I remember these lines on the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album. I thought they were painted there for the photo shoot.

Turns out they're actually lines in the road with actual meaning to those who drive on the wrong side of the road. (If Brits drove on the right side, they wouldn't have to paint every crosswalk with "Look right" or "Look left" so pedestrians didn't die trying to cross after looking the wrong way. Sorry, I digress. Apparently these zigzag lines are painted on either sides of crosswalks (which are not at corners). They mean that drivers are not allowed to stop or park there so that pedestrians have a clear view of traffic in both directions. Learn something new every day. :)

Wow, we crammed a lot into a crazy Sunday. A lot of streets were closed because of the London-Surrey 100, a 100-mile bike race that ended at Buckingham Palace. (I'm sure that wouldn't have happened if the royals were actually there.)  But the Tube was running normally, so we hopped on and headed for the palace.

Buckingham Palace is surrounded by gates with gold detail. And lots and lots of people. Who could live with that commotion? Good grief.

We took some palace pics and then walked toward Whitehall (reverse of the route William and Kate took after their Westminster Abbey nuptials) to find a changing of the guard ceremony because the queen is in Scotland or some such place, and there were no guards at the palace gates. We were, of course, hungry, but we couldn't cross any streets to get to the any restaurants. We finally found one on the correct side of the road and stalked patrons to get a table. Exhausting.

We then checked out the guards on horseback at some royal building or other as we headed to Big Ben. Westminster Abbey and Big Ben are incredible, as are the parliament and other government buildings. We ended the afternoon with a ride on the London Eye -- before Alex, Erika, and Sabrina bought some incredible ice cream from a guy they said was hot. I didn't notice (really, I didn't). The Tube ride back to Chelsea was packed with spectators and cyclists from the century ride, and we got off on a different stop that was closer to the house.

But the stop  was only closer if we knew which way to go. We didn't, and we didn't have a map (don't ask), so we picked a direction, turned around once and then followed that street to a main road. We looked up and guess what? The house was right across the street. And sometimes you live right.

Enjoy the pics!

Hellloooooo, London!

Arrived in London and rode to the house in the cutest yellow cab ever. Did I take a photo? Nope. But Sabrina was jumping up and down and clapping her hands and exclaiming, "These are the cutest cabs EVER!"

After a bit of unpacking and bit of showering, we went to the grocery store and tried to find a place to eat that wasn't booked. We stopped to peruse the menu at an Italian place that wasn't open, and the owner came out and told us he could serve us only if we sat down right then and didn't stay more than 2 hours. Then he proceeded to schmooze us. We enjoyed the meal, but man, was it spendy: 125 pounds ($200 US) later, we had each had an entrée and some mineral water. Eesh. We were too hungry to care when we sat down, but we will not make that mistake again.

Two more days in Berlin. Can't believe how the time has flown by. We've spent most of our time in the eastern part of the city, but we ventured to the western part of the city twice: once to go to KaDeWe and once to check out the Brandenburg Gate, the American Embassy on Pariser Platz, and the Holocaust Memorial.

The Holocaust Memorial (officially called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) is in a former dead zone between the inner and outer walls. It is a series of stone rectangles (stelae) that quickly go from small to way over your head as the stones grow larger and the paths descend and climb in not particular pattern. The idea, some say, was to create an uneasy, confusing atmosphere and to show that the Nazis quickly lost touch with reason and got in way over their heads. The smaller stones looks like caskets, and larger ones look like tombs or mausoleums. The effect is a bit creepy, but it's also quite moving.

 

The irritating thing about the memorial, however, was the chaos that ensued among the stelae. Kids played hide and seek. Parents yelled for their children. Little kids cried and screamed, likely confused and scared by being in what seems maze-like when you're walking through the memorial. Several people bought their dogs. The regulations, below, state clearly that there is to be no yelling, no running, no dogs, no smoking, and no alcohol consumption. I didn't see anyone smoking or drinking, but I saw enough of the running and heard enough of the yelling to be disgusted. I get that kids don't understand the Holocaust, but I was offended by their behavior at the memorial and the fact that their parents let them run around and play. No one would do that at Pearl Harbor. What should have been a moving experience left me wanting to smack people.

