London

We arrived late Saturday night, so our day really began on Sunday.

We took the tube to St. Paul's hoping to check out the cathedral before meeting with Stephan, Helena, and their spouses, Janette and Chris (Stephan and Helena are friends of mine that I've kept in touch with since we met on a tour that I led in Canada 11 years ago). When we got to St. Paul's, we got to see the inside at no cost, since Eucharist was in session. It was amazing and even brought a tear to Paul's eyes (don't tell I told). We strolled along the Millenium Bridge across the Thames to meet our 4 friends. Paul was especially excited that we were thanked by the blokes who we asked to direct us to the bridge--the Brits do live up to their polite reputation.

We met Stephan, Janette, Chris, and Helena with ease in front of the Tate Modern, thanks to Steve's terrific map, and then proceeded to stroll along the historical riverside enjoying a Sunday Roast at a pub along the way, followed by a Prim at another pub, and an ice cream to top it off. Yum!

After we left our mates, we found there was still time to catch the tour bus, so we walked along the Thames from the Tower to Embankment (a lovely walk on such a gorgeous day) and hopped on the bus. The tour took about 2 hours and the guides were fantastic, so Paul really got to see London from an above ground perspective. After the tour, we took the tube back to our neighborhood in S. Kensington and had a delicious Indian dinner (a must in England).

Monday began and ended with perfection, too. We couldn't set an alarm, so we just relied on our bodies to get us up at a decent hour and enjoy an English breakfast hoping we'd make the 10:30 Change of Guard tour that came with our package. Indeed we had a delicious breakfast and made the tour which was brilliant. They take you around to the monuments near Buckingham, you get to march with the new guard, then a shortcut through St. James Park and you march with the old guard. Finally, you finish the tour with the change of the stable guards for a much more up close look than you could see at the palace--it's really well done.

We then took advantage of the fish and chip meal that comes with the tour and made it to the National Gallery gift shop to kill time before we caught the river cruise. I was able to find my mom a gorgeous beach bag with Stubbs' Whistlefoot (a beautiful 18th century painting of a horse) and I also grabbed 2 Union Jacks for my friend at a street vendor on the way to the dock. Then, we took the river cruise from Westminister to Tower. We grabbed an ice cream near the tower and rested for 20 minutes before our Jack the Ripper tour which also came with the bus tour. That bus tour was a great deal!!

After the Jack the Ripper tour, it was time to head back to Liesester Square (forgive spelling) and pick up our tickets before dinner at Pulcinella's (fabulous Italian food by the way). Then the show--Spamalot it hilarious!! Truly the best musical I've ever seen. We ended our evening by strolling to Picadilly and caught the tube back to S. Ken.

For as little time as we had in London, I can truly say we made the best of it. It was so wonderful to see you and hang out. I hope we are not away from England for very long. Paul loved it as much as I had hoped.