Day 4: London

Today was a terrific day. It was our second full day in London. We were able to find a tennis club that would allow non-member, American tourists to play on their grass courts. It is the Civil Service Sporting Grounds (cssc-london.org.uk/chiswick). This is the club where the pros get in shape for the Queens Tournament, which is a grass court tournament in London in preparation for Wimbeldon. This club also hosts the Junior Wimbeldon tournament.

The courts where in terrific shape. Very different from hard courts. The balls stay very low after bouncing and take odd bounces because the ground is not perfectly flat.

Here are a few shots of the boys hitting on grass:

A little sportsmanship...
Family shot at CSSC.

After tennis we ventured into the town next to the club -- a small town called Barnes. Just like the movies. We had lunch at the Sun Inn and got the bus/tube back to our hotel.

After changing, we went to the Holborn tube stop and walked to the Sir John Soane Museum. Soane was the architect of the Bank of England building, as well as many government buildings, in the 18th Century. He was a prolific collector of art, including the sarcophagus of SETI I, an Egyptian ruler considered possibly to be the pharaoh who enslaved the Jews. The limestone sarcophagus had Egyptian pictures inside and out, and was fascinating. Parliament made Soane's home a museum which, to this day, does not charge an entry fee; however, they take donations because his endowment was sapped by reconstructing the home after WWII bombings. The kids tolerated this museum stuff for a few hours before we took a break in a local park.

We decided to try to get tickets to The Mousetrap, at the St. Martin's Theatre. We took the tube to Leicester Squre, grabbed dinner and made the performance. It was a high caliber performance inside of a beautiful theater. The boys speculated avidly about the identity of the killer (sworn to secrecy), and enjoyed themselves.

Here's a picture of April and the boys outside the theater.

We had a little fun on the tube to the hotel. Garrett's chin-up technique is questionable.

Another terrific day. It's clear that you could spend two weeks in London and still only scratch the surface. We have 1 1/2 days more, and then off to Switzerland.