Update from London

Hi everybody,
Thanks for all the comments! We have been in London for three days now, but first I should talk about our last day in Ireland. We went to a well-preserved Norman castle called Trim Castle. We also went to Newgrange, a gigantic neolithic grave mound that is about 5,000 years old. On the winter solstice, the sun shines through a special hole above the door, lighting up the chamber. There was over 300-year-old graffiti. You think it's cool until you realize it's written on over 5000-year-old walls.

The next day we spent flying, but Tuesday we spent sight-seeing. We saw Big Ben and the parliament buildings. We then saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. The bands played "Money Can't Buy Me Love," which Colin thought was inappropriate. We also went to a ginormous toy store and wandered around London.

The next day we went to the Tower of London. We had an awesome tour guide, or yeoman warder (also called "beefeaters"). We learned that Humpty Dumpty is actually Richard the Third. After that we went to the British Museum, which was amazing. We saw the Elgin Marbles, Egyptian Mummies, and the Rosetta Stone. We went to the British Library where we saw songs handwritten by the Beatles, along with Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, Shakespeare's Folio, and the Magna Carta. We then went and visited with Dad's cousin and his family.

Today we went to the Tate Modern art museum and went to Shakespeare's Globe. We saw "As You Like It." We were groundlings which meant we had to stand, leaning on the stage, through the whole performance.

We then went and had dinner with my great-aunt Mary and explored a new neighborhood.

I would also like to add that we saw London Bridge, but it wasn't falling down.