London

We took a taxi to the hotel. The taxi was pretty expensive, about £ 35. He also took us to the wrong hotel, fortunately ours wasn’t too far away and he apologized. We stayed at the Thistle in Victoria. We got checked in. The poor porter took our luggage to the room. Everyone asked us if we had to pay excess baggage. The hotel is nice. There were big wide staircases with heavy wooden banisters. Our room is nice. They left us big white terry cloth robes and slippers on the bed. The room had big windows, but they don’t open outward like the ones in Italy. There isn’t much of a view anyway. We face the roof of Victoria Station.. We quickly left to go exploring. It’s beginning to get late and we have had a long day. We stopped in at Pizza Hut for dinner. It is much colder than I though it would be here. Perhaps it’s because the sun has gone down for the day.

Dave kept us on our schedule we had in Italy. The 6, 7, 8 routine. No rest for the weary. The breakfast was wonderful. I know what they mean by an English breakfast now. Everything you could imagine. Eggs - scrambled or fried, bacon, sausage, toast, croissants, grilled tomatoes, cereal, fruit, coffee, OJ and grapefruit juice. They had little jams in small jars (Yes, I took a couple). It was delicious and I could so appreciate this after Italy.

After breakfast we headed out to the Tower of London. We bought an all day pass for the tube. The tube is very similar to the metro at home, but looks older. We arrived at the tower about 9:30. It didn’t open for business for another half hour. It is drizzling rain and it’s very chilly out. I wore Dave’s old leather jacket. We walked around some and got coffee and hot chocolate to help take the chill off. Our stand in line didn’t take too long.

After lunch, it was pouring rain, we walked across the street to check out the rates for the Red tour bus. We bought a pass for £ 20, which was good for 24 hours.We were able to sit on the inside of the bus. It was raining pretty hard at this point. We had a pretty good tour of the city. We got off at the Piccadilly Circus stop. It was really crowded here. I went in search of a restroom and Dave found a Starbuck’s. He brought me a hot chocolate back. We caught the tube and made a stop at Harrod’s. They were closed because it was Sunday, but we walked all the way around the building. We walked around quite a bit. We caught the tube again and got off and took a walk through St. James Park. The sun was finally coming out and it warmed up some. It was about 4:00. We followed the park through to the opposite side. We ended up at Buckingham Palace. As we were walking up, they had a changing of the guard. I don’t think this was the full blown version that they do in the morning, but I was impressed. The streets by the palace were closed and the light posts were all decorated with British flags. Again, I believe this was in celebration for the Queen’s Jubilee. We walked back through the park and by St. James Palace. Dave snapped a picture of me with a London Bobbie (Dave said I was getting pinched, but I didn't feel a thing). We worked our way back to the tube. My feet, hips, legs and back were killing me. I was just plain tired. Once we got back toVictoria we stopped in at McDonalds and took our dinner back to the room. I had a soak and called it a night.

*Monday, June 10th -* Dave decided to let us sleep in a little today. We didn’t get up till 7. We grabbed a shower and headed down for breakfast. Dave and I decided there was too much to do. We decided to split up and go separate directions . I wanted to go back to Harrod’s and also see Kensington Palace. Dave was heading off to the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Dave wrote down directions for me on how to get to Kensington Palace and from there how to find Harrods again. Before heading our separate ways, we decided to go have a look at Westminster Abbey together. Our tube station was closed, so we decided to take the red tour bus. We had to sit outside on the double decker. It was misting rain. We were getting close to our stop when one of the ladies on the bus, took a fall down the steps. They took her to the hospital in an ambulance. Hope she is OK. Our bus couldn’t move until the ambulance came. We had to wait for the next one to arrive. Fortunately, it wasn’t too long of a wait. When we arrived at Westminster, it had a very long line, so we decided to not go in. We decided to go our separate ways..

I found Kensington Palace without too much effort. The Palace is located in Kensington Park. People were out walking their dogs, mothers were pushing baby carriages. Older people sitting on benches. It’s really a peaceful place. Kensington Palace is probably best known as the home of Princess Diana during the time between her separation from Prince Charles until her untimely death in 1997. Now, it is the home of several minor nobles, including the Queen's sister. Once I arrived at the palace, there was a line to get in. There were lots of woman there to see the wedding gown display. I met a group of ladies who were local. They get together 3 times a year and have an outing. The cost to get in was £ 10. The gardens are beautiful. The display was nice, unfortunately, these were past Queen’s wedding dresses and Princess Diana’s dress wasn’t there. Queen Elizabeth’s was. Each of the gowns had beautiful long lace veils. On the ground floor they had a display of some of Diana’s dresses. After following her in the news and in magazines all these years, I had seen most them in pictures. Here I am now standing a foot away from an outfit she has worn. As I was leaving Kensington, there was a group of men sitting on benches. All of them waiting for their wives, daughters or girl friends to emerged from the gift shop. If Dave had come, this is where I would have ended up meeting him as well.
I left Kensington Palace and stopped to get something to drink and then caught the tube for Harrods. Harrods in London's Knightsbridge isn’t just a department store, but is a must for tourists in London.. Tucked away in Knightsbridge, this is the place to come to buy that green bag that wraps all purchases made here. You can find just about anything here. I only made it to the ground floor and first floor. I walked by the bakery and wished we had something like this at home. Beautifully decorated cakes, waiting for you to serve to your guests. I also loved the individual cakes. They are perfect for giving a coworker on a special occasion. It was getting late and I needed to scoot. I told Dave I would meet him at the British Museum at 2:00 and it was getting pretty close to that time. Hopped back on the tube and headed for the museum. Dave met me outside about 3:00. He was running late from his morning outing as well. I walked through some of the exhibits, mostly mummies. My feet were once again giving out, so I told Dave to meet me by the entrance when he finished. I need to get off my feet. While I was waiting for him, I did walk into the museums store. I bought Dave a copy of the Rosetta Stone. I knew he would love it.

