London – Monday March 23, 2009
Woke up and went down to the hotel breakfast room. Interesting breakfast – toast, digestive biscuits, grapefruit, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, juice milk & coffee. Then asked at the hotel desk what the best way would be to get down to the visitors center to pick up our London passes. They told us the bus number, but we ended up getting on it going the wrong direction and rode to the end of the line, then they made us get off. We had to backtrack a bit to get on the right bus but eventually made it downtown and to the visitors center.
After getting our passes we made our way toward the Changing of the Guard. We ended up at the horse barracks first and saw the mounted horse guards getting into formation. Then we walked down towards the palace. Ended up at several different vantage points, eventually getting over to the palace itself by the time most everything was almost over. We did get some nice pictures even if we didn’t see everything. Also saw the Victoria Monument while there.
We walked up through Green Park to the bus stop, and took a bus (with our passes this time) to Kensington Palace. By this time Debbie’s ankle was bothering her so we took it nice and slow. We toured the palace, including the debutante and Diana dresses exhibits. No pictures were allowed so I bought a guidebook full of pictures, as well as a shot glass for Steve.
We walked back to the place near the palace where the original bus tour that we had a voucher for had been stopped. As we approached the bus, I saw it was about to leave so I waved my arms to get the driver’s attention. He saw me and stopped, and we got on. We rode the blue tour to where we hooked up with the yellow tour which was the circle around most of the major London sites. It was good timing for the ride as it was sprinkling when we got on and soon was raining in earnest. It had stopped by the end of the ride and was even a bit sunny by then. We rode past many sights such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus, lots of bridges and monuments.
We stopped for a transfer to a different bus after Piccadilly Circus, ending up staying put for about 15 minutes. After a few minutes I noticed that we were parked next to a McDonald’s so I tried to access the wifi. It worked! Since I had written out my first blog entry, I was able to cut and paste it and quickly get it uploaded with a picture of us at the London Eye. I plan to upload a picture of the three of us at Buckingham Palace with this blog.
Also was able to quickly check e-mail and got an e-mail from the travel agent that arranged the tour, wishing us a good upcoming trip. Emailed back that we were actually already in London and having a great time.
Got off as close to Harrod’s as we could and walked the rest of the way. I found a geocache not too far away. When we got to Harrod’s, we shopped in their department that had Harrod’s branded souvenirs. I bought a few things as did Debbie & Judy. We also saw the Diana and Dodi memorial that Dodi’s father, the owner of the hotel, had displayed following their deaths.
After Harrod’s, we headed for the Underground and rode the tube back up to Paddington. Had to change stations, but we’re getting the hang of things and didn’t have any trouble (other than the walking up and down stairs for Debbie.) Got back to Paddington and I wanted to find a virtual cache in the station which was a statue of Paddington Bear. It was in the main part of the train station, and we’re glad we found it because we also found lots of shops and places to eat.
We ended up eating at a pub, where three older British businessmen tried to pick us up. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. They actually were only being just a bit friendly and had no other intentions, but we moved on. I stuck with traditional British food and had a Lamb & Stilton pie. This was lamb in a wine and stilton cheese sauce, with a pastry topping. Mary had a little lamb for the first time in her life. Tasty.
Did a bit of shopping afterwards, mostly for necessities such as an ankle brace for Deb. She says if her ankle still feel s bad tomorrow she is going to stay back and let us go on her own. Hope that doesn’t have to be the case, we can go slow! Plans are for the Tower of London, followed by the boat ride back up the Thames, a visit to St. Pauls, the Harley dealer (for Deb) and whatever else strikes our fancy for our last full day in London. Hope to get a few more caches in, they are kind of falling by the wayside, especially with Deb not able to walk so well. Still haven’t made it to 1500, and the ones I have found are all too small for dropping any travel bugs.
We are having a wonderful time, though we come back to the hotel room very tired!
Woke up and went down to the hotel breakfast room. Interesting breakfast – toast, digestive biscuits, grapefruit, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, juice milk & coffee. Then asked at the hotel desk what the best way would be to get down to the visitors center to pick up our London passes. They told us the bus number, but we ended up getting on it going the wrong direction and rode to the end of the line, then they made us get off. We had to backtrack a bit to get on the right bus but eventually made it downtown and to the visitors center.
After getting our passes we made our way toward the Changing of the Guard. We ended up at the horse barracks first and saw the mounted horse guards getting into formation. Then we walked down towards the palace. Ended up at several different vantage points, eventually getting over to the palace itself by the time most everything was almost over. We did get some nice pictures even if we didn’t see everything. Also saw the Victoria Monument while there.
We walked up through Green Park to the bus stop, and took a bus (with our passes this time) to Kensington Palace. By this time Debbie’s ankle was bothering her so we took it nice and slow. We toured the palace, including the debutante and Diana dresses exhibits. No pictures were allowed so I bought a guidebook full of pictures, as well as a shot glass for Steve.
We walked back to the place near the palace where the original bus tour that we had a voucher for had been stopped. As we approached the bus, I saw it was about to leave so I waved my arms to get the driver’s attention. He saw me and stopped, and we got on. We rode the blue tour to where we hooked up with the yellow tour which was the circle around most of the major London sites. It was good timing for the ride as it was sprinkling when we got on and soon was raining in earnest. It had stopped by the end of the ride and was even a bit sunny by then. We rode past many sights such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus, lots of bridges and monuments.
We stopped for a transfer to a different bus after Piccadilly Circus, ending up staying put for about 15 minutes. After a few minutes I noticed that we were parked next to a McDonald’s so I tried to access the wifi. It worked! Since I had written out my first blog entry, I was able to cut and paste it and quickly get it uploaded with a picture of us at the London Eye. I plan to upload a picture of the three of us at Buckingham Palace with this blog.
Also was able to quickly check e-mail and got an e-mail from the travel agent that arranged the tour, wishing us a good upcoming trip. Emailed back that we were actually already in London and having a great time.
Got off as close to Harrod’s as we could and walked the rest of the way. I found a geocache not too far away. When we got to Harrod’s, we shopped in their department that had Harrod’s branded souvenirs. I bought a few things as did Debbie & Judy. We also saw the Diana and Dodi memorial that Dodi’s father, the owner of the hotel, had displayed following their deaths.
After Harrod’s, we headed for the Underground and rode the tube back up to Paddington. Had to change stations, but we’re getting the hang of things and didn’t have any trouble (other than the walking up and down stairs for Debbie.) Got back to Paddington and I wanted to find a virtual cache in the station which was a statue of Paddington Bear. It was in the main part of the train station, and we’re glad we found it because we also found lots of shops and places to eat.
We ended up eating at a pub, where three older British businessmen tried to pick us up. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. They actually were only being just a bit friendly and had no other intentions, but we moved on. I stuck with traditional British food and had a Lamb & Stilton pie. This was lamb in a wine and stilton cheese sauce, with a pastry topping. Mary had a little lamb for the first time in her life. Tasty.
Did a bit of shopping afterwards, mostly for necessities such as an ankle brace for Deb. She says if her ankle still feel s bad tomorrow she is going to stay back and let us go on her own. Hope that doesn’t have to be the case, we can go slow! Plans are for the Tower of London, followed by the boat ride back up the Thames, a visit to St. Pauls, the Harley dealer (for Deb) and whatever else strikes our fancy for our last full day in London. Hope to get a few more caches in, they are kind of falling by the wayside, especially with Deb not able to walk so well. Still haven’t made it to 1500, and the ones I have found are all too small for dropping any travel bugs.
We are having a wonderful time, though we come back to the hotel room very tired!
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