It had been pouring rain all afternoon so it was misty and muggy but the view from the top of Maze Hill was still beautiful. We walked down the hill and into Greenwich Village and chose a Mediterranean place called "Papa Charlies". We tried to pick a place that looked the least family friendly, to really capitalize on our freedom. There was a family that came in though, with adorable tow-headed twins, a boy and girl just around John and Catie's ages and we sighed over them.
Richard had Guvec and I had Mousaka and they were both delicious. Our server was a sweet and gentle girl from Italy, working in London for the summer, with a rhinestone in her lateral incisor that sparkled when she smiled and I wanted to ask her to sit with us during dessert because I wanted to know her life story.
Richard explained to me that he had learned that each letter box has the cipher of the reigning King or Queen from the time it was built/placed. Richard said he had seen quite a few already from Queen Elizabeth II, which is no surprise seeing as how she has been queen for the last 60+ years and Richard spends most of his time in Canary Wharf, a more recently developed part of the city. But no sooner had we left the park then we saw one- and this one has the cipher of King George V, who ruled from 1910-1936. Pretty old letter box, eh? Much to our delight, after we'd walked a block or so we came across another one. We didn't get a picture of that one because it was getting dark, but it was Queen Victoria, who ruled until 1901, which was the first year the letter boxes existed. A letter box that was 113 years old. We told Eli about this new discovery as soon as we picked up the kids and his eyes lit up. His game just became much more exciting.