Westminster Delight

Anyone who has a pea-sized bladder like I do would be happy to see this sign in London...

Really? A phone number that connects you to the nearest public toilet? Awesome, since receipts required McDos are no longer a sure thing for a free, clean public restroom! Forget the golden arches - keep an eye out for the stick figures doing the potty dance!

The Climb

I realize that you probably all got sick of my Kili pics because of the many posts, but just in case you didn't get enough - check out this video. I put it together to show mountains and what climbing a mountain is like to use in Julie's class for her unit on Landforms. Please excuse the music choice - I figured I'd get the kids to pay attention if I used something by Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana.

Name That Building

5 points AND a gold star to anyone who can correctly guess the function of this beautiful building....

Correct Answer: Royal Courts of Justice. You may have guessed "Church", but you would be wrong. The architect was pretty upset that he wasn't getting jobs for churches because Christopher Wren was the "in thing" back in those days and he was getting all the church jobs. So, he decided to make the Royal Courts just like the church he had planned.

If you ever get a chance, I do recommend a trip to the Royal Courts of Justice. Mum (she lives in England, so I can't call her "Mom") took me on a walking tour one day and we decided to check out the Royal Courts. You can't take pictures inside (and it is gorgeous inside), but you can go to a variety of legal preceedings and sit in the back. They're all public trials. Unfortunately, we went in September, which is vacation month for judges so it was pretty quiet. Fortunately, that means another trip to London!

What to Do With All Those Cannons?

England has spent many years warring with other nations. Not only did they gain a few colonies and such, but they also ended up with tons of cast-iron cannons, like this one in "Gunpowder Square". (Yup - that's actually the name of the street)

These days, there's all sorts of opportunities to recycle and organic, biodegradable stuff is all the rage. Cannons don't fit into the biodegradable category, so the Brits had to figure out a way to recycle them.

So...they decided to dismantle them, paint them, and use them as barriers and decor throughout the city.

These ones are my fave - they look so....British! :)

The Best Things in Life Are Free

It's true. The best things in life are in fact, free. Like Free Hugs, for example. We found this guy at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, just giving out hugs - for free. No strings attached.

So of course I took him up on his offer.
And he gave me his card so that I could send him the pic for his website. Check it out at: http://www.freelondonevents.co.uk/free_hugs.htm What a fantastic way to spread love throughout a big city!

I really love Stuart's business card - Vat is actually included in the free hug price. No need to fill out forms and spend a bunch of time at the airport trying to get the tax back!