I’m wiped out. We had a wonderful day touring London today. It is still hot as blazes though and we did a lot of walking this afternoon.
This morning we met the guide and boarded the bus a little before 9:00. They took us on a tour of downtown London. We had a special guide today and she was wonderful. She showed us that unique British sense of humor and made the day lots of fun.
We stopped at Westminster for some photo shots of that and Big Ben. We couldn’t go inside as there were Sunday worship services being held. We drove by Buckingham Palace and got to see the start of the changing of the guards. We saw a parade of soldiers playing marching music. The guide said that was a special treat.
We stopped at Trafalgar Square for lunch. I had Fish and Chips. It was just about what I expected. Afterwards five of us continued with the guide and went to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were able to go inside and take a peak. What a beautiful church.
We ended the day at the Tower where we saw the Crown Jewels. They house the world’s largest diamond and many crowns and other royal symbols.
It is amazing to get to see in person all these things that I have seen on the TV.
I walked from there back to my room. I am hot and tired. My room is 26.5 C which is about 83 degrees. This heat wave London is taxing the capacity of their cooling system and the heat wave is winning.
I washed some clothes out last night and they still aren’t dry. Still hoping they will be dry by morning. We shall see. In this heat, putting wet clothes inside my suitcase all day will not have a positive outcome.
Not sure what I am going to do for dinner. I may skip it. I am still full from lunch. I couldn’t eat all the fish and chips I was served for lunch. I need to drink lots of water this afternoon and get rehydrated as I feel a bit dehydrated.
Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 7:30. Our first stop is at Stonehenge and then we will spend the night at Bath. I should have the afternoon free in Bath so hoping to soak in the hot springs. It will be good to get out to the country side and out of the big city.
Tuesday we go to Liverpool where we spend one night then it is off to Edinburgh, Scotland where we will stay for two nights.
So far, so good. I feel a bit lonely as we were on the bus most of the morning and I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone. I’m sure opportunities will present themselves over the next couple of days for me to get into conversation with others.
Haven’t given much thought to the hail damage and what is happening with it. That is a good thing. I didn’t sleep much last night – I think I slept too much the night before. Trusting I will sleep better tonight. This room is so warm that it is hard to get comfortable. Trusting my next hotel will have a cooler room or else the temperature will drop.
I liked London – much better than Rome. It is as easy to get around in as Paris was. It feels cleaner than Paris was. Not a city I would want to live in however. Way too many people and horrible, congested traffic.
Grateful for this opportunity to get to see London and see the sights I have only seen on TV, grateful for the quiet of my room this afternoon, and grateful we are headed to the countryside tomorrow.