New Year's Eve day

(Photo 1)) thank goodness for Starbucks, even if it is decaf!


(Photo 2) Sara Beth and Gaiten on the move


(Photo 3) The girls and Sara Beth in front of St. Paul's


(Photo 4) Riding down the escalator in the tube station


(Photo 5) The Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern


(Photo 6) Sara Beth at the Tate Modern cafe




(Photo 9) No tears!


(Photo 10) The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben as the light fades





We checked the weather report and were expecting a clear and cold day today, but the weather changed quickly to cold and very overcast. We slept in some today and had a late breakfast. We went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to go inside since we had only seen the outside on our tour. It was very special for Amy to go inside because she was one of the millions of people who got up in the wee hours of the morning in 1981 to watch Lady Diana marry Prince Charles there. It was a fairy tale wedding and she was 17 years old, the same age as Gaiten and Hallie. We spent some time admiring the architecture and before we left, the female priest (imagine Sara Beth smiling) welcomed the crowd and led us in reflective thought and the Lord’s prayer. The acoustics were amazing! We then walked over the millineum bridge to the Tate Modern. This was something that Sara Beth had really been wanting to do. This is a modern art museum and some of the artists that we saw were Dali, a Monet, Matisse, Picasso, Miro, Manet, Chagal, Frances Bacon, Jackson Pollock, Magritte, Ernst and a variety of other artists. Sara Beth couldn’t stop grinning! We ate lunch at the café at the Tate Modern and had a marvelous meal. Collectively, we ate potato and garlic soup and roast chicken breast with roasted sweet and white potatoes. It was a nice sit down meal and allowed us to relax a little. We then rode the tube to Big Ben so that Hallie could look at it without tears in her eyes. Gaiten and Hallie took a picture in front of it and we did a little souvenir shopping. We then had quite an adventure trying to find our next tube station. We have learned that when an Englishman (or woman) gives you directions, “around the corner” could mean a mile away and “just over there” could be a twist and turn around 5 blocks. While trying to find our station, we happened across a passageway filled with graffiti. Hallie was in hog heaven. She couldn’t get a hold of Amy’s camera fast enough. Amy was very leary of the area, but Sara Beth was in “New York watchdog” mode and made sure we all were carefully monitored. We were also comforted that there was security everywhere due to setting up for the New Year’s Day parade. We finally found our station and made our way to a shopping area that the girls were interested in. We neglected to make reservations for dinner on New Year’s Eve and wound up back at the hotel eating from the last of our vouchers this evening. Sara Beth and I were very glad that we had eaten a great meal for lunch. The girls were tired and decided not to attend the New Year’s Eve party here at the hotel. Sara Beth reluctantly gave up on trying to find a party of her own to attend and we resigned ourselves to ringing in the New Year from the comfort of our beds. Tomorrow is the highlight of our trip as our girls will dance in the New Year’s Day parade. We have heard over and over how much the people here look forward to the parade since they don’t have marching bands and dancers of their own. We have tickets for grandstands which hopefully means we will be sitting down while we wait for the parade. Until tomorrow…