Really, the poor man’s foot is HORRIBLE. He has a terrible, disgusting, oozing infection that started in his baby toe and has migrated to the toe next door. I’ll give the man his dues…that thing is NASTY and he has been a trooper.

But still. Is there anything more trying than a man in pain? (Okay, other than a man with a cold, I mean.)

Today, FINALLY, after a week of walking on the foot of death, I forcibly confined him to our hotel room and I think we may actually have the thing under control, after performing self-inflicted surgery on a blister that was bigger than his baby toe (and I am not exaggerating!)

I am taking this family to the Tower of London on Wednesday come hell or high water, so that damn foot had better be better by then!

For more of our European adventures, check out our nifty travel blog!

If you want to know why (and where), go here. For some fun pics and stories from the trip so far, go here.

In other news, how much does the newest version of Firefox rock??? If you’re not already using this ubercool OS (that means free, folks) browser, you should be. It rules.

It’s 12:56 pm local time, and Girl2 just feel asleep. That’s not good. Jet lag has finally caught up to her. Contrary to what I thought last night, the energy stores of a five year-old child are not, after all, unlimited.

Sleep well, sweetheart.

Friday Street, in Surrey

An old Saxon Church in Albury

Tower of London cannon

Victoria Monument in front of Buckingham Palace from St James Park

Queen Anne’s Gate

We went to Canterbury, home of the famous cathedral. If I had to pick a favourite thing about Canterbury Cathedral (which thankfully, I don’t) I couldn’t overlook the statues of former monarchs and archbishops decorating the outside near the main entrance.

Meet the most famous of Canterbury’s many archbishops, Thomas Becket, who was in charge from 1162-1170, when he was murdered inside the cathedral itself (a heinous and unheard of crime in the 12th century) by four knights of King Henry II:

Most likely the statue’s head was struck off around the time of Henry VIII, who also destroyed Becket’s shrine inside the cathedral. Symbol of Catholic power and all that…

Thomas Becket’s actual head was partially struck off by his attackers. Later on, the church retrieved the crown of his head to be used as a holy relic (ewww…)

And his murderer-by-proxy (“Geez, I sure wish someone would go kill that annoying Archbishop Thomas Becket for me, wink wink, nudge nudge…”) King Henry II (notably still possessing his head):

I spent ages in mounting excitement reading “HENRICVS II REX…omigod…that’s Henry the Second! … HENRICVS V REX…omigod…that’s Henry the Fifth! … HENRICVS VIII REX…omigod…that’s Henry the Eighth!” Ahh…that’s a lot of Henrys. As the tour guide pointed out, the English were a bit unimaginative when it came to naming their kings!

Then we went inside the church. I was absolutely awed by the sheer history of the place. Everywhere you turn there is someone famous buried…Henry IV and his wife Queen Joan; Edward, the Black Prince…after touring all the big tombs in the quire (aka choir), we walked through a tunnel under the steps and back in time eight hundred and thirty-eight years. We emerged into the spot, just inside the cloister door, where Thomas was murdered all those years ago. Unfortunately, my camera battery died just then and the picture I took of it didn’t turn out. I did manage to get a picture of the door as seen from outside, in the cloisters…it’s just a bit ajar…try to imagine you are a monk running after the Archbishop to warn him that armed knights are awaiting him in the cathedral…you get there just in time to see the door close fatefully behind him…

Here’s a picture I’m actually proud of…it’s a shot of one of the cathedral spires framed by the archway of the cloisters. I’m trying to become more aware of composition and light when taking photographs now:

And lest you think that all I care about is history, here’s a lovely shot of the new juxtaposed on the old in Canterbury:

And what a picturesque town it is:

The old medieval town walls still stand: this is the West Gate, through which Chaucer’s pilgrims would have had to pass (and pay a toll):

See you again tomorrow…pictures of the Surrey & Sussex countryside to come!

She captured a beatuifully evocative image of me seeing Stonehenge for the first time:

And I snapped 92 photos, of which these are my favourites:

And here are the prize-winners from my photo walking tour of London today:

Big Ben:

A gargoyle on Westminster Abbey:

Tower Bridge:

The “Old King’s Head” in Southwark:

Love it.

Don’t miss the chronicles of my English food experience in Losing It!