"Fast Paced" Must sees w/Spam -Day 7

snow changing to rain/more sun then clouds/cool

40/31

Okay, so that will make for an interesting day.  At least Jordan can try out his umbrella and rain jacket! 

Today is Jordan's last day in London.  This is were the power-team of parents who planned 13 different itineraries for this day come into play.  The students could choose based on price and interest.   Jordan picked #11 "Fast paced" must sees w/Spam.   It was not an easy choice, he really wanted to see Stonehenge or the Globe Theatre and others... but I think Monty Python was the deal breaker in the end.

Straight from the Itinerary.

Our action packed day starts at 8:00 AM and moves quickly through 7 must-sees of London then on to the Monty Python’s  

theatre show Spamalot. 

Palace of Westminster - The Houses of Parliament, 

along with the trademark clock, Big Ben, are the ultimate 

symbols of London. Free  www.parliament.uk    

 Buckingham Palace – walk grounds of the Royal residences for nearly 

1,000 years of British history. Their architecture and decoration reflect the 

personalities of successive kings and queens. http://www.royal.gov.uk  

 

Westminster Abbey - This 

early-English Gothic abbey is the 

symbol of everything Britain has 

stood for and stands for, and the 

place in which most of its rulers were 

crowned and where many lie buried. 

Fee $19 / $11 www.westminster- 

abbey.org 

 

Horse Guard Parade – The 

Queens mounted changing of the 

guard ceremony at the   

headquarters of the British Army .  

Free www.army.mod.uk 

 

National Gallery - The National Gallery has one of the world’s greatest collections 

of paintings, including works from Botticelli, Cezanne, Constable, Leonardo da Vinci, 

Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir, Raphael, and Van Gogh. Free www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ 

 

 

Covent Garden - The most famous market in all of England. There is a wide range 

of glassware and ceramics, leather goods, toys, clothes, hats and jewelry.  There is also 

lots of fun street entertainment, mimes and music performers to watch.  Free 

www.coventgardenmarket.com 

#10 Downing Street - home of the Prime 

Minister Gordon Brown.  www.number10.gov.uk/ 

 

 Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Palace Theatre.  The hilariously funny 

story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table search for the Holy Grail.  

Fee paid in advance approx. $40.00 

Email from Jordan- Day 6

Scott sent a message  - We saw you this morning, it looked really cold.  

Jordan's reply "Yah it was really cold but it was an amazing experience... Just got off the London eye...."

(I guess he saw one of his other free time choices on Monday-- he

 saw the London Eye on New Years Day)

Pictures from Jordan:

Where he had his New Years Eve Party-- they were able to see the fireworks over the Thames River.

From the top of the London Eye

Facebook Message from friend Kathy who is an RA-- Jordan and her oldest son (she has two in the band) are roommates.  She is talking about the parade!

It was the most amazing event I have ever seen! We'll be talking about this for a while! Got lots of pictures and lots of film. I'm sure utube will be jammed with it!

Welcome Baby Deakyn

Deakyn is the son of Burdett and Erica (my sister).   

Born December 30 @ 2:30 pm.   

Weight- 7 lbs 8 oz     21 1/2 in. long

Congratulations Erica and Burdette-- 

Family is all doing well,  even big brother Peyton

Welcome little one

Baby Sarah comes home

Sarah, daughter of Mike and Trudi (Scott's sister) born Dec 12, 7 1/2 weeks early, came home today.  What a blessing for Mike and Trudi.   Sarah is now weighing- 4lbs 3oz and is 17 1/2 inches long.   So happy for you Mike and Trudi-- all has been well.

Happy Birthday Mark!

The name Mark is derived from the god Mars-- the god of war

Mark is one of the most popular boys names (how many do you know?)

Mark is my nephew, son of Monica and Kirk (my brother).   He is our family New Years Baby and he turns six today.   Kirk and Monica's kids are so sweet and they get along so well with others, including Chance.   Chance liked having Mark for a pal when we all hung out in Brenda's backyard a few summers ago.  

Cousin picture from July 2007.   Chance and Mark has something going on with the rope.  I asked Chance he can't remember what they were playing.

Have a happy birthday Mark.   Next time I am out your way and it is your birthday,  Chance and I are coming over for cake and ice cream!   Thanks for having a kind heart and being a good pal to Chance for an afternoon.  Love you,  Aunt Karalene

We saw them!

We saw the Parade!  They performed at the grandstands around 7:20 am our time -- 3:20pm London time.   Scott and I got up at 4:30 am and watched it from my laptop on Channel 21's Livefeed.   It took a little while to get access-- lots of people watching.   We watched the parade with clear sound and image until about 7:10 when we lost bandwidth and the image became patchy and blurry.   We unfortunately could not make out the faces very well.  The sound still came through pretty good. They played the New Years song-- 'Auld Lang Syne'  -- very fitting for the last band of the parade on New Years Day.  

A few items of interest that were pointed out by the commentators or we noticed ourselves.  A band from Kansas was delayed by 3 days because of winter storms.   A band from Tennessee was not allowed by British Airways to bring their sousaphones (Tuba's)-- another band that had already performed earlier lent theirs to them.   Some band got identified as Santa Monica Vikings--- but about 15 minutes later the Santa Monica Vikings came marching down the street.  How sad for the unidentified band.   Lots of US bands-- many from California.  The British love Marching Bands-- they do not have bands like that.  They also like the cheerleaders.  They had good things to say about all the bands.  Unlike the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade that just briefly shows a band-- the London New Years Parade really showcases the band and gives them great airtime.  It was wonderful!  Hopefully with a copy of the DVD a local station will broadcast-- at least showcasing the Band .       A few other notable items--The bands are judged-- we did not know that.   The parade raises lots of money for charities.

It was a surreal moment to see my son (at least know he was in there) playing his trombone in a historical place with it being broadcast around the world.  It was a proud moment.  The moment when all the time, money, and efforts converge and you say-- that was so worth it!

Marching for the Queen- Day 6

High level clouds/ cool

37/26

Today is going to be the coldest thus far in his week.

Happy New Year!   By the time this posts-- around 6 am Jordan will have already or be pretty close to marching by the satellite livefeed.  

(picture of a band from last year-- not his band-- just wanted to give an idea of what it would like, except they will not have wet streets)

 He will have marched for 500 thousand people crammed along the parade route-- another 200 million watching the broadcast around the world.    More then 10,000 performers from 20 different countries in the parade.   

The parade route 

The band has the honor to be the last marching band of the parade (I am sure the first band is a honor too!)  Big Ben will chime at 12 pm-- beginning the parade. The parade is a 2 mile route.  The total length of the parade for those watching is about 2 hours and 45 minutes total.   The band will get a bus ride to the beginning and at the end-- a ride back to the hotel.   

Jordan has thermals to wear under his uniform.  The RA's have hand warmers for the band as they wait in the que.   However, the wait should not be too long though.  

They should be back at the hotel around 3-4 pm.   They have vouchers for Dinner.  The rest of the evening is free time.