We Say Hello to Kris, Greg and London, and Farewell To Taffy

Tower of London.

Where the Crown Jewels are kept inside the Tower.

London Bridge.

Walking home on Picadilly after the Phantom.

Changing of the Guard.

The Glass Carriage - the one William and Catherine used.

The State Carriage - this weighs 4 tons.

Westminster Abbey is an incredible place. 

Our friends the Soupens.

The girls in Covenant Garden.

The Tube is a great way to travel.

Outside Kris and Greg's apartment - ready to go to Lion King.

Special dinner to celebrate Taffy's life with Kris and Greg. Greg broke out a 1995 Krug and 2001 Hewitt - wow!!

Long-time friends Kris Harvey and Greg Kryder and their golden retriever, Taffy, moved from Paris to London in the fall of 2009. You can see them in early blog posts in Paris and during our summer week in southern France. While Steve paid a quick visit in May, 2010, the family hadn't gotten to London to see them yet. We took advantage of a four day weekend in June to make the quick flight over to see them. Sadly, only 1.5 weeks before we were to arrive, Taffy passed away. We are all saddened by this, our family was very fond of her. We decided to use the time to celebrate her life with Kris and Greg, while taking in some of London's great sites.

London is an incredible city and Kris and Greg's apartment is ideally located in Mayfair, between Hyde Park and Green Park. We toured the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the Royal Mews, saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and enjoyed having tea. We also took the girls to the theatre and saw Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King. We enjoyed both of them. Phantom turned out to be special because we met John Henry Owen and Tabitha Webb, the actors who played Phantom and Christine. They signed our program and spent time chatting with us. Owen was voted the favorite Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and has played Phantom over 1400 times - what a treat.

We also had lunch with the Soupens - good friends from Dubai. Ashley and Steve worked together in Dubai for Honeywell. It was so good to see them again, too. 

We continue to be blessed and are mindful of how fortunate we are.