Malaga and London

Malaga (September 5 & 6

            We only spent two nights in Malaga, as our only purpose was to catch up with our old friends Ken and Jenny. By good fortune and with a little persuasion, another friend, Peter Laugalis,                 joined us from London. Here are the five of us. 

And the three of us

Ken, Peter and Paul

Here in younger days, editing our school film

From Malaga, we flew back to London

London (Sept 7-11)

On our first full day in London, we took the Harry Potter Studio Tour, located just outside London at Watford Junction.

The walking tour consisted of many of the sets from the film series and several "how it's done" exhibits.

The Dining Hall, modeled after Christ Church, Oxford

Harry's Dorm Room

The Common Room

The School Laboratory

Gringotts Bank

The Bank Vault

Diagon Alley

A  large model of Hogwarts

A full size dragon

Just after we got back to our apartment, we learned that The Queen had died earlier that day.

We had booked a tour of Buckingham Palace the next day, but of course, with the the death of The Queen, that was cancelled. We walked  from our rental apartment just off Trafalgar Square down the Mall to see what was going on at The Palace.

A crowd was already gathering 

A group of mounted cavalry rode past, although where they were going, we didn't know

The flower tributes were beginning to mount up. Later,  they were removed to a local park

The official announcement posted on the Palace gates

The Union Jack at half mast

In the evening we went to see "Tina" - the musical.

Inside the theatre

The next morning, we went to the National Gallery, which is always a favorite of ours. We always make a point of seeing the Turners.

"The Fighting Temeraire" by Turner

"Rain, Steam and Speed" by Turner

"The Gare at St Lazare" by Claud Monet 

After spending a couple of hours at the National Gallery, we collected our stuff and took the train to Gatwick, where we spent the night. The next morning, we flew on to Dublin and then home to Orlando.