Our First Days in London Alone

The past few days have been very exciting. Our first excursion in London without Dad was to the Tower of London. You know, the place where they held prisoners and executed them. You would think it would be rather ugly with a past like that, but in actuality, it was gorgeous. There are 20 towers in all, along with the Crown Jewels, which were simply marvelous. But the poor monarchy, their heads must have ached after wearing their crowns they were so weighed down with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and pearls. Everything was so elaborate. Most of the towers were built completely of stone, with tiny winding stairways, and low arches. We also got to see the church where the prisoners were buried. Plaques lined the walls, stones covered the floor with worn away inscriptions. We got to see the execution sight of two of King Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boleyn, and Cathrine Parr. They had private executions, so it was a little flat grassy spot stuck in the middle of all the towers, right by the aforementioned church. While Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was saying her final prayers, the executioner swiftly beheaded her, and it is said her eyes and lips were still moving. After the Tower of London we went to eat Fish and Chips. The fish was not very flavorful, but it was still delightful to try the British classic. That night we rode the tube for the first time. We rode during rush our, which I do not recommend. It was packed. Maddy could not reach to bar to hold on to, so she decided to hold on to me. Unfortunately she was leaning her whole weight against me, so every time the tube stopped, I almost fell.
The next day we visited a market, the Borough Market. It was filled with vendors selling produce, bread, meat, coffee, desserts, and other bits and bobs. On our way we passed an old medieval Rose window. A round stone window (minus the glass) with the stone in a criss cross pattern across it. We then saw a reproduction on Sir Frances Drake's ship. It was so small, I couldn't believe a ship like that could have circumnavigated the globe. But it was also very colorful, not at all like the drab ships I had pictured. It was black and had red and yellow edgings. Then, at the market, we bought chicken, raspberries, blueberries, asparagus, French bread, and Focaccia. We ate the Focaccia and blueberries for lunch, then we roasted the chicken and boiled the asparagus for our first homemade dinner. The chicken barely fit in the oven, and we had to keep a chair against the oven because the oven didn't close completely. But it was still superbly delicious.
Then, today we went to the British Biscuit Festival (their cookies) it wasn't very exciting, but we got some good cinnamon biscuits. And I got my first pair of British jeans. Very exciting!

P.S. I'll be posting some pictures later of most of this, one of our camera cords is in the shipment. (We forgot to pack it with us!!)