En route... London, part II

On our 2nd day in London we had until 4 pm before leaving for the airport, so Charlotte Gandy graciously drove us over to Windsor Castle. We definitely enjoyed seeing the typical villages and farms of this area, driving along crazy skinny roads. Fortunately Charlotte knew where to go otherwise Jim and I would have been lost all day!

The Gandy fam: Gran Roberta, Missy, Charlotte and Steve

Windsor Castle was originally started by William the Conqueror, and it is still used as a royal residence and houses a large staff. The Queen spends many of her weekends there. Photos here are taken inside the grounds (huge!) of Windsor Castle. Above the door in this photo is the Knights of the Garter crest.

Standing in front of St George's Cathedral. Incredibly it was built in only 70 years (15th century) and is still used annually for ceremonies with the Queen and the Knights, as well as daily services.

Jul at the exit. The sun came out at the end and the stonework on the walls and buildings was lit up beautifully.

En route to Cape Town: stopover in London

On our flight from Chicago to Cape Town we were fortunate to have a 2-day layover in London. Thanks to a Wheaton connection (from Jim's Admission Counselor days) we were hosted by the Gandy family in Woking, a very pretty suburb of London. They were great hosts! We were able to spend one day walking around parts of London and met up with Jonathan in the afternoon. There's no photo but one of the big highlights was using the public transportation (train and Underground) - so efficient and smooth!!



Above: portion of Piccadilly Circus, where we exited the Tube and began our walk. Pretty soon we noticed how conspicuous I was in my pink winter coat.


St Martin in the Field's church. Known as inspiring "colonial style" architecture in the US (can you tell?) and also for its excellent choir.


Jon and I in front of a market in Covent Garden, where we ate lunch

View from Trafalgar Square up to the National Gallery. Jonathan's classes through Notre Dame (2nd year law) are in a building just around the corner. The Gallery was impressive! And free!

At the end of the day we took the foot bridge across the Thames en route to Waterloo Station to catch the train back to Woking. Here's the view of the London Eye, Victoria Tower, Parliament Square, and Big Ben. It was raining (almost snowing) and quite chilly - ready for a cup of tea.

More Gieser Christmastime

Noah arrived on the 26th, so here are a few photos during the two days that the 8 of us had together. Dinner out; crazy time at the Wheaton College Rec Center followed by some acrobatics at the house; some board games (pictured is Chinese Checkers).




Oh and of course we got to enjoy a meal over at Katie's house! Along with digging into a great meal we always love to 'snoop' around and see how she's so amazingly decorated her place for Christmas. Here's Jul with Kate in her kitchen.

Gieser Christmastime in Wheaton

Christmas Eve: about 6 inches of snow today! Jim and Steve kept busy shovelling the driveway and front walk. Ah quality time for the two brothers to shovel and talk and sweat together.


Christmas Day night we all bundled up and took a walk around the neighborhood. Yep it's cold! And of course we need the exercise after a big breakfast of cinnamon rolls and before a big dinner of pizza.

Jul with Steve and his wife Tiffany and Katie.

Dad G cutting into the thin-crust Barone's pizza. Can't see it in this photo but of course we had Chicago-style deep dish too! YES!! This was definitely a food highlight of our trip.

G. Scott with Phillip Scott

Dad, such a cute one of the two of you - taken during our family time at Lake Gaston - so I thought it deserved a post. And Phillip actually looks like he's reading along and concentrating so seriously!