Sister Act

As I post this blog, my sister is flying home to Houston after spending a week with us in our home here in London. I miss her already. We couldn't have packed any more into these past 7 days, because we have been on the go from breakfast to bedtime snack. I imagine when she goes back to work tomorrow, her feet will appreciate being under a desk all day, because we have walked miles this week in our attempt to leave no stones unturned.

Of course, we hit all the hot spots--the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace,

and since the queen is on holiday this month, she let us (and a few thousand others) go into her home for a peek. Shown above is the back of the palace from her gardens, a view most tourists don't get to see. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the palace, so you'll just have to take our word for it, that it was sumptuous.

On what was a very warm fall day, we headed to the Tower of London and had this picture taken in front of the Tower Bridge.

You can't come to London and not have your picture taken in front of Big Ben

and Parliament.

Thursday, she joined my American Women's Club friends and me for a bus trip to Penshurst Place in Kent. It is a fascinating six-centuries old manor house full of history with lovely gardens. More about this special place in a future blog.

An extra bonus of that day was being able to introduce Holly to some of my London friends, one of whom is named Holly as well. Here we are lunching at Royal Tunbridge Wells, a popular spa town of Georgian times.

And Holly made friends with one of the Chelsea pensioners in our neighborhood on one of our strolls.

A week of gorgeous weather was topped off with a beautiful day on Saturday when we enjoyed a celebration of the Thames River that was held this weekend. Here we were part of the many who dined on the Southwark Bridge spanning the river. St. Paul's Cathedral is in the distance.

Of course, two sisters can't get together without shopping, so we hit Harrod's a couple of times, and several other of my favorite shopping areas. Can you believe it did not rain a drop all week? How will she ever believe me from now on when I complain about the weather here?

To top it off, since we both love music so much, we made it to two musicals--Mamma Mia and the newly opened Sister Act. We loved them both. I think we make a pretty good "sister act" ourselves! Thanks for the memories, Holly!