Day 9:  For the fifth time in a row, we ate breakfast at the hotel ( at least it was free).  We also stopped at a coffee shop on our way to the subway where I had a brownie-like product.  We took the subway to Waterloo Station and caught a local train to Hampton Court Palace where Henry the VII (8th) and several other kings and queens lived.  We bought tickets for only the gardens so we could not go in any of the houses.  The whole reason we went there is there is a maze made out hedges similar to the one in Harry Potter IV in the gardens, but it did not try to eat us.  We thought the maze would be easy but it took us awhile until we discovered the exit was at the entrance.  My grandpa took a picture of me as I was pretending to think, "How do we get out?".  By the time we got out of the maze we went to a little cafe near the maze.  I had a cheese sandwich, some crisps (potato chips), apple juice and part of a shortbread cookie.  My grandpa had an egg salad sandwich.  We took the same train back to the station which had an entrance to the underground in it.  We took the Underground to the British Museum.  We walked around in the Museum and looked at interesting stuff.  The British Museum is famous for having so many mummies.  I took a picture of a lot of them but I only posted one.  After seeing the museum, we took the Underground to Queensway which is near Bayswater.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a souvenir shop and got an Arsenal jersey.  They are my favorite soccer team.  We also got a cool lazer pointer and a key ring that had a lazer embossed picture of the Tower Bridge.  I also got a larger version of a lazer cube that had a bunch of famous sites in London.  This is our last day in London and we fly home tomorrow.  We also realized we have taken most forms of public transportation during our time in London.  These include subway, train, taxi, boat, bus and walking (a lot).

I had a good time in London with my grandpa and I also had a good time doing this blog.  Please recommend this blog to other people and leave a comment.  In case you are wondering, my grandma accidentally posted her own blog entry underneath mine.  Thank you for reading my blog.     Marcus 

From Nana Acoss the Pond

Hi Marcus,

Wow, you have been busier than a bee in springtime. I loved reading about your adventures. And the photos were great. I especially liked the one of the London Eye. You went on that?!
Good thing you're with Papa and not Fraidy Cat Nana.

I can hardly wait to hear about your trip in person. And I hope you have more photos. It looks like it is still pretty chilly there.

Can you understand the British people when they talk? I know it's English but the dialect can be tricky.

How are you doing on tracking down a few Harry Potter sights? What an opportunity.

It's a treat reading your journal. I'd love to go over it with you when you return.

I Love You and miss you mucho, Marcus Man.

Nana

Day 8:  The first thing we did on Day 8 was take the subway to Westminster Pier where we got onto the boat with almost no line.  We rode down the River Thames while our guide was pointing out interesting things.  My grandpa took a picture of me with the London Eye in the background.  I also took a picture of the famous Tower Bridge which lets boats go under it by raising the street the cars drive on in the middle of it.  We continued on to Greenwich and went to the Royal Observatory.  At the Observatory, I stood on the Prime Meridian and my grandpa took a picture of me.  The Prime Meridan is the place where longitude is 0 degrees and where time is measured from all over the world.  We also stopped at a sandwich shop and I got a cheese and ham sandwich.  My Grandpa took out the ham for me since I don't eat it.  It still tasted like ham to me.  We rode the boat back to the pier and walked to Westminster Abbey which was only about a block away.  After that, we got back on the subway and went to the Science Museum on High Street in Kensington.  The museum had a lot of interactive things on energy and there was a metal pole with smaller poles around it that if you touched it, it would shock you.  Other people were afraid of it but I tried it and it didn't hurt.  My Grandpa took a picture of me touching it but we didn't post it.  We took the subway back to Bayswater and walked to the hotel.  After awhile, we went to a Greek restaurant where I ate a chicken kabob and a bunch of pita bread.   After dinner, we went back to the hotel, did some homework and watched some of Harry Potter 4.   

Day 7:  We ate breakfast at the hotel(again).  After breakfast, we went to a place next to Madam Tussaud's where double-decker buses were giving tours.  With the ticket you buy you get a free ticket for a boat ride.  You have to use the ticket within 24 hours of buying it so we bought it at exactly 10:00.  On the bus, there were free head phones that you could plug into your seat in front of you.  The bus went past most of the important places in London and stopped every fifteen minutes.  Two of the important places I took pictures of are the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.  We left the bus tour early to take the underground to Covent Garden where we had some pizza for lunch.  After lunch we saw the play of the Lion King (I disliked it).  We ate dinner at a pub called Prince Alfred's near the hotel.              

Day 6:  The first thing we did on day 6 was eat breakfast at the hotel again.  After that, we went to Madame Tussad's which is a wax museum.  They have wax figures of people that are famous.  On a few of the wax dummies I could not tell that they were not made out of wax.  Most of them, I could tell they were made out of wax.   They had a fun thing in the sports section where you could kick a soccer ball at a target that kept on moving.  There was a wax dummy of Captain Jack Sparrow that you could take a picture with and I did.   After Madame Tussad's we went on the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel with cars that hold over 20 people.  While we were in line, part of it broke down so we had to wait in line longer than the trip in one of cars takes.  It takes 30 minutes for the whole thing to go around once.  Another amazing fact about the London Eye is that it was built in less than 16 months.  When on the London Eye, you can see over 20 miles and see a lot of beautiful scenery.  I have one photo of the spectacular view and one of a car that was behind us.  (I told my Grandma I would show her how big the cars are).  After the London Eye, we ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant that was close the London Eye.  Another thing that is close to the London Eye is the Salvador Dali museum.  I did a project on Dali in school so I wanted to go there.  They had a bunch of his drawings and sculptures but not that many paintings.  They also had a few works of Picasso.   We had dinner at the same Italian restaurant near our hotel that we ate ate two days ago.  

London Zoo:  The first thing we did on day five was took the Underground to go to a Harry Potter sight called St. Pancras.  St. Pancras was used as the front of Kings Cross station in Harry Potter I.  On the picture of St. Pancras, there is a bunch of construction but I don't know why.  After seeing St.Pancras, we walked to Kings Cross Station.  At Kings Cross, there was a display of Platform 9 3/4 that had half a luggage cart sticking out of the wall that you could grab on to.  My grandpa took a picture of me grabbing on to the cart.  Next, we took a cab to the London Zoo.  We went to the Reptile House where an early part of Harry Potter I was filmed.   I have one picture of 2 or 3 huge starfish and a picture of a snake at the Reptile House.  We took the subway to Leadenhall Market where Hagrid took Harry to buy some of his school supplies.  That night, I finished my miniature Stonehenge.

Roman Baths: The first thing we did on day four was go to the Roman Baths.  The Roman Baths were built in the first century A.D.  They are a hot spring that the Romans believed to hold a goddess named Minerva. The Romans left England around the fourth century A.D. and their baths collapsed. Later, the Baths were rediscovered in the 1880's.  I have a few photos of the Baths.  After seeing the baths we took a long bus ride to Victoria Station in London.We took a underground(subway) to Bayswater which our hotel named The Caring Hotel was fairly near.  To end day four we eat at a nice italian restaurant.