Tolbys in London, 2007

Our daughter, Julie, with husband Justin and our grandson Tyler, visited us in London in March. They had a busy sightseeing schedule for the first two days of their visit. They took the great London open-top bus tour (the kind where you can get off anywhere along the route and then re-board and continue later) and also took a river tour on the Thames. Both of these tours are great ways to see much of London and to get a feel for the layout of the entire city, as well as to see some of the really great scenic vistas along the river. (Julie and Tyler pictured.)

Julie, Justin and Tyler went to the theater to see "Lion King", which Tyler thoroughly enjoyed -- to the point that on the bus ride home, rather than falling asleep as he normally would at that time of the evening, he commented enthusiastically on what he had seen in the show. It was a great success from the standpoint of his enjoying it.

Kathi and Julie visited Kensington Palace, former home of Princess Diana and did the obligatory walk along famed London shopping thoroughfare, Oxford Street. They were joined later in the day for afternoon tea at the (near our flat) Sherlock Holmes Hotel by our friend Sara Allen.

While the ladies were having this "girls' day out", the guys visited Portsmouth, the major Royal Navy base. Portsmouth is the site of the HMS Victory (the flagship of Admiral Lord Nelson when he defeated the French and Spanish at Trafalgar) as well as many other nautical-history-related sites. Chuck, Tyler and Justin thoroughly enjoyed this "boys' day out" -- though, sadly, Chuck forgot to take the camera!

All five of us, the Calvanos and the Tolbys, went to an afternoon performance at the London Unicorn (children's) Theater of "Jemima Puddleduck". The Unicorn is a very interesting enterprise, devoted to introducing children to theater, but with thoroughly professional staff and actors. We also worked in a visit to the Tate Modern museum which was featuring a temporary exhibit of very large slides offering free slides to the public. Consistent with the Tate's approach, the large slides were considered "art" and, to quote from the museum's own web site "the experience of sliding is best summed up in a phrase by the French writer Roger Caillois as a 'voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind'. The slides are impressive sculptures in their own right, and you don't have to hurtle down them to appreciate this artwork. What interests Höller, (the artist) however, is both the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the 'inner spectacle' experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend." We just enjoyed the ride -- especially Tyler. But Chuck, Justin and Kathi also shared the experience.

Robyn, one of Julie's law office co-workers (from San Diego before the Tolbys moved to Phoenix) and her husband, Mitch, paid us a visit while the Tolbys were here and we all met for dinner the next night at our local Chinese restaurant, the Phoenix Palace (the favorite restaurant of Tony and Cheri Blair, by the way).

Some photos of the visit are at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/2743926#145777777