The first outing of the day! Heading to Selfridges to shop shoes. Passing the \240Claridges, \240famous for its high tea. Next time!

Heathrow airport - we switched the mode of transportation 10 times before we getting home ! The escalator was one of them .

That’s interesting . The taxis wear a uniform , Kyra told me , it is almost always black . And where is the taxi driver? On the right side !

Express train is taking us to London Paddingron . \240Eden is ready - she brought her London bear!!

And now tattoos and paint nails please !

Lego King Charlie!

Lego Queen Elizabeth II!

Outside of our home, there are so many cafes !

Grafallo!!!

Preparing for the Taylor Swift concert !

Piccadilly Circus ! With the double decker bus

Doesn’t an old silly snake know that there is no such thing as a Graffalo?

Exploring Hamley’s !

After all the trading, Eden ended up with 16 and Kyra with 17 friendship bracelets!

This was an unbelievable moment. Folklore. Way to go.

At the stadium!

And a make over with the new shirts !

Getting ready

The family! And please notice all the friendship bracelets before trading!

Uncle Amir found a great outdoor spot for us! A lovely dinner. And uncle Amir said he would come for Christmas! And we also planned a trip to Oxford! That’s where we will see if dragons are real. Thank you for a lovely dinner!

Marc Quinn: Light into Life. An exhibit by a British contemporary artist. At the centre of his work is an exploration of the multifaceted experience of being human. This particular palm is in front of the Palm glasshouse. The sun was setting, reflecting in the smooth surface of the sculpture, creating majestic radiance around it.

The Chief Rabbit is transforming the audience into rabbits! Wiggle ears , touch your nose.

Let’s pretend to be roots of trees! What do the trees need? Roots like to slurp up a lot of water!

A coot! There are so many of them in London. They duck into water and snack on invertebrates.

Theatre in the park! The Wind in the Willows Rabbit.

Marc Quinn. Wow.

Going to a treetop walkway! About 116 steps including all the platforms according to Kyra. 18 meters above the ground.

And of course at the end in front of the Toad’s Hall, after all the adventures, Mr Toad!

In the hamoc! And Eden spotted a muntjac deer!

In front of the glasshouses.

The Rose Garden.

And here is a mole!

And a badger!

Lake crossing!

Playing with daddy!

Picnic time! This tree seems so big but supposedly it has only just over 80 rings according to a boy who counted them before we took over. Could be more? We need to count next time!

Sweet chestnut. This area became landscaped around 1720s. This is one of the oldest trees in the Garden..

Stunning views. So tranquil and serene.

Stop to smell the roses.

Now it’s time for the playground!

Exploring the RDG just outside Victoria Gate. Royal Botanical Garden, Kew’s mission is to understand and protect plants and fungi for the wellbeing of people and the future of life on Earth.

What is a botanic garden? Botanic gardens are beautiful places that have a serious scientific mission to save life on Earth. It opened in 1759. It houses the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collection in the world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is filled with over 40,000 living plants.

Observing the ecosystem of the trees’ uppermost branches, a world teeming with birds, insects, lichen and fungi.

Walking on the Great Broad Walk Borders! It is 320 meters long and is believed to be the longest in the country and possibly the world. It showcases a soectaciar diversity of perennial plants. I can feel it even now!

The real challenge for the Manager of Garden Design was selecting the plants that would thrive under different growing conditions found along the Broad Walk. There are over 30,000 individual plants, comprising about 300 species.

“Kew’s living plants collections is one of the most diverse in the world. As a way to highlight this diversity, and Kew’s work in the conservation of global biodiversity, I assigned a different travel to each bed - the overarching goal being to wow the visitors during the summer months, when the garden is at its best.”

Guess who is first in line? Eden !

In front of the Palm glasshouse! We will need to make it there next time!

Skipping, aero acrobatics!

The preservation of body was an essential part of ancient Egyptian funeral practice. This is a mummy board. The top is made out of cedar wood and gilded. The lower part is made out of native sycamore fig plant.

Daddy is explaining the mummification steps to the girls.

Nebamun (a scribe and grain accountant, in charge of grain collection in the city) viewing his geese and cattle.

An impressive structure.

The Bukhingam palace.

Donating her pound to the museum.

Waiting for the spaghetti with meatballs and pasta.

At the Apollo theatre production of the Terrible Tudors. Two actors told us all about them! Here is the storyline.

Henry vii who conquered Richard iii.

Henry viii who had six wive and Queen Mary I and Elizabeth I as his daughters! Henry started the English Protestant church .

Elizabeth I who with the help of Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada. She also enjoyed the plays by Shakespeare.

A 5.8m statue of Buddha from northern China. 6th century AD, marble.. \240It was given to the British museum by the Chinese government in 1938.

