Well we made it to London with no problems...Hooray! Got in at 6:43 a.m. London time. The flight was great, but we got little, if any, sleep. I think I took a few 10 minute catnaps. Bill didn't sleep at all. Didn't help that we had a little one two rows behind us....AGHHH!! Every time I'd start to fall asleep, he'd start crying :(
Almost lost Bill at the train station! Didn't realize that getting in that early puts you smack in the middle of rush hour. The platform was packed and we had to rush to the end of the train to try to get on. I was dragging one suitcase and he had two. I hopped on and assumed he was right behind me...NOT!! Thank God he saw what car I got on and managed to get the two bags and himself up onto the train before it left. Guess I better remember to keep him close by!
Our room wasn't ready when we finally find the place (got lost dragging the three suitcases, but that's another story!). But they were wonderful...offered to hold all our luggage and bring it to our room when it was ready. When we asked for a suggestion for breakfast, Alex at the front desk said..."Just eat here." Well, I know breakfast is included with our room, but that would start with breakfast tomorrow, after we have stayed a night. But they insisted and the breakfast was excellent. They serve a delicious English breakfast...scrambled eggs, thick sliced bacon, a sausage, a baked tomato and beans along with a pot of coffee and juice. More than enough to get us going this morning!
So after breakfast, out we went to find the Hop-on, Hop-Off bus. Found this one easily (thanks to Alex again at the front desk!). After a 15 minute wait, the bus showed up and off we went. Unfortunately, this one didn't have live commentary but prerecorded, and they gave you headphones to plug in. We sat up on the top which is open to the air and gave us a great view. It was a good idea, but the traffic in London...UGH! It's as bad, or worse, than New York. We stayed on for about 1 hour then finally decided to get off in the Westminster Area. First stop...check out the London Eye.
Decided to not do it...the lines were way too long and we had so much we wanted to do today. Besides...it is way too high....scary!!!
Then off to see Big Ben and Parliament. Weather was good but a bit chilly, especially for those of us who now have thin Florida blood.
Afterwards it was off to the Churchill War Museum...Bill liked it. I thought it was well done, but my feet were already hurting and really...war?...Winston Churchill?...there's nothing exciting happening here!
That brought us to lunch. In his book, Rick Steves recommended this nice little English pub in the area so we decided to eat there...Westminster Arms pub. Food was good. I had fish and chips (I mean really, you can't go to London and not order it!)
And Bill had....wait for it.....yes, that's right....a hamburger!! But he did have a Guiness to go with it. (OK...so it's Irish, but at least it comes from that side of the pond!)
Food was OK. But we had been told that the food in pubs tends to be not the best.
Our last stop of the day was going to see if the Queen was home. She wasn't. But we decided to take some pictures of her house anyway!
Finally got back to the hotel at 5:00 PM. Tired, with feet hurting, it was great to discover that the hotel had brought our luggage up the three flights to our room and to walk in a see what a beautiful room it was.
Ordered dinner from a great little Italian deli down the end of the block. Brought it back to our room to eat as we were just exhausted. And that brings the first full day of our adventure to a lovely end. It is now 7:58 and Bill is sound asleep. Thinking he'll be up around 5 AM! He better not wake me up!!
We can't believe Bill brought that hat!
ReplyDeleteDay one sounds pretty darn nice.
John and Lynda