Are We There Yet?: London - Keep Calm and Carry On

'Keep calm and carry on' was Winston Churchill's motto during World War II because he did all his strategic planning in a shallow bunker that was only a few feet beneath the ground and very vulnerable to enemy bombing. This was supposed to inspire the British troops and worked tremendously well.

Visiting London was like coming home again. It was great to see Roger and Agri and stay in their amazing house that was built in 1878. We had incredible breakfasts every morning and it was really neat to meet Bushy, a local fox that Agri feeds. I had a lot of fun riding the underground everyday from East Finchley into downtown London.

We visited Buckingham Palace but the queen was not there to greet us. We did have a look around though and it was amazing! There was gold gilding all over the walls and roof, and gifts from all over the world. There was even a secret entrance to one of the drawing rooms that the royal family enter through when they are entertaining guests. We also saw Kensington Palace where we saw all the Diana tributes outside the gate that were put there to commemorate the 20 years since her passing.

My favourite part during our time in London was visiting the Science and the Natural History museums. The Science Museum had a whole bunch of stuff about space and different types of power as well as an amazing exhibit about the history of flight. The Natural History Museum had a MASSIVE blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling. There were a bunch of animatronic dinosaurs and a whole display case full to bursting with hummingbirds! I heard one lady say that the wandering albatross is the largest flying bird in the world. Wrong! The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of all flying birds but the Condor is the largest flying bird. There was also an exhibit on Earth and its resources as well as an exhibit about earthquakes and volcanoes. The British Museum was more fun for my Dad.

Dad and I went on a walking tour and were surprised to find that we had the same guide, Charlotte, as five years ago! It was a very interesting tour with a few changes from last time.

One thing we did differently this time was go see two musicals. We went to see Matilda which was very well done and The Lion King which was AMAZING! The costumes were really cool and all the dancing and choreography were spectacular! We were in box seats that were right next to the stage and at the beginning of the play, we had one of the singers in our box singing Circle of Life.

I also enjoyed going to the Camden Market and to Harrods where I had lots of fun exploring all the different departments and riding the Egyptian escalator. We even bought our supper in their deli. Chicken wraps, yum!