Birthday Celebrations Amongst Royalty

Parliament & Little Ben At Night

The Queen, Betty, brought her court with her to London. Princess Alex, Princess Sai Pin and King Dennis were all there to celebrate as the Queen rung in her birthday!

On Friday we went to the London Eye. Most expensive but luckily we had amazing weather (clear skies!) It was beautiful. It was definitely a little different view from St. Paul's Cathedral (because you could see Parliament and Buckingham Palace from the Eye). After the eye we walked along the Thames to the Borough Market. It was a lovely walk (Betty commented that she had never seen me walk so far before!) I got my pull pork sandwich, yummilicious. There were more vendors on Friday then the last time I was there with my parentals. We finally made across the Thames to get on a boat to Greenwich, the home of time. Greenwich was beautiful, but we did not have enough time to fully explore it. We went to the Royal Naval Academy which itself was gorgeous. We came back to London and saw Sound of Music. The Maria and Captain Von Trapp were passable--I was not a fan. But the children were remarkably talented and adorable.

Betty & I in the eye!
Dennis & Betty!

Nearly At Top of the eye
Drunk Cheese in the Borough Market!
Royal Naval Academy in Greenwich!
Regent Street Stars!

On Betty's birthday we decided to venture to Windsor. Unfortunately, we had a later start and did not arrive there until 2:30 (it's an hour an half bus ride). The weather was a bit upset as it kept on crying in period intervals. We went into the castle and damn, those royals really have too much money!! We walked around the grounds but the castle was going to close in an hour or so. In the statesrooms, you were strictly prohibited to take photographs. But, being my mother's daughter, I couldn't resist. It was quite hilarious. I was stealth taking photos of chandeliers, ornate brocade ceilings, until I took a photo in a corridor (it was too pretty not to be captured by my camera!) when a guard hounded Sai Pin. He went up to her and in a accusatory tone told her to hand over her camera. Sai Pin, all innocent, stated she had none. The guard then looked to Betty, as I evaded his wrath by moving to the next room. He announced loudly "If anyone is caught with a camera they'll be THROWN out." Good thing I wasn't caught!

Windsor Castle
The King's Bed Chamber! (me & my stealth self)
Pretty hall & look at that brocade!

Dusk at the castle

On Sunday we went to Harrods. Shockingly you no longer have to pay for the restroom! We spent some time perusing the chocolate and teas. It was quite a sight. I left for Edinburgh that afternoon and it was an interesting shuttle home. The woman struck up conversation with me and I soon discovered that she had lived in Alaska, Texas, Hong Kong, and has three properties in the U.K. She was in fact coming to renovate her Ediburgh flat. The shuttle pulled up her house, and my jaw dropped a little. It was a brownstone with a hanging chandlier and just beautiful. Jealous!

It was overall a very glorious weekend (despite some rain) and I hope Betty had a fantastical birthday! Much Love!

The London Eye