The first alert Friday

Today was a packed but fantastic day, capping off a great first week of classes.  I think we are all settled now, and everyone has adjusted well.  I still expect to be smacked by a bus because I looked left when I should have looked right.

Chuck, Terri, and I began the morning with a tour of Buckingham Palace and the 19 State Rooms that are open when the royal family is not in residence.   It seems trite to describe the palace as enormous and beautiful, but that sums it up.  I don't think I appreciated just how opulent it was until I was standing among lighting fixtures that were as tall as a typical room in my house, as Terri pointed out to me.  I would have been perfectly fine to take up residence in the White Drawing Room (unfortunately, no cameras were allowed inside, but you can take my word that the room was white).  Parts of the palace and its history and protocol seemed fussy to me, but who am I to squabble with centuries of history??

This first picture is the outside of the Music Room.  Of course there was a piano that Mom would have helped herself to had she been there.  :)  The picture below is the BP Cafe where I enjoyed tea and a wonderful scone with fresh strawberries and clotted cream.  

Perhaps my favorite part of the entire visit to Buckingham was the grounds.  The pond and foliage were very serene; you would forget that you were in a city of millions of people and vehicles.  My Mammaw would have loved strolling through the gardens, though I suspect she would have been asked to stop picking the flowers.  The picture below is a view back to the palace from the pond, and the next one is the oldest tree on the grounds--a 150-year old Indian Bean tree that is nearing the end of its life cycle.  Dianne would have thought this the most beautiful tree, and I am inclined to agree.

After lunch with Chuck and Terri, I struck out to Old Bond Street, Chinatown, and Soho.  Eventually, I met up with friends to go and see "Avenue Q," one of my favorite shows.  It was just as good the second time as it was when I first saw it in Pittsburgh.  I was surprised to see that you can eat and drink in the house, and no one was shushing the lady a few rows down who was digging through her purse and making all sorts of noise.  Thankfully no one shushed me either as I sang along to my favorite songs.  In a few weeks, we have tickets to see "Wicked," which I am really looking forward to.  

Tomorrow, I am going to the Schubert Festival at Holy Trinity Church.  A friend is the master pianist who is giving the concert.  Chuck and I will do that while Terri works on lectures to cover my classes this week.  Graciously, she is teaching for me while I attend the British Psychological 

Society conference at the University of Sheffield.