08 | June | 2014 | Safari So Good

June 8, 2014

Quote of the Day

by safarisogood

At the beginning of this trip, my plan was to identify a “Quote of the Day” for each day we traveled. However, on day one (Wednesday) our quote seemed a bit insensitive, so I decided not to publish it. Thursday, I didn’t hear anything quite worthy enough, so again, no quote of the day. Yesterday and today, we had some winners! I was too tired to blog last night, so I’m catching up tonight by covering two days (Friday and Saturday). The time has gone by so fast and we are having a great time, seeing all the important tourist attractions and eating at a different place for every meal, except breakfast, which is included in the room charge (plus it’s delicious)!
So, back to our quotes — Friday’s Quote of the Day was “Deep in the Jungles of London”. That quote came from Hailey when we were in the underground (a.k.a. subway) waiting for Grandpa to purchase subway tickets, when the subject of his attire came up. He was wearing beige shants (you know, those pants where the bottom zips off and they become shorts, shorts + pants = shants) and a light brown shirt. One of the girls asked if he bought the pants and shirt for Africa, since he looked like he was going on a safari, and I said yes. Hailey’s reaction was “Well it makes sense he would need them here, Deep in the Jungles of London!” Her delivery was spot on and we had a good laugh, declaring that we finally had our first Quote of the Day! Our primary mode of transportation yesterday was a “hop on/hop off” boat cruise down the Thames (pronounced Tems) River, starting from Westminster Pier (just a short subway ride from Victoria Station, which is a block from the Hotel) and ending at Greenwich Pier. Prior to catching the river cruise boat, we spent a couple of hours at Westminster Abbey, a breathtaking church with the most incredible stained glass windows and architecture. No pictures allowed inside, but I got several of the outside. Once we boarded the boat, we took it all the way down to Greenwich. What a lovely little town! We walked through Greenwich Park and made it up the hill to the Royal Observatory, where we were able to put one foot on the Eastern Hemisphere and the other foot on the Western Hemisphere – at the Greenwich meridian, which is the universal time clock.

Westminster Abbey

On the River Cruise.

The girls at the Greenwich Observatory

I didn’t finish writing last night because I got too tired, again. Site seeing for 14 hours a day is exhausting for an old girl like me! Anyway, Saturday quote of the Day – “How Did I End Up in This Family – Twice?” We had a wonderful day Saturday, beginning with another ride on the underground. The girls have become quite adept at moving through the ‘turnstiles’ and getting onto and off of the cars with no trouble. Our first stop was the London Tower, a medieval castle where the infamous Anne Bolen was beheaded, along with many other men and women. We saw ancient weapons and suits of armor and the tools used for making the very first coins. Henry said it was the most swords he had ever seen in one place. Oh, yeah, we also saw the Queen’s Crown Jewels! Got some great pictures of the Tower Bridge and ventured to the other side of the river to have lunch. After lunch, we walked back over the river to St. Paul’s Cathedral, another amazing ornate church. We then found Dirty Dicks, an English Pub, where we had a wonderful dinner. Hailey ordered a beer (and to my surprise, drank most of it). All the walking an climbing we had done took toll on my right leg (the one I had surgery on several years ago), so I took 4 Motrin with 2 glasses of wine. That worked wonders, but the fact is, I drink very little on a normal basis, so after two glasses of wine, I was finally, and literally, feeling no pain. To hear it told, I can be a bit silly when I drink and was behaving so, as we wandered back to the underground and boarded the train. We were all laughing and watching the cars swerve back and forth and I looked at Brittney across the aisle and said “what are you looking at?” because she was watching me with the strangest look on her face. Grandpa said, “she’s asking herself ‘How did I get into this family — twice?’ Everyone burst out in laughter and agreed that we had our quote of the day!