London

Just before we went to the US for our summer break, we spent the last weekend in June in London. Fortunately there was a heat wave in London at the time, so it really didn't rain much. In fact we had sunshine and the "heat" was very mild compared to the humid heat of the southern US. We had perfect weather for our quick overview of the city. Honestly we could have stayed an entire week because there is so much to see. We took a double decker bus tour and saw many famous sights like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus (a big square like Times Square) and Big Ben. We didn't get to see the palace guards with the big hats since it was not a day for the changing of the guard ceremony, but I took a picture of the guards on horseback.

However, the highlight of the trip was seeing the musical "Wicked". This was the first musical that we had attended as a family and we loved it! It was the "untold" story of the "wicked" witch of the west. As I watched the lead played by a young, black English girl, I couldn't help but think about Maya being on stage one day, somewhere in the world.

As far as the food goes, we were told that there is great Chinese food in London. So we ventured to China town and had peking duck. Delicious! Of course we had fish and chips with green peas. It was a short trip, but very sweet and the perfect start for our summer vacation.