December 4th, 2004: Hangin' Out in London

Saturday - 2nd full day in London, England:
*Personal comments to the journal are italicized below original text.

• Got up early (1:40 am/then 8:00 am) - TOAST for bfst (we didn't know)
  What "we didn't know" was the hotel did NOT offer continental breakfast as we expected, not a very cool thing for 3 starving Americans.
  
  
• Went through Victoria station - ATM £100, some souvenirs & all day bus ticket
  
  On the bus still waking up
  
  
  My folks make such a sweet couple
  
  
• Westminster Abbey Cathedral (inside) souvenirs & shopped at store
  
  Westminster Abbey
  
  
  Standing in front of Westminster Cathedral
  
  
  
  
• Shopped at Westminster Abbey bookstore (souvenirs)
• Line too long at Wm Abbey (photos)
  
  Line Outside Cathedral (no thanks)
  
  
• Bus to Victoria Station - another bus to Old Bailey Road
  
  
  
• Lunch at Bailey's Cafe (Italian) - bought for all @£20 (xmas gift)
  Focaccia bread sandwich w/turkey
  
  Lunching at Bailey's Cafe Deli
  
  
• St. Paul's Cathedral - went into entrance (£7/no way), was able to see enough
  
  
  
• Walked around backside of courtyard - statue of John Wesley, brown pigeon, etc.)
  
  
  
• Walked down Oxford ("SOHO") - very crowded, lots of young people college types
• Saw Jesus preacher
• Almost hit by bus
  
  "Kentish Town" - possible family ties?
  
  
• Called & left message on voicemail at Picadilly Circus
• Finally found Buckingham Palace after 2 buses/walking
  
  
  
  Buckingham Palace
  
  
• Shopped at tea shoppe & bought gifts (chocolate, coffee)
  
  Taking a Diet Coke rest
  
  
• Phone call home (finally connected)
• Shin splints kicked in (me)
• Over bridge by Big Ben watched Eye of London (aka Ferris Wheel)
  
  The London Eye
  
  
• Allen took photos of Parliament at St. Thomas' Hospital
  
  Big Ben & Parliament from hospital parking lot
  
  
• Back on bus toward Victoria
• Stopped for dinner @8 pm at Shakespeare's Pub
• Caesar salad w/chicken & Pinot (yum!)
• Back to room
• Allen emailed hubs from hotel
• SLEEP (loud neighbors "square dancing above us")
  Never travel without earplugs.

Next up: off to PARIS!

To London!

Here I sit, kids in school and not having me run around like a headless chicken trying to get supplies together, cat stretched out on the floor in my home office doorway leaving me with an entire day to take care of business and whatnot. (Always wanted to use that word in a sentence - "whatnot".) Alrighty then! Back to that long lost journal where I'm about to take off from Italy to London and beyond:

Friday, December 3rd, 2004

• Fog delayed London flight
  Meaning: we reached the airport but the fog was so heavy we didn't leave until well after midnight. Uggh, as if I wasn't jet-lagged enough.
  
• Took bus to Bergamo, Italy
• Flew to Sanstedt, London
  Picture the three of us walking the empty early morning streets trying to get directions to our hotel from ANYONE, including cabbies who (one) was nice enough to stop and give us some sort of clue as to where we needed to go. Fortunately, we were able to navigate via the map system posted throughout London.
  
• Bus to Victoria Station, London
  That was interesting - you would not believe the people we ran into along the underground bus system. Peddlers, mostly.
  
• Walk from station to hotel (not Hanover 1st night)
• Sleep at 4:30 a.m. (very tired)
  "Very tired" being the understatement of the century after the all-nighter and a half.
  
• Woke up early - 8:40 a.m.
• Tour Bus (open top)
  
  Mom kicks back in upper level of tour bus.
  
  
• Trafalgar Square stopped (photos)
  
  Mom and Allen pose in front of fountain, Trafalgar Square
  
  
• Sherlock Holmes Pub (fish and chips)
  
  Me in front of Sherlock Holmes pub - best fish & chips
  ever tasted!
  
  
• Photos at Lord Nelson Monument
  
  Mom and Me
  
  
• Whitehall, horses, Scotland Yard, Downing Street, Cabinet Buildings, Parliament, Big Ben
  
  The infamous Big Ben
  
  
• WOW!
  
  
  
• Bus to London Bridge/Starbucks
• Walked across London Bridge
  
  Warming up w/Starbucks latte on bridge
  
  
• Walked to London Dungeon
  
• Girls w/halos
  No idea what this was all about... 'halos'?
  
• Bus over London Bridge
  
  Random passengers atop bus over London Bridge
  
  
• Dropped off at London Tower
• Shopping at gift shoppe
• WOW! Boat ride down Thames
  
  Me, Mom, Allen on boat in Thames River
  
  
• photos
  
  London Tower view from Thames River
  
  
  City of London view from Thames River
  
  
  View of London Eye from boat in Thames (dark!)
  
  
• Off at embankment, on the bus
• Bus to Victoria Station
• Walked .5 mile to Hard Rock (50 min wait for table, skipped dinner & shopped at store)
  At this point, I started experiencing painful shin splints possibly due to dehydration. Ugh. But the walk was worth buying Hubs a Hard Rock Cafe - London t-shirt!
  
• Walked back to Victoria
• Ate dinner at Garfunkel's in mall (spent 15 pd/40 M&A, stiffed waitress - no split ticket)
  That's right, we actually stiffed the waitress for not splitting our bill. Such rude Americans? Yikes. Well, at least I was able to get a taste of my English heritage with a meal topped off with peas, a favorite.
• Shopped for pop.
• Walked to Hanover Hotel.
• Called home - tried from 9:40-10:40 - couldn't get out!! :(
  For an entire hour straight, we tried and tried to get a phone connection back to the States to no avail. Finally, sleep took over.