Only the Union Jack is at the top .

And also the curse of pharaoh Tutankhamun.

The girls found quite a few monents funny.

Ganesha, the god of good beginnings and remover of obstacles. He presides over anything that is auspicious. Dikpalas, the guardians of the eight directions of compas points, guard the temple’s threshold, standing between the sacred and the profane.

Eastern India, 1000-1100s, carved basalt.

The first bust. Edward VII, the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as Bertie and his son was George (George V). Edward VII was rebellious. From the age of 7 his dad designed a rigorous study program to fit a future king.

Getting ready to call it a night. Everyone else has left!

Enjoying the ride.

An ancient Egyptian stool.

The great hall.

Look what we spotted when we stopped for a dinner . And look who is inside!

The photo with the Big Ben!

The St James park is in front of the Bukhingham Palace.

‘They are all so different!’ - Kyra said.

These are from Turkey and Tunisia.

At Hamley’s! I was asked to take this picture. It was very important. Two more dollies came home with us. And what an ordeal to make their hair it was at night!

The Roman mosaics.

Exploring St James park!

Our favourite playground!

I can slid through the iron rods! It turns out where we live on Burton Pl is 100 meters away from 17 Burton St where Queen Elizabeth II was born.

Going to the British Museum. The visit to the museum to see the mummies was Eden’s request.

Starting breakfast at our favourite spot Loli in Mayfair.

Exploring jewellery of ancient Egypt.

Animals were also mummified. They either were offered as a gift to a deity or they were mummified because they were religiously important in life.

Girls and boys.

And now some Victorian cakes please!

Kyra liked this gate from Austria!

A ride on the double decker through the city.

A beautiful promenade in front of the Bukhingham palace.

The columns outside. The girls remembered the courtyard from a few years ago!

A collection of something very unique from the zoo!

Finish the day at another playground! Ziplining. So fun! Before we head out for a steak dinner across from Hyde Park.

What’s for lunch? The menu for the Komodo dragon.

Inside their mouths, dragons produce venom that stops blood clotting, as well as saliva containing over 50 super strong bacteria. Even the smallest of bites delivers a septic strike right into the bloodstream of the victim. The resulting infection is likely to result in death. It is not their speed or strength one should be afraid of. It is their bite!

Komodo dragon does not have known predators of their own.

Visiting the outback!

Komodo dragon! The largest lizard on Earth.

A play about Poo in the Zoo. You heard it right! A book by Steve Smallman.

Exploring the gorilla section. Ape or monkey? Monkeys and apes (including humans) are both primates. How can you tell them apart?

Long tail? Then a monkey.

Monkeys usually move by running along branches and are less upright than apes.

Monkeys are usually smaller than apes.

Emus! Can be found on grasslands of Australia. They run up to 50 km per hour and are the only birds that have calf muscles. Their eggs are green! And big. Like an avocado.

What they eat ? Grasses, leaves, other vegetation.

Where do they live? Wooded savannah, dry forests and grasslands of mainland Australia.

On the left side? Elephant

On the right side? Tiger

The Galapagos giant tortoise! These are the largest tortoises in the world. They are also the longest living of all land vertebrates, living up to 150 years.

Galapagos tortoises were so abundant that sailors named yhe archipelago after them - ‘Galapagos’ means tortoise in old Spanish. Now there are 93% less tortoises than there were before humans arrived.

Their shells are very light. They are fused to the bones in their shells - they cannot walk out of their shells.

The blue tree monitor. This lizard is an expert climber! It’s sharp claws and prehensile (ie capable of grasping) tails are big helpers in that.

I live on a few islands of West Papua, Indonesia. I am an Edge species.

The two hump camel! The Bactian camel. They are different from the dromedary camels, who have only one hump.

Unlike a common belief, camel’s humps are full of fat (not water!), which they can use for energy when food is short.

We think of camels as hot weather specialists. In fact, they can withstand \240extremes at both end of temperature gauge. These camels originated in Mongolia, where the weather can range from a boiling 40 degrees Celsius to a freezing -30 degrees Celsius.

Camels is the only mammal in the world that can drink saltwater without becoming unwell.

Camel blood is unique. Their red blood cells are oval shaped instead of circular. This helps their blood circulate even when the camel is dehydrated and their blood becomes much the thicker.

The Galapagos Giabt Tortoise!

Paint face!

Again our favourite spot in the zoo!

A cygnet! This is a young swan.

Now on to the Regent’s Park! One of the Royal parks of London. Established in 1811.

In a boat

Paint face!

Reptiles and amphibians exhibit. This is an Electric Blue gecko guarding the entrance. This reptile is from eastern Tanzania and is critically endangered. Their colourful appearance has increased demand for them in the international pet trade and means their survival is under threat from illegal poaching.

