Between the lousy Internet connection and my big fingers on this little computer I am TOTALLY frustrated with trying to write to you. Forget facebook and hotmail . . . they are just too much of a pain to try to log on to. I think the "hotel" we are in has gerbils on a treadmill running the internet connections. I keep loosing connection and pages just disappearing into cyber space. So to Kristen . . . Keri . . . and my gal pals . . .I love you all but don't expect to hear from me till we get to a better internet spot.
Today the 4 travelers took on the London Underground. I think we won but other than the fact that we did get where we were going and find our way home again I can't say the trips were a success. Well, I guess they were, we still have our sanity and some money left over but our bodies are dead, dead, dead !
Breakfast at the B&B again this morning, same as yesterday. I am disappointed there are no scones and clotted cream, just plain old ordinary toast. Once our bellies were full we headed out into the damp, chilly morning to see if we could find our way to St. Pauls Cathedral. NO PROBLEM ! We are like pros riding the underground, "minding the gap" and "standing right". Did you know there is Underground etiquette? Speak softly, "mind the gap", which means don't fall between the train and the platform(DUH!) and "stand right", which means you must move your fat ass over to the right when standing on the escalators in the stations. If you don't stand right you will get pushed down (or up) the escalator by the folks who are in a hurry. Ann Marie is having trouble with this one but she is also stopping right at the top or bottom of the escalator which will also get her killed. We bought ourselves "OYSTER" cards to ride the underground so we don't have to stop and buy tickets each time. Why these "Easy Pass" sort of cards are called OYSTER CARDS is beyond me but they work great. You scan the card going into the station and then again when leaving. Jean Marie didn't swipe her card today and just walked through and got a 5 pound penalty which we got reversed because basically we are stupid Americans. The Brits are very very gracious and have been extremely helpful and pleasant but you know that under their breath as we walk away they are muttering, "Stupid Yanks".
We did tour St. Pauls Cathederal where Princess Di and Charles were married. Most beautiful place but we did not climb the 600 steps to the top. WE barely can make it up and down all the stair cases in the tube no less 600 more steps to see the same view of London that we saw yesterday from the London Eye. From there we got back on the underground and found our way to the theatre district to buy tickets for a matinee of "WICKED". We had lunch in a pub near the theatre and thoroughly enjoyed the show. The music, story, singing, costumes were fantastic and now we can say we saw a show in London. When we came out of the show it was 5:30 and the crowds and masses of people on the streets was like nothing I have ever seen. NYC is crowded but this was unbelievable. We wasted some time to give the crowds going into the underground a chance to subside a bit and then we made our move to attempt to find our way "home". We actually did quite well, came out of the tube and had dinner at a place we just happened upon. We had a pricey but delicious dinner and then walked the 3 blocks back to our hotel.
The weather has been amazingly warm. I would think low 70's and actually once the morning damp wears off it is very beautiful. Tomorrow we are going to venture out to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and then a trip to the famous department store of Harrods. Harrods is the carrot we have been waving in front of Ann Marie. The poor woman has not shopped in an entire week now and she is starting to go into shock. Harrods should cure that with the shock of their prices.
London has been great fun. It is NOT one of my favorite cities but we have had a good time here. I think I am missing the grandkids but I am also really looking forward to my favorite city of Paris.
To be continued . . .
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