We got back to the hotel at 5:45. Had just enough time to quickly change out of my slacks and into a dress. I stopped at a store and bought what I thought were pantyhose. As it turns out, they were thigh highs with adhesive on them to hold them up. I have never worn thigh highs before, but I needed something to keep my legs warm. Dave approved. We took the tube to Covent Garden. We had tickets to see “My Fair Lady”. We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a restaurant across the street from the Drury Lane theatre. We both had steak It was very good. My Fair Lady was wonderful. I really enjoyed the play. At intermission, I went to the ladies room and adjusted my hose. They were pinching my leg. They looked like they had enough elastic in them that I could roll the adhesive away from my skin. I came back out and finished watching the show. We left the theatre and started walking quickly to the tube. It was drizzling rain, so were trying to walk fast. I felt the hose going. I was trying to hold an umbrella, my purse and hose up all at the same time and I was losing the battle. We stopped in front of a closed store in Covent Garden and I looked down. My white hose were completely around my ankles. I looked like Eliza Doolittle at the beginning of the play. Make a mental note here: I will never buy thigh highs again. Dave's dissappointed. We got back to the hotel about 11:00. We still had to pack our bags up and get ready organized for tomorrow’s flight home. I feel into bed at 12:30. Completely dead. I am homesick and I long for nothing to do for awhile. I am looking forward to seeing Jack and Puck and making sure the house is OK. *Tuesday, June 11-* Wake-up call WAY to early today. The hotel didn’t cancel our shuttle and at 4:30 am they called to tell us it was here. We explained we had made arrangements for a taxi and we had cancelled the shuttle. I needed to get up in a half hour anyway, so I laid there for a bit and then got up and began the day. Our cab driver charged too much I think. It cost £ 45.When we got in the cab there was already £ 7 on the meter. Needless to say, he didn’t get a tip. We boarded the plane at 8:00 am and started our journey home. We arrived back at Dulles at noon. (It would have been have been about 6:00 pm London time). Gale met us at the airport and gave us a ride back home. When we walked out of the airport, I was so happy. It was HOT outside. It felt so good on my skin. We were finally home.

	London Saturday, June 8th
	At last we arrive in London. I manage to get us a cart to put our luggage on and we head out. We passed through customs quickly.
We took a taxi to the hotel. The taxi was pretty expensive, about £ 35. He also took us to the wrong hotel, fortunately ours wasn’t too far away and he apologized. We stayed at the Thistle in Victoria. We got checked in. The poor porter took our luggage to the room. Everyone asked us if we had to pay excess baggage. The hotel is nice. There were big wide staircases with heavy wooden banisters. Our room is nice. They left us big white terry cloth robes and slippers on the bed. The room had big windows, but they don’t open outward like the ones in Italy. There isn’t much of a view anyway. We face the roof of Victoria Station.. We quickly left to go exploring. It’s beginning to get late and we have had a long day. We stopped in at Pizza Hut for dinner. It is much colder than I though it would be here. Perhaps it’s because the sun has gone down for the day.

Dave kept us on our schedule we had in Italy. The 6, 7, 8 routine. No rest for the weary. The breakfast was wonderful. I know what they mean by an English breakfast now. Everything you could imagine. Eggs - scrambled or fried, bacon, sausage, toast, croissants, grilled tomatoes, cereal, fruit, coffee, OJ and grapefruit juice. They had little jams in small jars (Yes, I took a couple). It was delicious and I could so appreciate this after Italy. After breakfast we headed out to the Tower of London. We bought an all day pass for the tube. The tube is very similar to the metro at home, but looks older. We arrived at the tower about 9:30. It didn’t open for business for another half hour. It is drizzling rain and it’s very chilly out. I wore Dave’s old leather jacket. We walked around some and got coffee and hot chocolate to help take the chill off. Our stand in line didn’t take too long.

The Great Tower or as it is known today, The White Tower, was formed on the base of a residential palace and fortress. The Tower of London became the perfect all purpose complex. Since the first foundations were laid more than 900 years ago the castle has been constantly improved and extended by the addition of other smaller towers, extra buildings, walls and walkways, gradually evolving from a castle, fortress, prison, palace and finally to the museum that it represents today. On our way in, I got my picture taken with one of the Yeoman Warders. The tower was fun and we saw lots of neat things. Outside the tower, were lots of Ravens. Legend has it that should the ravens ever leave the Tower of London the White Tower will crumble and a great disaster shall befall England. We saw coats of amour and weaponry. We went inside to see the Crown Jewels. Dave got us in early and there were no lines at all. We got a great look at all the beautiful jewels. Queen Victoria’s crown was my favorite. They had some signs on things that said, out on loan. Since the Queens Jubilee was last week, I imagine this is where most of them are. There were medieval-dressed people walking along outside and I got Dave’s picture with one of the ladies. I mentioned to her that the weather was really chilly. She said, “If you don’t like the weather wait 5 minutes, it will change.” We caught the tube and headed back towards the hotel. We stopped in at a pub and ordered lunch. Dave got fish and chips with a Guinness. He had been looking forward to this since we left Bowie. I ordered chicken and chips. It was good, but the service was a little slow. I thought it was neat that we got our ketchup served to us in a dish rather than a bottle. Dave says that the difference between Europe and home is that here ketchup is in a glass, and water is in a bottle.