The night the lights went out in London

Friday - 3 August 2007

Today we went to Ikea, again, to purchase some more furniture. It's great, we now have a dining room table, chairs, desk chairs, clothes drying rack, and more. It is starting to feel more and more like a home. We are still waiting on our paint allowance so we can paint the walls and waiting on them to come by and fix the bathroom but it feels much better than it did.

The cutest thing we bought were 3 dog butts, in various colors. They are actually hangers for their leashes.


Saturday - 4 August 2007

Today was our first real touristy day. We got up early and headed to Buckingham Palace before they opened at 9:45 am. We got our tickets and were able to see the Mews (stables and carriages), the Royal Gallery, and 19 State Rooms. The rooms are only opened for 2 months out of the year so we really took advantage. You could only take pictures at the Mews and while in the gardens of the Palace. It was so beautiful, I wish I could have taken pictures but my batteries died and I hadn't bought more since we arrived. Oh well, there are at least a few. We will be able to go back as much as we want for the next year at no additional charge, so I will get more pictures later.

We couldn't believe the number of carriages that they had, they use one for it seems every different purpose, from weddings, to funerals, to public appearances, etc. They even had the carriage that was used in the 1800's. It was massive and so much gold on it. The sculptures and paintings on the side as well were very impressive.



We spent about an hour at the Mews and then headed to the Royal Gallery where we saw hundreds of Italian paintings and drawings that were held in the Royal family. It was kind of like being at the High Museum.

We spent over an hour there and headed to see the State Rooms. Oh My God!!!!! I thought Biltmore Estates was big, it is nothing compared to Buckingham Palace. I think the entire Biltmore could have fit into 2 or 3 rooms of the Palace. We got to see 19 rooms and that wasn't even 1/4 the size of the Palace. There was just so much gold and huge paintings and just so much there, it was amazing. They did even have a section that was nothing but the Queens wedding memorabilia, like her dress, bridesmaids dresses, gifts, crowns, etc. That was really neat to see as well. She was so young and beautiful, a blushing bride.

Once we got done at the Palace we headed to Kensington Gardens so we could have afternoon tea. We sat down and when the waitress came over we asked her about tea and we were actually too early. We didn't want to wait for it to begin, in 20 minutes, so we just ordered a scone and some tea and left. It was good but I was a little disappointed. Oh well, another day.

We then decided to head down to the Borough Market to see if it was still open. It was, but barely, most shops were closing up. We walked around and decided we definitely were going to come back and spend the day. So much fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, wine, beer, meat, sandwiches, etc. So much shopping as well. We walked over and got tickets to see Othello at the Shakespeare's Globe theater for August 19th (I know my dad will love that I am doing that on his birthday) and then headed back toward the Borough and had a few drinks at the Anchor pub.


Well, they were filming a movie or tv show or something so we got some beer (mine was Smirnoff, made with Vodka not a malt beverage like in the states) and sat at the waters edge and watched. We did get some photos of the guy jumping off the bridge, that was the scene they were filming. It was really nice weather and we had fun just sitting there and enjoying the scenery.

The first picture here is the guy on the bridge, and then you can see the film crew in the water. The second picture is him right after he actually jumped. If you notice in the first picture there is a semi with a bunch of beer kegs on it. He was supposed to be running from this when he jumps off the bridge.




We then decided we needed to get back to the puppies, since they had been up all day. We grabbed some supper to take back home from Wagamama (yummy noodles). We got home, took the dogs out, eat and started to watch Bourne Identity, when the power went out.

Well, let me tell you how happy we were about that. We have been trying to get the power turned over to our name for a week now. The agency told us that this company handles the power. We call them and they tell us it someone else, then they tell us it is yet someone else. It has been very aggravating, we have even left messages for the rental agency to call us and help us out.

We were going to call the company whom we think handles the power and our cell phone has no more money on it. Uggghhhh!! This pre-pay thing is really crappy at this point. First the cell phone, then the gas, I am already tired of it. It is now almost 10 pm and we have to find a store open so we can put more minutes on our phone, that wasn't hard, yeah! So, we call the power company, they tell us that they would not just turn the power off without any warning. They also tell us that it is probably just a blown fuse and we need to get a new fuse. Well, we don't have a flash light. We go back to the store that we topped our cell phone up at and find a flash light, well they only take cash and we only have 2.75 so we find a keychain flashing for 1 pound that comes with a battery and buy it, oh well, better than nothing. We get back to the flat, find the fuse box, call the power company back, because tripping the box did not work, and find out that we are on no other than PRE-PAY power as well. I really don't think I like this pre-pay thing.

I think it will get better now that we know what to expect. So, continuing on. It is now 11 pm and we don't have a clue who can top up the power card. We decide, we mine as well just go to sleep and get up and do it Sunday morning. Which we did, and now all is well.

See tomorrow for Sunday's blog post...