Texans Tour of London: Day 4

London Marathon: week 16 of 19
Friday target run: 1 hour and 30 minutes

As day 4 was dawning of the Texans Tour of London, sunshine was exploding all over the city. Could the spring flowers and blossoming trees have looked any better? In my view, London was picture postcard perfect all week but no more so than on this day.

Although the Texans had done "London 101" before, they were interested in walking past a few of the main Westminster, Whitehall, and St. James/Green Park hot spots....and so we began. First stop: Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey.

Shortly after becoming Prime Minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill visited the Cabinet War Rooms to see for himself what preparations had been made to allow him and his War Cabinet to continue working throughout the expected air raids on London. These rooms, located underneath the buildings of the Home Office and Foreign Home Office, were designed to provide working and living accomodations for Churchill, Churchill's family, and those connected with overseeing the war. Having initially opened in the mid 80's, the Cabinet War Rooms were renovated in 2003. So next stop: The Cabine War Rooms...as they were in the early 1940s.

The Queen's Horse Guards stand on the site of Henry VIII's tournament ground or 'tiltyard'. Nearby is a remnant of the 'real tennis' court where Henry is said to have played the forerunner of modern lawn tennis. These mounted guardsmen originally protected what was the main entrance to Buckingham Palace; royal processions travelling through Whitehall still pass under the arches of the building.

The Queen's Horse Guards at Whitehall.

St. James Park.

Buckingham Palace ,including a glimpse of it peeking through Green Park, as well as the Victoria Memorial.

Green Park.

After a dinner in the Shepherd's market area, we spent 2 hours on the "Jack the Ripper" Tour. Yes, we did. Don't knock it until you have tried it.

Texans Tour of London: Day 3

London Marathon Training: Week 16 of 19
Thursday target run: rest day

As the Hachie Gal fit in her long run, Budman, J, and JB headed for a full day's extravaganza tour of Tower Hill. Continuing with that Tudor theme, they must have looked at every nook and cranny, every building, every museum, the crown jewels, traitors gate, and of course, the ravens. So much so that the Hachie Gal was not only able to fit in her run but still have time to shower/dress, and head to Convent Garden for an hour of so of shopping as she waited for the day trippers to arrive.

















Views of Tower Bridge from Tower Hill





After a late afternoon meal and some shopping in Covent Garden, our little foursome headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral for evensong.









To top the whole night off, we gorged on fish and chips back at the house. A perfect ending to a great day!

Texans Tour of London: Day 2

London Marathon Training: Week 16 of 19
Wednesday target run: 45 minutes

Day 2 of the Texans visit greeted us with what was to be our start every day for the coming 8 days: utter and complete sunshine in London. The weather was picture perfect as you will see in all the photos from this week. Consecutive days of good weather, let alone perfect weather, is unheard of in London. We were glad to be able to offer up this sunshine and decent temperatures to our guests, since the previous Texans' visit to Germany 2 years ago (during the same time of year, I might add) had resulted in daily snowfalls and desperately cold weather.

Our itinerary for day two included a trip to Henry VIII's summer palace, Hampton Court. After a quick train ride, we arrived at Hampton Court ready for a Tudor filled day. And that is just what we got! Our first glimpses of Hampton Court.





Upon entry, we headed first to the gardens where were greeted by English springtime in full bloom.





The formal gardens.



Four texans lost in a garden maze.





Hampton Court is really the story of two palaces: a Tudor palace, magnificently developed by Cardinal Wolsey and later Henry VIII, alongside a baroque palace built by William III and Mary II. Being that 2009 is the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's ascension to the throne, and where so many royals, including Tudors, Stuarts, heirs from the house of Orange and so forth spent their time, we decided to spend a bit of time exploring the palace and grounds.

The entrance to Hank's pad....









The architecture of Hampton Court.















One of the exhibits in Hampton Court is a replication of the Tudor Kitchens. Built to feed the court of Henry VIII, these kitchens were designed to feed at least 600 people twice a day. The annual provision of meat for the Tudor court stood at 1,240 oxen, 8,200 sheep, 2,330 deer, 760 calves, 1,870 pigs and 53 wild boar. This was all washed down with 600,000 gallons of beer.















Our final views of Hampton Court and the river Thames.







The Texans catch a few "zzzzs" on the train ride back home before a Moroccan meal in central London.