Rolling' down the River...

The past two days have been full of seeing London by land and sea! Yesterday we spent the day on the Thames River, seeing London by boat. It was a great way to learn the history of the city and our trip ended in Greenwich, a lovely little city. We had a rather odd lunch, not sure exactly what nationality the owner was, but thank goodness, one lady spoke english. Wayne enjoyed his chicken pie, Caitlin her roasted chicken and peas, me not so much. My hamburger...awful! I thought England had better beef than the US, no hormones, strict oversight, but it tasted like it was from Murray's... somehow I can make poor food choices a continent away.

We have found it very easy to get around, we have been walking about five miles a day on average. We did the double decker bus tour which allows you to get off and on at multiple stops and included the Thames river cruise.

Today was definitely a highlight of our trip so far, Buckingham Palace! We started the day with a walk through the Queen's Gallery. It was amazing! The exhibit is titled, "In Fine Style" and details the fashion of the royals starting in the 1500's. The audio tour was so well done! I could have cried at this damn pairs of gloves...from the 1600's! Then on to the State Rooms and a special exhibit of the Queens' coronation from 1953. Again, the clothes, the jewels, the details of the coronation, all expertly exhibited to give the best experience.

After we left the palace tours, some six hours after we started, Caitlin and I headed off to shop in Mayfair. We had our sights set on some of Duchess Kate's favorite purveyors of finer things. Then my dear Caitlin stopped dead in her tracks...she just could not wrap her head around flats for $180.00 or pumps for $225.00....I know, all in due time, all in due time! We ended up at a local London shop, cute black POLKA DOT dress for $50.00!

We are ready to take on another London pub. Did I mention that I'm pretty sure I have injured my tailbone? Yeah, fell off that bar stool....a little ice, Motrin and easing up out of sitting position seems to do the trick...need to fall off another to knock it back in place..tomorrow's another day!

Wayne needs a British Pub

Today: a double decker bus tour. We spent mush of the day viewing the city sights, making stops for Harrod's and Kensington Palace. Searched in vain for the clearance section at Harrod's, alas it does not exist... Beautiful gardens at the Palace. No sign of Kate or the baby...

By the end of the day Wayne is ready for a british pub. As luck would have it, he randomly wanders into a gay British  pub which Caitlin and I immediately pick on...Wayne gets a fews beers and returns to our table where Adam and his friend Lee are sitting.

Caitlin and I are well aware that Adam and Lee are gay..Wayne is clueless, until we see see the the drag queen emerge from the basement level... Drag queen show downstairs!!

Had a great evening chatting with Adam and Lee, with a few too many beers and shots.

Two Atheists and a Lunatic Walk into an Abby....

We arrived safely in London after a bit of a bumpy ride across the pond. Wayne and I slept pretty well, Caitlin not so much.

After customs we were greeted by our driver who took us to our flat in the city of Westminster, near Trafalger Square. We are staying on John Adams Street, love John Adams, Abigail even more.

Our flat is compact for sure! A completely refurbished older building, it is nicely redone with high ceiling,beautiful moldings and updated, kitchen and baths, no air conditioning, but the weather is in the 70's, so windows opened! We were met at the flat by Ricardo, an adorable Brazilian who manages a number of rental through Londonconnections.com. Caitlin says it smells like the Manor House at Glenelg Country School, I guess thats a good thing??

After settling in for all of ten minutes, we went out to explore our new neighborhood and get a bite to eat. We went back to our flat to eat, (you pay more to dine in!), and then on the advice of Ricardo, we did what everyone said not to do...we napped! It was great, and we all felt much better and ready to go! We decided to walk along the river Thames, stopping along lovely parks with beautiful flowers and architecture.

As we turned the corner there was Big Ben! I cannot even begin to explain the beauty and enormity of the building and architecture! I look in awe at how on earth these building were constructed so long ago.

Continuing our walk we came upon Westminster Abby. Of course we had missed the daily tour times, but people were queuing up in line for something...so you know me...get in line...I mean its a church, can't be anything bad?? Turns out we were in line to go into the Abby for Evensong, which essentially is daily mass at 5 pm. Needless to say, my two favorite atheists were not thrilled! It was amazing!! We sat in the side pews with the amazing alter to our right, the Norwich Girls Choir was the guest choir for the service, most of which was sung. As the service was Anglican, it was very much like a Catholic service, same prayers, reading from old and new testament. I could not help but think of the royal wedding of Kate and Will...she walked right down this very aisle! The Abby itself is just incredible. We will head back for the complete tour as there was so much to see.

On our way out of the Abby there was an area where one could light a small prayer candle, tea light size. I know you are suppose to give a small donation for this, but people were just lighting them like crazy and moving on. I noticed a rather large African American woman in a bright red top, short black skirt and flaming red tights lighting a candle. She was hard not to notice. She had legs larger than mine! We leave and are a few blocks away, when I see her in front of us. She stops and turns to address me, asking where I am from. I'm thinking uh oh here we go...when she then says, "I have these tights on, and with this skirt, I can't really tell if my crotch is hanging low, can you let me know?" Now Wayne always says people just stop and talk to me, but this one was something! She walked ahead of me and I looked and told her she was fine, she thanked me and went on her way!

We ended the day we a really nice Italian dinner just around the corner from our flat. We walked a bit
more after dinner and then off to bed.

Ready To Go...no, hold on...

No trip would be complete without a last minute run to CVS! Besides, I needed to use Caitlin's reward coupons before they expired. You know, bottle of Ibuprofen, press on nails, the essentials and I was jonesing for Swedish fish... weird.

As Wayne and I enter the Swedish fish aisle, he stops and says "hold on".  Turns out our flight to London from BWI was cancelled! It's 2:30 in the afternoon (9:30 flight), Caitlin is in D.C. headed to BWI by train, we are in CVS, I am in absolute crazy mode and Wayne looks like the apocalypse has occurred...he knows me well.

Five hours later, 2 1/2 in the car, 1 hour of torrential rain,

we are now safely ensconced in the comfort of the British Airways Club, (yes I acted out and insisted British Airways ease my pain) in Philadelphia...waiting for our 10 pm flight. We will arrive in London just an hour later than originally planned. Now, we are not even thinking about the fact that we have a car in Phillie and our return flight is to Baltimore.... no flight available back to Phillie. For now, we are just anxiously awaiting our call to board!

The swing of emotions today was like Mr. Toad's wild ride... anybody remember that one? I am so relieved we were able to rebook, despite the inconvenience of the road trip to Philadelphia!

Ready to go!

This will chronicle the adventures of Margie, Wayne and Caitlin on their London vacation. We leave tonight!