This post begins with a unicycle....

Rather many unicyles placed in Russell Square Gardens by a group called jackpotjoy dedicated to "spreading daft fun accross the country." Unfortunately, while the group successfully attained their goal, I on the other hand will have to continue to practice my unicyle skills.

The day following my failed attempt at unicycling, the Florida connection arrived in London- Aunt Linda, Uncle Lui, and Carmen. After a long day of shuttling between Heathrow and the hotel we managed to do a bit of sightseeing down by Tower Bridge and St. Paul's finishing off the evening with some pub grub at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Little did I know that this night would kick off two weeks of continual dashing around London and southeast England. While in London, we toured around everywhere and saw everything including the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The show was an impressive display of gardening prowess, botanical possibilities, and royal gnomes. I left with satisfied sense of smell and a few eudoxia lily bulbs which are all ready to grow. The next few days we explored the major London sights. While the Florida connection went on a pilgrimage to Bath and Stonehenge, I met up with a few friends for an urban picnic in Trafalgar Square where we awaited an open-air classic concert of Bizet's Symphonie Fantastique by the London Symphony Orchestra (see videos!). Afterwards, reunited with the Florida connection we continued our London adventure with a visit to the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory. A night at Agatha Christie's the Mousetrap, and we were off on the road!

Our nearly harrowing road trip adventure began by trying to navigate London's city streets, avoiding congestion charges, and remembering rules of traffic- mainly to stay on the left side of the road! More than once we found ourselves shouting out street names in the phonetic alphabet. "Yankee...Oscar...!" Once out of London we made our way to Leeds castle, surprisingly no where near Leeds. Although we did not make it in time to view the jousting tournament, we tramped through the mud around the beautiful garden grounds and into the castle itself. Having stayed long enough to close down the castle, we made our way to our B&B in Dover and the promise of dinner. The next day we were treated to a traditional English breakfast before visiting Dover Castle for the day. While at the castle we were able to take in some views of the port and English Channel and also explored a Roman pharos, St. Mary's, and secret tunnels from WWII on the castle grounds. As we prepared to leave Dover we took a stop on the shore to see the infamous white cliffs. Our next home for the night would be in Portsmouth. However our next destination was a brief stop in Canterbury to see the town and its cathedral. We didn't stay long enough to tell any elaborate tales, but we did arrive in time to catch choir rehearsal.

As a result of taking the scenic coastal route to Portsmouth, which offered us sights of sheep and highlighter yellow fields of flowers (rape seed), we arrived very late to our room. Our day in Portsmouth first involved an encounter with a very informative parking garage which displayed the availabily of spaces in an electronic sign hanging from the wall. From there we made a visit to the Spinnaker tower and a ferry ride around the harbour. From Portsmouth we made our way to the last stop of our trip, Winchester. We walked around the town seeing the most entertaining geriatric crosswalk sign and also visited Winchester Cathedral, the burial site of Jane Austen, before booking it back into the city traffic of London, again shouting out the phonetic alphabet and barely making it back to the car return in time.

The next few days in London brought a series of exciting events including attending the Major General's Review and taking afternoon tea at the Ritz. The Major General's Review boasted a formidable show of pageantry and military fanfare. This rehearsal for the Trouping of the Colour, a celebration of the Queen's birthday, invovled at least six military marching bands (including one on horseback!) and quite a few guards and, you guessed it, horses! Most everything went off well with exception of one horse who was spooked at the beginning of the parade. I took far too many videos so enjoy! That afternoon we witnessed a group of people with Badger masks in front of Parliment protesting a badger cull. The next day it was time for Uncle Lui to return to the states, but there was still a few days left with the girls to go to Portobello Road, get lost in Kennsington (Hyde Park, the museums, and Harrods), and enjoy afternoon tea at the Ritz, where we weren't even allowed to put our own napkins on our laps! The Ritz also presented me with a strange three pronged fork which The last few days of the Florida connection's time in town included shopping, going into the Wellington Arch/Apsley House, a fancy dinner courtesy of Aunt Linda, and drinking tea in Twinings.

I have learned many things from the Herrera visit. Mainly:

1) Alway have a snack ready for when the company gets restless

2) Learning the phonetic alphabet could be a useful skill

3) Don't badger "badger people"

4) London has quite the assortment of elephants if you look hard enough

Thanks for such a wonderful visit, Florida Connection! Love you all!!