London calling

It take some getting used to London.  Of course, everyone speaks English, but they do it with those brilliant accents.  And every street corner has a reminder that a big red doubledecker bus might be barreling your way from an unexpected direction.  That's helpful.  And, since we're staying in Notting Hill, mom keeps looking for Hugh Grant to come around the corner (we totally don't get that).

It's all good. 

We love our neighborhood and spent the first afternoon just wandering around, window shopping and people watching.  There seem to be a lot of foreign tourists in town, what with the Queen's Jubilee just ending, Wimbledon in full swing, and the Olympics around the corner.  When our feet started to drag, we went back home to 11 Linden Gardens and had tea and marmalade biscuits while we watched England v. Italy in the Eurocup.  Seriously authentic.

On our first full day, we slept til 1 in the afternoon but still had time to meet our friend, Sean, and his mom Kendall at the Tate Modern!  Sean's parents have known our parents since, like, forever, and Sean has known us since we were born (Sean is 8 months older than Sophie).  So, it was fun to get to see them half way around the world!

The Tate was interesting, but we actually just enjoyed wandering around the city.  We went over the Millenium Bridge (you know, the one that the Death Eaters destroy in The Half-Blood Prince -- you know, right?) and then to St. Paul's Cathedral.  And even more interesting than the Tate's collection was the cool street art all over the place, like random "street pianos" that anyone can play -- even us!

More pics from our walkabout are here.  Sophie's up next with more details on the street art in London.  Til then, ta-ra!