I got lots of sleep last night. I was asleep before 6:00 London time last night. I woke up at midnight but was able to go back to sleep after I used the bathroom.. I didn’t get up and moving until after 10:00 this morning. I was awake for part of that but kept dozing off again.
I took the Underground, or the Tube as it is called, to Harrod’s. I had to get off and then take a bus. I had trouble figuring out what bus to take. It was really hot and I found a 5 Guys and had lunch there while I was trying to figure out what bus to take.
After lunch there were some construction workers so I asked them what bus to take. They showed me a road to walk to Harrod’s instead. It was about a mile walk. The road was a straight shot and I knew I would get where I wanted to go that way.
Harrod’s is huge and EXPENSIVE! Oh my gosh, it has all the expensive brand names. Not what I was expecting. I walked around a bit but felt very out of place as I had my trail clothes on. I had gotten really hot walking and was looking for a place to sit down and cool off but couldn’t find one to do so.
I started not feeling well so decided to take an Uber back to the hotel. It took a couple tries to get someone to accept the ride. The ride back took about 45 minutes.
The cars I have been in don’t have A/C and many of the shops don’t have it either. It was over 90 again today so felt very warm. My hotel room has A/C but it hasn’t cooled the room below 80 yet. I don’t handle heat well.
I got back to the room mid-afternoon and rested and tried to cool down. I dozed off for a bit and am finally feeling better and I am not tired. I found the correct converter at the tube station so was able to get my iPad, watch and iPhone charged up this afternoon. It took me a bit to figure out how to use the converter but I finally figured it out.
We had a group meeting and dinner tonight with the tour group. There are only 22 in the group and eight are dropping out after we do Scotland. I like that the group is small. There is one mother-daughter couple and one sister along with her sister and brother-in-law. The rest are all married couples except me. About eight of the group are from other countries. Most are about my age, although there are two younger couples.
The dinner food was awful. I had a piece of chicken that was so dry I could barely cut it. They served a lettuce salad with it that had no dressing. I’m glad I wasn’t hungry tonight.
I am grateful I came in a day early and got some rest. Most of the group had come in today and were barely awake tonight. The hotel had let them check into their rooms today by 11:00 though so they had been able to get a nap this afternoon. That sure would have helped yesterday go easier for me as I didn’t get into my room until almost 5:00.
Tomorrow we leave at 9:00 and are going on a bus tour of London. They will drop us off at Trafalgar Square so we can have lunch. I am going on an optional tour to go inside St. Paul’s Cathedral and then a tour of the Tower of London where I can see the Crown Jewels. Dinner tomorrow night is on our own.
Monday we head to Stonehenge and then will spend the night in Bath. I look forward to getting out of the city.
Tonight I will do some laundry and wash out some clothes. I looked today to purchase some laundry detergent but couldn’t find a shop that sold that. I will get by with some hand soap and will keep my eyes out for some tomorrow. Not something they sell at tourist shops, I guess.
It felt a bit weird being the only single person on the trip. I was hoping there would be another one or two singles. Oh well, I will make the best of it and enjoy getting to know the couples.
Feels good that the official tour has begun and I have a support team behind me. The tour director is young and eager to please. We shall see how he does as a guide tomorrow.
I wish I could have gone into lots of the buildings I have seen but wasn’t sure how to do that. Many have tickets you have to buy and purchase in advance. The lines are very long and it is very crowded. I’ll have to make due with just seeing the buildings from the street.
We come back to London sometime down the road on this trip. We will be staying at a different hotel for that night. We have a farewell dinner that night as we will be getting a different tour guide while we are in Ireland.
It feels like I have been gone for a long time already. I’m grateful I will have guided activities tomorrow and a group to visit with. I will have lots of free time intermittently so that should be a good balance for me. I tire of people easily these days and need lots of alone time.
Grateful I came in a day early, grateful I knew how to call for an Uber this afternoon, and grateful I was able to sleep last night.