Day 4 was part of the "If you are in London you have to go see these things since you are in London" type activities which met my expectations for the most part.
Big Ben (2.5 of 5)
Your kids interested in the Parliamentary system in Britain? Didn't think so. If you didn't know, "Big Ben" is the bell inside the clock tower connected to the Palace of Westminster. Not the clock tower itself. Anyways, these are one of those attractions where it is best viewed from afar. Probably across the river would be best. I guess I don't that excited about these things and neither did the kids.
Trafalgar Square (2 of 5)
Located at the entrance way of the National Gallery, this space was a big disappointment to me. The major reason is that I've been to a couple of the great "squares" in the world. Most notably Tienanmen Square in Beijing (along with every other square in China for that matter) puts this one to shame. In fact - I would argue that the space in front of the Legislature building in Edmonton is better than here. If it wasn't for the lion statues that made for some good pics I would've given this a 1 of 5.
National Gallery (4 of 5)
I'm not an art lover but did this ever turn out to be a great surprise for me. Even I got caught up into seeing the works of Van Gogh, Da Vinci, and Monet. We started out by having afternoon tea in the cafe. Clotted cream and strawberry preserves on a scone was awesome! To keep the Chloe interested, we had a Scavenger Hunt that did the trick. In a map of the place, they had 16 featured paintings and their locations on the map. We got Chloe to navigate us around and find the "missing pictures". It kept her, and the attendants in each room, very entertained. I can't wait for the Louvre :)
Picadilly Circus (2 of 5)
The tourist trap location if I ever saw one - but yet we still visited. Any major North American city has an area like this, and it is the very reason why I didn't care for the area. It was a London that I didn't recognize or really wish to be a part of. It is a very cheezy place with very cheezy attractions like Ripley's Believe It or Not. We spent little time there but looking back on it now it is a great place to people watch as you get some very eccentric characters here.
