Catching Up...

Apparently my blogging skills equate to those of my diary writing in middle school...good for awhile, but then all of a sudden I am a year behind and have a lot of catching up to do!! In effort to speed up the process, the next post will be a year in review of sorts. This allows me to catch everyone up without putting you to sleep, while getting to the new and more exciting stuff that has been going on in the Cienski household. So stay tuned...I will get caught up...and then we get to look forward to the next chapter...

NYE with the Brits (conclusion)

Here are some of my favorite shots from around London! Although the British Pound makes the dollar look like toilet paper, and the city was jam-packed with tourists and locals alike, the whole experience was incredible. And we could understand the language (kind of) for a change! I foresee more trips to London in our future.

Corrie, Jordan, Kelia, Christina, Rita, and Sarah on NYE

Trying to fit in...near the phone booth...

Amanda and Majik

A whole restaurant about Texas?! Yes please!

On the tower bridge

The girls outside of Wicked

Two homesick Texans!

 

Ciao!

NYE with the Brits (part 3)

British Museum:

   The British Museum was absolutely packed with artifacts and tourists alike! We spent only a few hours there, hitting up the main sites. Although you could wander around all day, no one in our group was willing to fight the crowds in the name of old stuff. But we were able to catch a glimpse of the Rosetta Stone, some mummies, and a bunch of statues that stood outside the gates of Babylon

Lobby of the Museum

Matt, Corrie, and Caleb being Japanese tourists in the Japanese Art wing

Rosetta Stone

Hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone

Random thing behind us...I just wanted a picture with my hubby

Royal Obervatory:

     On our last day, we decided to venture to Greenwich, a little outside of the city proper. The small town was so quaint and inviting, and we enjoyed spending the afternoon exploring the Royal Observatory and hanging out in a pub.

In two different hemispheres!

View of Greenwich and London from the Royal Observatory

Tea at Harrods:

    While it may not be your normal tourist attraction, Harrods was one of our favorite stops! We visited the tea room on two separate days...it was that fantastic! The shopping wasn't half bad either!

I'm so British

We couldn't figure out how to get him on the plane

Ciao!

NYE with the Brits (part 2)

Churchill War Museum and War Rooms:

       In the basement of the Imperial War Museum lies a fascinating exhibition of Winston Churchill and the underground rooms used by the War Cabinet during WWII. At the close of the war, the doors to these rooms were shut and everything was left exactly as it was. Touring this incredible space was so interesting, especially knowing the artifacts had not been touched since Churchill himself. The pictures cannot capture the essence of the rooms, but here are a few as an example...

Original maps with pins still in

Very important phone room (with wax figures)

A briefing room (again, with wax figure)

 Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace:

     Prepared for a small crowd, we made our way over to Buckingham to see the famous changing of the guards. Unfortunately, we underestimated the patriotism of the Brits (or the large amount of other tourists in London) and weren't able to get too close. The pomp and circumstance was still quite impressive, even from a distance!

Buckingham

One of the bands that marched in while playing

The Tower of London:

          A fortress built in the 1000's, the Tower has been used as a prison, a palace and a safeguard for London. The grounds have been reconstructed by monarchs and royal families throughout the centuries, and some infamous individuals-- Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, and William Wallace for example-- were imprisoned and killed within or right outside of the Tower's walls. At one point, it housed the Royal Menagerie, a place to keep all the exotic animals given to the Queen by foreign dignitaries. Today, it also keeps the crown jewels and an impressive display of English armor.

The Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Inside the Tower grounds

Inner Courtyard (Anne Boleyn was executed where the clear disc is located

)

More Inner Courtyard

Amanda and Majik (Jason)

Me and Amanda with a Yeoman Warder

Replica of the Tower grounds

Majik and Amanda at the prisoner's entrance

Still more to come...

Ciao!