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Happy New Year to all! It is a very rainy and windy evening in London. We have decided to celebrate the entry into 2013 relaxing together inside. We will catch the fireworks on the telly. I hope your evening is special and safe. As I look back on 2012 I am very pleased with how life turned out. What a special year for our family. One in which we really chased our dreams. I'm hoping that 2013 turns out to be just as full of wonder.
We kick off our year with a visit from a good friend of Anthony's from NY. We are all happy about that, especially Anthony who could use a little more testosterone in his life! Then we wrap up the European leg of our journey and head to Asia on the 11th of January. Many new adventures await us there I'm sure. I feel like we are ready for the excitement of something more "foreign" and therefore more adventurous.
We've been buzzing all over London and I'm glad we have a month to take it in. What a spectacular city! Our visit to the Tower of London was very memorable due to our superb guide, Rob, one of the Yeoman Warden's that are the Queen's guards, or Beefeaters. What a great story teller. The history of the Tower and nearby Tower Green is so violent. The executions by hanging, beheading, burning at the stake and torture were many. Notable among them were Thomas More, Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell. Everyone's favorite story was about the most gruesome of all the beheadings. It took 5 drops of the axe to behead James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth. He was a massive man and the axe location didn't match up to his neck on the block at first. The description Rob gave literally had me gagging. But the best part of the story was that after he was buried his family realized that he had never posed for a portrait. So they dug him up reattached his head to his mangled body and had a portrait done. The very next day we headed straight for the Portrait Gallery because we had to see this painting firsthand. Unfortunately, the room containing it was closed. I included it here. He does look a bit pale!
We took in the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London as well. It was the longest queue I have ever waited on. Mixed reviews from the G4's. Some (maybe the girls) liked the bling. Some, er...one thought getting pushed around by hundreds of people and then put on a human conveyor belt to see a bunch of crowns and a gold punch bowl that looked like a bathtub was not his cup of tea (pun intended).
We went to the Tate Modern one afternoon and didn't "get it". Clearly we need to evolve artistically. We are more entertained by the beheaded Duke portrait than an entire museum of modern art. We took some funny photos of the art, but waited until there was no one else around so we didn't look disrespectful. There was one exhibit of chain link fence hanging on the wall. The plaque said it was meant to represent among other things, suppression and teenage angst. I also liked the Condensation Box. A clear acrylic box with a little water in it that would form condensation on the sides of the box, an ever changing work of art. I'll be sure to go back next week and see how it differs!
Yesterday we visited Hyde Park and checked out Speaker's Corner where individuals get their soapbox on. We listened in on two rants, one about the individual human spirit vs. brainwashing by religion and/or government and the other about overpopulation/hunger in Africa. Then we headed to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. We all found it peaceful, except for Nina who was chased by geese.
May 2013 be all that you hope for and may our Congress get real!
Amy
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