European Escapade Page 2 of 12

	While the Changing of the Foot Guard ceremony was the same as we had seen the previous day, it was followed...		...by an unrelated procession of about 12-15 horse-drawn antique carriages carrying people dressed for going to some kind of special 'formal' occasion (wedding????).
	The carriages were quite colorful and were definitely NOT something which we would see going through downtown San Diego!		One of the landmarks of London we wanted to visit was the world-famous HARRODS department store (shown in the distance with the red flags hanging out front).
	The owner of Harrods has erected a very prominent shrine depicting the relationship of Princess Diana and his son, Dody (with whom she was killed in the car wreck), at the foot on the main escalator.		These Harrods' teddy bears are a very nice...but EXPENSIVE...souvenir of Harrods. (Like many such souvenir 'opportunities' in Europe, we decided to pass on a purchase!)
	In all honesty, after looking at prices in many sections of the 5 or 6 floor store, we could simply NOT understand HOW so many people could pay SO MUCH for the merchandise (as compared to prices in the US). Steve preferred the model on the LEFT!		Lena thought she'd like a photo of Steve at "40% OFF."
	This complete antique suit of armor could be had for only an arm and a leg....		I must admit that it is possible to find just about any type item in this huge department store. We spent over 2 hours wandering through the store and only briefly saw a very small fraction of the extensive collection of merchandise available.
	We decided to take the London "TUBE" (or subway) from Harrods back to our hotel.		Some of the advertising posters for products in the subway were quite interesting...
	...and/or comical.		It was late afternoon and a very long walk from the subway station to our hotel, but we grabbed the opportunity to take some photos of these newer-style London apartments along the river.
	Our tour guide had told us that most of the 'working class' citizens lived well outside the city of London and commuted to work because even a small, old-style apartment sold for more than a MILLION dollars.		As we neared our hotel, we enjoyed this early evening view of the Thames river, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye.
	Of course, Lena did not want to miss seeing a London theater, so we saw "The Mousetrap" which has been performed for 53 consecutive years.		After 3 (mostly rainy) days in London, we met our Trafalgar Tour Guide and went by bus to Dover to cross the English Channel to Calais (France).
	We now better understand the meaning of the "White Cliffs of Dover"...they REALLY are WHITE!		The ferry ride across the Channel went far too quickly to have time to explore the ship, to grab something to eat, and to be able to go topside to sightsee. At the last moment we got topside to get some photos as we...
	...were approaching Calais (seen in the background) on the coast of France.		This is the ferry we rode across the Channel...
	...where we met our Trafalgar Mercedes Bus which we would use to travel 4,700 miles around Europe over the next 19 or 20 days.		From Calais, we quickly drove through France into Belgium where our first real sightseeing stop was a picturesque Belgian town called BRUGES. [SEE MAP]
	This colorful little city with its narrow, cobblestone streets and turn-of-the century buildings was quite impressive.		Like many such places we were to visit in Europe, Bruges' economy was based on tourism and the many local shops all catered to busloads of tourists. This was the 'town center' and local government buildings.
	Steve briefly considered taking a carriage ride around the town, but decided that our time limit before returning to the bus might not allow sufficient time for a ride as well as visiting some of the local shops.		This was the 'town center' and local government buildings (as well as many souvenir shops).
	Belgium is, of course, famous for its chocolates...		...and its Belgium Waffles. In this photo, the man is making waffles in a wood-fired oven while the women in the background put all of the wonderful goodies on top of the waffle for sale to customers.