Football and the Palace

Joel finished early today, so we decided that we needed to see how the Brits celebrated the World Cup games. Great Britain played Slovenia at 3pm, so we went to a bar for a late lunch and to watch the game with the locals. What a party it was! Everyone was in red and white, some wearing flags over their clothing, as you can see. They started drinking early and never stopped. Singing "God save the Queen" and other songs whose words we could not figure out. At one point, a woman was lifted above the crowd. It was like being at a Frat party. This game was a 'must win' for England, as was the US game that was going on at the same time, in order to progress to the next round. They won 1-0, scoring in the first half, unlike the US, who waited until the last minute to score. We had a great time pretending to be British football fans for the afternoon.

We had late dinner reservations, so we headed to St. James Park to wander and take pictures. Because we are so far north, there was bright sunlight when we went at 8:00. It was a beautiful evening and the scenery was breathtaking. The park was crowded with people just enjoying the beautiful weather. We made our way over to Buckingham Palace which is next to the park. Joel got a photo of a guard marching to the guardhouse. He also found a crazy blonde woman standing in front of the palace gates.

Finally we went to dinner at the Wolseley on Picadilly. It is a big, bustling restaurant that has terrific food, with a very interesting menu. A mix of British, French, German, even some Jewish (tsimmes is on the menu with salt beef - could that be corned beef?). Sometimes it is harder to understand what is on a British menu than a French menu. So many strange things to eat here, or at least strange names that need interpretation.
Only one more day and then we fly home on Friday. The weather is supposed to cooperate once again tomorrow and stay sunny and warm!

We will get back to you with our last post from London tomorrow night.

Lots of love from London
S & J