London Round 3

I am so fortunate to be able to visit London, yet a third time.  This time it's with Kristina, a friend since UOW.  We met in the art studios and have been friends ever since.  We have been talking about this trip ever since taking a 16th century art history trip and now here we are, waiting in the London City Airport for our flight to rome Italy.  We've spent the last four days in London doing all the "touristy" things we could and squeezing in a few art galleries. Now we wait but not before some serious WIFI time that we have missed out on.
These are some of my images from my new camera.  I'm a bit slow on the draw yet, I'm still figuring out all the manual functions. I bought a TZ60 Lumix with a 30x optical zoom that can save in RAW format.

This is Kristina in her "truest form".

I love this shot.  I'm playing with the creative features in the camera, this is starburst.

Tower bridge.

You might see more of me since I now have someone I trust with my camera.

This is the Tower of London.  A special memorial to remember the 888,276  who gave their lives in WW1.  This amazing installation pours from the side window and travels all around the tower in what was once the mote.  It was amazing and so was the crowd.

There is one poppy/lost life and they will be on sale after the show.

Whats that on the rock?

Oooo ducks.

Whats that on Vicki's knee?

Ahh... a soldier I think.  This is my 30x zoom, I'm having fun.

Outside Buckingham Palace.

Outside the National Gallery, notice how he appears to be floating

After going through this Gallery a second time I have to admit some of it was a bore.  So you just have to make your own fun.  Doesn't Mary took as if she is saying"just burp already"?

And hear just look at the size of the head of the man in the centre.  It reminds me off my first days of learning Photoshop.

This guy was with it's handler outside the Gallery.

This is a sightseeing tour bus that serves high tea.

It was delicious and so much fun.

I love this building (it's the m & m's store) and I may have shown you it from my first trip but this time I have a star filter.

We went to see wicked.  I have wanted so much to see this and I am so glad I waited, it is much more enjoyable to share with a friend.

What's that on the corner of the new Tate Museum?

Aworkman.

Our last night we spent with some gentlemen from the London branch of Desire to Learn(Kristina works for the Kitchener Branch/HQ).  Afterwards we visited Covent Garden, I love it there.

Messy Halls at Binbrook

I had a  great week at school.  Having my own classroom is fantastic.  My kids seem to be a better batch this year (so far).  I had the opportunity to visit Binbrook this weekend where my dad served after the WWII.  It was very run down but provided some excellent photo opportunities.   I was surprised just how close it is to Grimsby.  It only took us about 15 min by car.

Many of the old buildings are used by other businesses, this car is mounted on the side of a building.

Lancaster radio transmitter.

That is a Harrier jet in the background.

Earlier in the week I visited Cleethorpes for dinner and the camera club had another studio night.  I don't get too involved on these evenings but this time I played with the macro feature on my compact and compared the images to my good camera.

Faux tower in front with the Humber in back and some cargo ships.

View of Cleethorpes from the tower.

Cleethorpes uptown.

My room, don't look too close, my attempt at joining 3 pictures together is not very good.

The best part of leaving is coming home.

Back in Grimsby to start my second year at Tollbar.  I've just had the most enjoyable time back in Waterloo the past 5 weeks.  I was busy everyday with family and friends.  I visited the beach three times, stayed at Marj and Rob's for a weekend, went to Wonderland and cleaned my house.  The latter is not exactly on the top of my list for enjoyment but that's what being home involves.

First a bath for Harlow

 Then it was of to the splash park.

Harlow thinks she is a lap dog.

She has certainly changed in a year.  I think it's because of her adult teeth.

It looks worse that it really was.  What would you do if mud was coming your way?

Hit her with a wet noodle!

Mom finally got me to accept her invitation to Karoke.  I just enjoyed watching her, she was in her element.

Made some crafts.  The safety precautions/instructions seemed over the top but made for a funny picture.

This Hybiscus flower was the size of a dinner plate.

Ruthe and I did some "Mennonite Hunting" just like a tourist but better.  I was trying to get a photo for an upcoming competition with the camera club.

An Ontario rural setting.

We also went to Stratford Ontario to see William.

Then we went to Canada's Wonderland.  We discovered Lexi's wild side.  She wanted nothing to do with Kid Zone.  In fact we could not get her off some of the wilder rides.  After 12 hrs of fun she asked "why do we have to go home".  Answer - "because we are tired".

Amy joined us, she is part of our extended family.

What a holiday.  I am truly blessed with wonderful friends and family.  I've realized that being away for a year or two is not hard at all.  I am having a great time so far.  But, leaving again was so terribly hard. I love you all thanks for encouraging me in this journey, next stop……..ROME!

Close to Home

I am home in Waterloo and enjoying my time with my family and friends.  I found myself retracing my dad's service in the RAF.  I found his photo albums and could not believe how close he was to where I am living in Grimsby, England.  He was stationed in Binbrook, just southwest of my school near Waltham.

The Lancaster over Cleethorpes.