Eat plants? Herbivore. Like a tortoise!

Eat meat? Carnivore. Like a tiger!

Us? Omnivore.

In our favourite spot in the zoo! The Barclay court.

In the Blackburn Pavilion. Victoria Crowned Pigeon.

This giant pigeon is 10 times the size of London’s pigeons. They became the world’s largest pigeon species when their close relative, the Dodo, was hunted to extinction.

Water hogs!

We came by the Sherlock Holmes Museum!

The playground!

Tadpoals of the Mallorcan midwife toad!

A serene view from our attico apartment.

Dinner time.

And playful too.

Red moon!

Let’s have some ice cream before we head up to the apartment! This croissant bakery has become our go to for breakfast. The best croissants in town!

The girls are so happy!

Some ice cream please!

Two beauties cannot get \240enough of the Mediterranean Sea.

Relaxing on our terrace after a day on the beach!

Relaxing on our beach - pure joy.

Sea weed!

Marbella.

Sisters!

A wonderful dinner. Girls were so happy. There were boys who got a fund raiser were selling bracelets. Eden quite enjoyed her find of the two bracelets from the boys. The key was weaving one of them into Eden’s braids in the days that followed!

Some hooligans!

The next generation!

Us having the best time.

After the beach!

In Satogrande.

And here comes Kyra.

The duo!

After a day in the water park!

Weee! Going down the slide. First the girls wanted us to come but then they got so much into it they became completely independent going into all the slides by themselves. And they were having so much fun. Way to go, girls! This is Eden.

A wonderful dinner end of day.

And need to get something to eat!

This is the hand of Nike. It is big! So is the statue. Some thing she might have been holding a trumpet. This is what was played for victory.

The crown of Josephine.

The Regent. The 140 carat diamond.

The well.

The great sphinx. These were put in front of pyramids to protect the pyramids.

Why was Leonardo famous ? First he always has people with a smile . Then he uses perspective. On this picture it looks like the landscape not finished . There is less detail . The maintains are hazy .

The pillar holding the draw bridge to the castle.

Entering the only room in the Louvre that has iron doors and can be locked. Because there are a lot of precious items here!

The box for the crown.

The pots found during the excavations. How do you preserve food? By adding salt .

Pan, half human half goat, carrying baby Dionysus.

Venus , Aphrodite . The only one represented naked.

The Venus de Milo. A farmer looking for stone to build a house was digging out stone and discovered it. It was on the island of Milis. It is very special. She used to have ornamentation like a crown. Curly hair - you can put a crown on it. She had earrings. She had necklaces. Look at the dress , it still has yellow and brown . She was painted and she had jewellery . Normally the size of the person’s body \240is 7 times the size of the head. Her head is much smaller because the artist wanted to show the movement.

Nike, the goddess of victory, landing on a ship’s prow. The winged victory of Samothrace. It so windy and she is wet from the splashes of waves. The staircase was built just for her because that is how she appeared on the mountainside sanctuary on the island of Samothrace before. It was most likely offered to the Great Gods of this sanctuary to express gratitude for a naval victory.

The helmet found in the well from XV century. And fleur de lilles. Everywhere kings and queens stayed you see fleur the lilles.

Also until 19th century French only used spoons and knives ! They thought a fork , which had three pointy parts, was demonic. That’s why when they started using it they added a fourth part to the fork!

Now we are entering Renaissance! There were no tubes of paint at that time. The painters had to use wax and egg and minerals to create colours. So it was hard to paint outside. There was also no perspective .

Heading to Greece!

Centaure.

Compare the two Aphrodites. The first one has much more movement! Two different periods.

She was sculpted to be viewed from a three quarter right angle. There is much more detail there. The drapery and fabric effects, the shapes of the body, the folds. The left side is far less elaborate. Also take note of the raised right shoulder. We think her right arm was raised in a triumphant salute.

What does the medallion say ? In December the task is to cut wood for the fire .

All these objects were found in the most during the excavations. Baby shoes , hands from puppets, little perfume bottles..

Old Man and a Child, by Dominick Ghirlandaio (1490). Here there is some perspective just like in Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop . Look at the landscape in the background. It is so detailed, as the landscapes of Leonardo da Vinci. In the 15th century the Italian painters abandoned the naivety of the medieval times for good and resumed the canons of ancient Classicism. While religious subjects still predominated, the artists also produced lively sensitive portraits for their contemporaries.

Artemis. The artist modeled the girl after the boy. These statues are actually Roman . So this is Diana.

This was the ballroom. Musicians stayed on the balcony.

Walking to r the moat of the castle. This castle has become a palace when Paris expanded!