Mom, Donald and Dad at the Millennium Bridge, with St. Paul's in the background.

LONDON PART 1

Royal welcome

Left, Mom checks out the cannon at the Tower of London. Above, the Beefeater guide.

LONDON HIGHLIGHTS * Our beautiful rooms in the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge *   Paying six bucks for a coffee at Starbuck's *   Turner's "The Fighting Temeraire" at the National Gallery *   The Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his staff hid out during World War II *    The Houses of Parliament *    Evensong service at Westminster Abbey, even though hymns aren't the best thing for jet lag *    The Tower of London, complete with one of the famed Beefeater guides *    London's Design Museum across the Tower Bridge *    Being forced to leave a restaurant near Piccadilly Circus after we were seated because the service was so bad and we had a play to make *   The Ku-Klux-Klan-kicking chorus line, the diaper-wearing adult baby and a yodeling Satan in "Jerry Springer: The Opera " *    Shopping at Harrods *    Buying a marionette for Connor, then trying to figure out how to get it back to California *    Getting evacuated from the South Kensington tube station because of a fire. *    Picking up dinner (bread, chicken, fruit) at a Marks and Spencer grocery store and taking it back to the hotel *    Photographing Big Ben at night *    Walking across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern *    Walking to Buckingham Palace from our hotel and watching the Changing of the Guard *    Checking out the mummies at the British Museum *   Hanging out with the groundlings at the Globe Theatre as we watch the opening-night performance of "Measure for Measure" *   Taking a two-hour Oscar Wilde walk and seeing where he bought his cigars *    The Magna Carta at the new British Library *    The Turner collection at the Tate *   The docent at the Victoria and Albert Museum *   Seeing the musical "Blood Brothers" as our last London splurge. (And it was a lot kinder and gentler than "Jerry Springer")

Top, David at the Knightsbridge tube station. Above, he does his Big-Ben-at-Night impression. Below, the entrance to the London Design Museum.

The Sheraton Park Tower has a great location: The queen could stay there if she gets tired of Buckingham Palace. Below, our comfy down bedspreads.

Left, Donald made a pilgramage at the National Gallery once again to Turner's "The Fighting Temerarie," one of his all-time favorites. Below, views of the Tate Modern, including Matisse's "The Snail."

Yep, it's an opera, and it's ALL about Jerry Springer. Donald manages to take the family to the most profane, sacrilegous, over-the-top production he's ever witnessed -- and it's lots of fun.

Read Donald's column about "Jerry Springer: The Opera" Next page: London 2 London/Paris/Bath main page Donald's home page