We stayed at a the London Hilton Metropole. We've not stayed there before....and we won't stay there again! The bed was too hard! We didn't sleep well the entire weekend. As a matter of fact, our last night there, we were still awake at 3:00 AM, so turned on the television, had some tea, and watched "Monday Night Football." Yay for American TV!!! :-)

Red double-decker bus

Sea Shell Restaurant, which serves terrific fish and chips! We ate there in 2003 with some friends who accompanied us on a trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. On this trip, the hotel where we stayed was within walking distance of the Sea Shell. :-)

You wouldn't try crawling over this gated fence, would you? Not with those spikes! ha

Kensington Palace, with the rose garden in view. I'm certain the roses are beautiful in the summer, but the blossoms were basically gone in October.

Flowers growing in pots, Kensington Palace grounds, London

Variegated Holly, Kensington Palace grounds. Love it!

Grounds of Kensington Palace with interesting spheres. We wondered if the spheres might be lighted at night.

A beautiful white (marble, I'm assuming) statue of Queen Victoria out in front of Kensington Palace. You will recall that Kensington Palace was Princess Diana's residence. We toured the palace, but I'm certain that Princess Diana was housed in an updated and modernized portion of the building that we did NOT tour! As palaces go (we've toured a few), the inside is quite unremarkable....as a matter of fact, depressing.
Phil having fun with his camera at the edge of a small lake in the park adjacent to Kensington Palace grounds. (The photo he was taking is below.)

Adorable shot of a very relaxed squirrel, taken by Phil. :-)

I love holly! This is a huge holly bush/plant on the grounds of Kensington Palace, London.

This is the swan Phil was focused on.

Beautiful trees in park adjacent to Kensington Gardens, London

After leaving Kensington Palace/Kensington Gardens, we walked through the adjacent park where we were able to walk around the Prince Albert monument

One of the four sculptures located at the corners of the Prince Albert Monument

Photos taken while flying over Greenland on our way back to San Francisco from London.

The little "chunks" of ice are icebergs

I was fascinated by the swirl effect of the icy coating on top the water.

Brrrrrr!

The frigid surface of Greenland. I was intrigued by these "upshoots," wondering just how tall they might be. Remember, we were flying at 37,000 feet (over 7 miles up!), yet the landscape below was so clearly defined to me.

The one "upshoot," out all alone in the tundra. Makes me cold, just looking at the picture! :-)

Once we got over Canada, I saw these organized patches of farmland.

As we were descending in preparation for our landing at San Francisco Airport, the flight attendant seated facing us offered to take a picture of Phil and me. Well, as you can tell, it was quite turbulent! The silver streak by my left ear is my earring. :-)

After returning to San Francisco from our weekend in London, it was great to settle back in at our "home away from home," the Marriott SFO. I loved being able to watch out the window of the hotel, observing all sorts of flying creatures such as the little ones sporting feathers in the above photo and the really big ones with wheels in the next photo.

A beautiful sunrise photo taken by Phil

I love Autumn! I thought I'd share again some photos I took a year ago when we spent a long weekend in New England. There are six photos in total.

I thought you would enjoy pictures of these beautiful flowers sent to me by my sister, Teecie, day before yesterday.

I've sorta been out of commission since the middle of August. I injured my right knee August 15th; on September 13th, I twisted it again, causing a lot of immediate pain. Fortunately, after x-rays, an MRI, and visits to orthopedic specialists, I know that I didn't tear any cartilage or ligaments, which was our greatest concern! My arthritic kneecap evidently slid off, and then back onto, my knee joint 9/13, which led to bruising and swelling of tissues which, in turn, caused all that pain.

I have had the BEST nurse in the whole world attending me -- Phil!! He has been working from home while at the same time taking care of me and my needs.

I'm doing better daily, and am scheduled for physical therapy for four weeks. This has definitely interfered with my/our life style (!) because it has prohibited our normal travels, but we're just really grateful that I didn't do damage that would demand surgery in order to get better!! Time, care and PT should do it.

Thank you to all of you who have thought of me and prayed for my blessed right knee. :-)

Myrna

Something so unusual here in San Francisco is a scene like this one, with lots of clouds, that unfolded Tuesday morning as the sun rose. And the clouds stayed for a good long while as witnessed by the fourth picture, taken later on in the morning (but no longer with peaches and pinks).

All in a day - yesterday, September 5th

Clouds hung low in the morning.....

...and lifted later on. Two planes on approach, flying side by side, about to land on parallel runways at San Francisco Airport.

Later in the afternoon, the water was still like glass.

Flocks of pelicans often fly in formation over the water and the landing strip!

Another fabulous sunrise sequence this morning, September 6th. The haziness and the brilliant color are as a result of smoke from the fires occurring in northern California.