 

Went to the Mauerpark in Berlin this evening. I've been fascinated by the Berlin wall since sixth grade, when I read a fiction book about it called "Escape to Life!" Even though I was 12 and thousands of miles from Berlin, the wall affected me intensely. I could not imagine a walled-off city (a partial city at that). Now that I've seen it for myself, listened to stories about life in communiste East Berlin, and read the bios of people who died trying to escape to freedom in West Berlin, I'm even more deeply moved. Note the mural on the building of the no man's land the Soviets used to allow them to see -- and shoot -- people trying to escape. Also note the picture of the baby on the memorial wall in the penultimate photo. How did the baby die without another family member? That one is particularly haunting.

 

Happy tummy today. Ventured out to a little German restaurant a couple blocks away. Had Schnitzel mit Kartoffelsalat. Yum! Haven't had German potato salad that good in many, many years. The waitress asked me if I wanted it with vinegar dressing or mayonnaise. What? Mayonnaise dressing is NOT for German potato salad! Interesting mixed green salad, too -- with corn, green beans, shredded carrots, a tomato wedge, and -- ack! -- cucumbers. I despise cucumbers. If it were the U.S., I'd have send the salad back for decontamination, but I just picked on the cukes and ate the rest. Next mission: Find an amazing soft pretzel. Maybe tomorrow on the way to the Brandenburg Gate... .

One floor at KaDeWe is filled with toys, games, and stuffed animals. Nearly lost two teenagers there.

To wit: Sabrina made a panda friend, and Erika rescued an ostrich.

 

 

Gorgeous chess sets, too, including Greeks v. Romans (w/the Trojan horse starring as the Greek knight). Love it. My fave, though, was the Union vs. the Confederacy. Odd choice for a German department store, but pretty cool. Lincoln is king for the Union, so Jefferson Davis must be the Confederate king. The pawns are soldiers -- naturally.

 

OMG. Today's indoor activity was a trip to KaDeWe, an 7-floor department store. The seventh floor is a buffet, and the sixth floor is all food, much of it gourmet meats, cheeses, salads, and pasta dishes that you can eat there or buy by the pound -- I mean gram -- to take home. Lobster, champagne, truffles, wraps, so much to choose from. We bought a box of Pop Tarts, four bottles of Arizona green tea with honey, a box of mac and cheese (not Kraft, so only one box), a box of pancake mix and a bottle of maple syrup -- which promptly leaked all over everything else in the bag because the inner seal was broken. You might say I deserved it for buying such a thing in Germany, but you know what? I paid for my crime by having to clean up syrup.

So much to do in Berlin. So much history and culture. And what sight provoked the most interest to the teen girls I'm here with? The Barbie Dreamhouse Experience. Good grief. One of my teen companions (not Sabrina) said, "This is my childhood dream come to life." Sigh.

Boy, oh, boy, do Berliners love their bikes. Seriously. On the streets, the sidewalks, the public squares. Bike parking is everywhere. See?

 

 

Yeah, I'm late posting. But when am I ever on time? You all know me better than that.

This trip started badly -- our flight out of Seattle got cancelled, which screwed up everything and means we are now staying in Europe until Aug. 11. Oh, and British Airways owes me $1,300 for making us miss our flights to Paris (requiring a change fee for each ticket of $290 and one $400 night in our Paris hotel. We'll see how rockin' BA's customer service is. I've heard good things, which I will put to the test.

Took me nearly 2 hours to check in online for our British Airways flights tomorrow. Seems I was missing a crucial bit of information -- the reservation number -- for one of us. Searched emails, combed through printed ticket receipts, and finally called StudentUniverse to get the number I needed. Finally we have 3 seats together -- in the middle of row 49! Joy!