Day 2 - London

Woke up to another beautiful day in London.   We actually slept late...until 9!  Guess we caught up on some of that sleep we missed!!!

After another great breakfast at the hotel, we were off an running.   We ditched the HoHo bus today (way too slow to travel around the city) and decided to use the underground.  Bought a 1-day travel card that allowed us unlimited access to all tubes and buses, and off we went into the caverns of London.  What luck!!  The train we needed to Tower Hill was already in the station...time to run for it.  I jumped on and what happened next.....Yes, you guessed it....I almost left Bill behind again!!!   The doors closed and there was Bill still standing on the platform!!  How I wish I had the camera on to take a picture of his face!   Luck must have really been on our side as a conductor must have seen him standing there and the doors opened and on he came.   Maybe we need some sort of contraption to tie ourselves together so he doesn't get left behind...or maybe he should just get on trains before me!! 

So, we were finally on our way to see the famous Tower of London and Tower Bridge.   What a site!!  We easily spent three hours there...there was so much to see.    We saw the Crown Jewels of England...just spectacular!!  Some of the diamonds were as big as plums!   (Sorry, they wouldn't let us take any pictures.)  We did a Beefeaters tour which was led by one of Yoemen....what a hoot!   

This guy made history come alive and was so funny!   And he was from Southern England...Devon, where our friend Duncan is from.   (He's funny....Duncan's funny....Hey, maybe it's a Southern England thing??!!)   



OK...then we stopped in the White Tower (there are 20 towers in the Tower of London complex).  What amazing suits of armor they have on show there.  And all original, worn by kings (and queens) and their horses.

 By this time it was after 2 and getting very cloudy and damp, so we decided to take a break and have a snack.  Finally...I was a proper Londoner and had my cuppa and a scone.  Bill had the best piece of sponge cake.   Yum!!






As we were leaving the Tower, we came across these two re-enactors who were enamored with Bill's "hair".  This hat has been such a big hit here in London!   People are amazed by it.  I guess they don't sell anything like it here.   Even the little kids on tours of the Tower would point and giggle :)



 After a nice picture in front of the bridge...we were off to try our luck on the underground again.   

This time Bill got on first and off we went....together!!!  





Our stop this time was the National Gallery where some of the most famous and beautiful paintings in the world reside.  (Again...no pictures allowed, so you'll have to take my word!)   We saw Michaelangelos and Titian, Tintorettos and Rafaels.  There were paintings by Constable and Gainsborough.  And then...my favorites...Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh....the water lilies, the sunflowers...I could have stood there all day.   Bill was tolerant and pretended to be interested.  What a good husband!

When we exited the Gallery we truly felt like Londoners....it was raining!   To be honest...I would have been disappointed if it hadn't rained while we were here.   I mean...come on...you expect it to rain in London.  It's as iconic as Big Ben or Tower Bridge.

Back into the underground we headed to the West End theatre district as we had tickets for Les Miserable.   By this time, we were old pros on hopping on the tube.  Thank God!

Picked up our tickets for show and found a wonderful little restaurant about three blocks from the theatre...La Porchetta Pollo Bar.   A great little pizzeria with delicious pasta.  And totally reasonable.   I had the Tagliatelle Marinara with Seafood and, no hamburger for Bill tonight....Spagetti Bolognese.   Add wine and beer and we were settled in to enjoy dinner before the show.

 

The show was amazing.   LesMis is my absolute favorite Broadway play and to see it in London, was a dream come true.   This production was so moving, I think I cried all the way through it.   It was Bill’s first time to the theatre, and he enjoyed it.   I think he shed a tear or two at the end, too.   And to top off our perfect London day…we ended it by getting back to the hotel in a big old London cab.   Wow…the inside of those cabs are huge!!!   Though it is a bit disconcerting to be driving on the wrong side of the road!

We’ll be sad to say goodbye to London tomorrow.  While it is a big city…quite like New York…it has its own vibe and I’m liking it!!   There is so much to see here that I truly hope we get the opportunity to visit again.   Oh...we have to come back...we actually have pounds left!!