A visitor from Michigan

This week my sister in law Maureen Heslip came over the pond for a visit. And she was nice enough to bring some sunshine. As she was flying in Leanne went for a walk and got some great pictures of the morning sun.

and of course a picture of Coach.

Leanne was not sure what he was going after but he apparently thought something was there. He'd dig a little take a break and dig some more. He may have a tree fetish because the last few days i walked him he was doing the same thing.

She found one of those crazy peacocks about a half mile from the park on someones roof.

A better view of her

Later in the week near where the peacock was i saw a pheasant. Not sure how he came to be in this neighborhood.  

After Maureen landed she and I went to the London Marriott for afternoon tea. For those who know me i don't care for tea. But i gave it a try----still don't like it. Besides tea to drink they also had champagne, so life is good. As you can see Maureen was having a great time. From her vantage point she had a great view of Big Ben and Parliament.

The next day we were off to watch the Changing of Guard. 

http://www.army.mod.uk/events/ceremonial/23241.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsTqfqfPIY

We had gotten there early to see it. There are two guards standing guard in front of the palace and they are relieved every hour. Every once in a while they would march back and fourth in front of the palace. The major change of the guard with a band and men on horse back is what we came to see.  I got bored while waiting and went off to get some water, while i was gone Maureen saw one of the guards slip and fall. It must happen all the time because there posted on you tube.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11534602/Buckingham-Palace-guard-slips-in-front-of-tourists.html

So after an hour and half of waiting the changing of the guard started.

Like i said we got there early to see it and take pictures.

Some people get there late and push the way in to take pictures. The lady behind us was body slamming us into the fence. She had no manners at all and didn't care what was said about her. There was a guy behind Maureen that stuck his camera right in front of hers. 

As for the rude lady behind us as she tried to take videos of it i would bump her arm and push back from the fence. 

We were able to get some nice pictures and have fun at the same time.

From there we went to St. Pauls Cathedral.

https://www.stpauls.co.uk/

We opted to just look at the outside and pass on paying to see the inside.

We decided instead to tour the houses of Parliament. The actual name of of the building is the Palace of Westminster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#Westminster_Hall

There were only two rooms that we could take pictures this is one of them. Winchester hall built in 1097, at the time the largest hall in Europe.

As with the rest of the building everything was very ornate inside and our.

Saturday Leanne, Maureen,Coach and I went for a walk in Kensington gardens and Hyde park. It was a great day, Leanne had already walked Coach but given the option to go far another walk he jumped at it. It was a beautiful day for walking, at one point Maureen went off to take pictures of the Albert Memorial. Leaving the rest of us to take a break .

After that it was a bus ride for Maureen and I to Portobello road

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portobello_Road

That night we went to see the musical Wicked. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical)

This would be Maureen's first time seeing it and our second. We liked it both times. 

Sunday Maureen, Leanne and I would take a train to Salisbury to visit Stonehenge. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

The day had started off warm but as we arrived at the site the wind came and the sun left. 

It was a great site to see and were able to walk around it. 

but not in it. 

It was a long day and for some the train ride back would be a time for rest---or sleep as it was for this old guy.

Monday Maureen and I would head out to Brookwood Cemetery to see if we could find her great grandfathers grave.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookwood_Cemetery

After a lot of walking and we found the area that he was buried but not his grave site. He is buried in a military area that in the 1950's they removed all the head stones and put up one large monument. Maureen was a little disappointed after all the searching we did.

From there we were off to the Royal Hospital Chelsea where her great grandfather lived during WWII. It was bombed during the blitz and he died a few days later from injures of the bombing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Hospital_Chelsea

This is a military retirement home that was built in 1692. We didn't have much luck getting information but Maureen got a few names to call and is hoping to get some info. 

It was great to have Maureen here, show her around and see some new things with her.