First Day in London

After a fabulous night of sleep and a "hearty English breakfast," Audrey and I took off for a hop-on hop-off bus tour of London. The narration pointed out various sights along the way so we got an overall feel for the city. We stayed on the bus for the whole tour and got off at the Tower of London where saw the Crown Jewels which were very impressive. The royal family owns some gigantic gems and old artifacts! We then took a Beefeater tour of the rest of the Tower--very amusing British humor was employed which I enjoyed immensly. The tower is hundreds of years old and has been added on to over the years. I love seeing the original portions of any historic structure because it gives me something tangible to connect back to the people who originally lived and worked there.

We then followed the signs for "subway" so we could take the Tube to the major shopping district to check out the London retail scene. Guess what? "Subway" in British English refers to a sidewalk the crosses underneath the street. It does not refer to a powered moving object that whisks you away! We finally did find the Tube station and made our way to Soho where we ate some great pub food for lunch and proceeded walked past the storefronts of the most upscale shopping you could ever imagine. We went through several stores where mere mortals like us shop.

As we were eating supper this evening, some strange lady came up to Audrey and asked if she was finished with her meal. When Audrey said "Yes," the lady promptly picked some food off of Audrey's plate and said, "I'm so hungry right now!" It was so surreal and bizarre!

I would love to post a few photos but the internet connection here is a royal pain in the neck and I cannot get a single photo to upload. I'll try again in the morning, but so far I am not impressed with the wireless in this country!