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May 2017

​ That Places Visited
Derek and I ate lunch at El Rancho in Goshen, New York.  It is a small restaurant with delicious food at a reasonable price.  We had great service at a beautiful table.  We could also see them making the food if we wanted to.  A wonderful experience! 

Brian, Bea, Noah and I spent a week in London. We walked around St. James Park and, although it was cold, the flowers were beautiful, the grass was green, and the leaves were on the trees.  We stayed and the Conrad hotel so we were just a short walk from the park.  After a short nap, Brian and I walked to a nearby grocery store and then later all of us walked around the main tourist center of London.  It was really busy because it had warmed up in the afternoon.  We saw some street artists by the London Eye and Noah especially liked best were the man blowing giant bubbles that his age children were running and jumping through to break. 
​On the second day, we went Kensington Gardens.   There were many beautiful flowers in bloom. Brian, Bea, and Noah took a paddleboat out onto the lake in Hyde Park.  From there we walked to Buckingham Palace. Bea then shopped in the Royal gift shop while Brian, Noah and I went to St. James Park.
The third day started with Brian and I walking to a local Tesco and then buying fruit along the street. After a delicious breakfast at our hotel, we spent morning at the Tower of London. We took a double-decker bus and the subway to get there.  We participated in a show where the audience was the peasant soldiers and moved from place to place following a leader to learn about the history of the White Tower.  It was a great show!  Noah even got a shield and sword at the gift shop. We then took a boat, part of the London transit system, back and stopped at St. James Park playground. We arrived back at the hotel in time of their tea time which always delicious.  We then left for the London Eye ride and a fish and chips (Bea and I) or meat pie (Brian and Noah) dinner at the pub next door.
Brian and I began the fourth day with a walk through St. James's Park, Green Park and St. James Square past St. James Palace and on to Nelson's Column and Charing Cross.  Later, we all walked past The Monument to the Great Fire to visit the Sky Garden. It was spectacular!  From the windows we could see most of London from its two floors. The plants inside were also beautiful.  I loved it there.  When we left there, we saw men washing the windows of a skyscraper without scaffolding.  They just had ropes held by a man on the street. We walked through Leadenhall Market, enjoying the narrow passages and shops, on our way to the Guildhall.  The Guildhall is where the guilds met in the past and was seating up for an event when we were there. There is also a museum and a display of Roman ruins showing how the area looked during Roman times. We ended our day at the playground in St. James Park. While there, the guards across the street started practicing for the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's birthday.  That was a special treat! 
We began our fifth day in London by going to Tower Bridge.  We took the walk across the top and I was surprised that there were two sections of glass on the floor that allowed you to look down to the street level. Besides the amazing views, there were wonderful presentations about the history of the bridge.  On the way back, we ate an Italian Restaurant called Colosseo.  The food was great!
​We went to the London Zoo on the sixth day.  Noah is especially fond of zoos so he enjoyed it a lot. We took public transportation and walked so we got to see parts of London that we hadn't experienced before.  It was a lovely zoo and had a playground and other interactive areas for Noah.  We ate at Ask Italian, a chain in London, that was wonderful!  We got a delicious meal and Noah got a tray with ice cream, sprinkles, miniature colored marshmallows, and strawberries in little dishes for desert.
​On day seven, Brian and I started our day with a walk through Whitehall. After breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Science Museum with a neat playground for Noah, and then the Natural History Museum. You take an escalator into the museum and it is made to look like you are traveling into a volcano.  That was one of the highlights of the museum for me.  Another unusual place in the museum was a store that you went into and then it felt like there was an earthquake.  Since I have never been in an earthquake, I found it very interesting. The highlight for Noah and Bea was the butterfly exhibit outside of the museum.  They went through three times!  From there we walked through the Victoria and Albert Museum.  It is a big museum and the displays fit the space. That evening we went to a different Ask Italian restaurant in a mall connected to the subway.  It was a good as the first one and this time Noah knew what to expect. In the evening we moved our luggage to a motel by the airport and stayed there overnight so we could catch an early morning flight back to Philadelphia.  Brian, Bea and Noah went swimming in the indoor pool and we all enjoyed the complimentary dinner and breakfast. 
​It was a marvelous trip! 

Derek and I had Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches from a food truck in Chester, NY.  The truck is very popular and the man making the sandwiches was quite friendly.  We loved the sandwiches!

Rachel, Derek and I ate at the Town House Restaurant in Schenectady, NY after Derek's pre-op appointment at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady.  We all had the thick sliced cinnamon raisin French toast which was delicious!
While waiting on the day of Derek's surgery, Rachel and I ate breakfast at the Town House Restaurant again because the food was so good and the people were so nice. Later, we got a sandwich at Pirozzi's Italian Deli in Schenectady which was excellent. 
Derek's surgery went well and so after visiting him a couple of times in the afternoon Rachel, Jon and I went to the Township Tavern in Altamont, New York.  It is one of their favorite restaurants and I can see why! I stayed overnight with them so I was able to see their animals and spring plants.  Their place looks marvelous and it is a fun place to visit.

Books Read
The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander
Dreamfever by Kit Alloway
​The Dark Days Club by Allison Goodman
Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol
​Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis
​Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford & R. Gregory Christie
​ They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel
​Train! by Judi Abbot
​The Gingerbread Man adapted by Mara Alperin
Peanut by Linas Alsenas
A Hug For You by Margaret Anastas & Susan Winter
​Kate, the Cat and the Moon by David Almond & Stephen Lambert
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Last Updated: May 2025