Derek and Leah's European Adventure: End of Summer Fun!

Our last visitors of the summer arrived. Laura and

Gavin and beautiful baby Olivia!

The boys enjoying a pint at a pub in Richmond.

Laura and I had a great time catching up. It is
always SO good to see friends!

Derek and Olivia chillin' on the sofa while mom and dad
get ready for the day.

Another shot of Olivia - you can't help it she is just
too cute!

The next weekend a friend and I went to Greenwich.
Greenwich is in southeast London. It took us a total of 2
hours to get there by boat on the River Thames. Just goes to show
how big London is and how long it takes to get around. The
journey back only took an hour by train. I am standing on the
Prime Meridian.

And here it is GMT. Greenwich Mean Time. It is
only used in the winter as British summer time is still
in use for the summer.

Here is the view of Canary Wharf from up by the Royal
Conservatory. Greenwich did have a palace, the Palace
of Placentia, where King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I
were born. The palace fell into disrepair during the English
Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors.
You can see it in the background along the River Thames.

The next day Derek and I went to our first professional
football match. (Soccer) We root for Chelsea because we live
in the area and we have some other reasons. The stadium is

called Stamford Bridge.

Derek is getting in the action with Deco.

The rules for beer - quite different then home.

Funny sign.

The view inside of the stadium.

And here is Chelsea's first goal being scored!

They went on the win the match 3 -nill

The next day we finally went to Brighton. We have been
meaning to go for quite some time now. This is the Royal Pavilion.
It started out as a fashionable classical building in 1787 but was rebuilt in
1815-1822 for George the IV. He wanted Eastern design with opulent
Chinese interiors. They succeeded.

Brighton is the self proclaimed belle of the coast and
I can see why. It has a very upbeat and funky feel. It was started
in the 16th century as a tiny fishing village.

Brighton has been dubbed "London by the Sea" since
so many Londoners have moved here since the 1990s.

Here we are on the sea. We went with our friends Andrea
and Mike. They were much more brave then Derek and I and actually
went in the water - brrrr.

This is Brighton Pier. There are carnival rides and the
like. We did not partake.

Fun sculpture on the seafront.

Fresh seafood anyone? We did have a fabulous lunch
at a restaurant in town called Fishy Fishy. The seafood
was incredibly fresh.

I thought it was funny that there was a palm tree
on the beach and I had a jacket and pashmina on
in August.

The Sea is still beautiful.

This is the site of another huge pier in Brighton. Rumor
has it that the Royal Family had it burnt down since they own
the other one. That is what the locals told us.

This poor lifeguard must be freezing! He is not shielding himself
from the sun either - more like the freezing wind!

Road leading to the sea.

The next day we went with other friends to Kew
Gardens. On our walk there we saw this. I hope
the cat is declawed!

Kew Gardens or the Royal Botanic Gardens is located
between Richmond and Kew in Southwest London.
the day was gorgeous. Here I am on the treetop
walkway. Yeah - it is really high and sways with the wind.
It was not my bag baby. Everyone else loved it!

This is the Great Pagoda erected in 1762.

This is Paige, Joe and me on Sackler Crossing.
It is a bridge made entirely of granite and bronze.
It won a special award from the Royal Institute
of Architects.