London's First Act was a Show Stopper

We had the best sleep in that little loft bed ... and awoke with plans to prepare a nice breakfast in our  new abode with our grocery purchases from last night!  And, may I say, the gooseberry jam was a delicious addition to our toast and eggs and fruit!  It was suggested that walking is the ideal way to see London ... but we wanted to orient ourselves to the city with the Hop On Hop Off Bus !  And ... now we understand why they recommend walking! At one point there were about 5 buses and a girl on a bicycle and a taxi all gridlocked in traffic near Buckingham Palace!!  GAH!  We must have spent 20 minutes at that intersection! 

I didn't know it but Trafalgar Square is right in the middle of London. And, it can fit 80, 000 people! It's only a three minute walk from our place.  The sun was shining brightly today ... it was almost too warm at times ... but I am not complaining.  I am expressing my GRATITUDE for the extraordinary weather!  It's supposed to be warm and dry all week.  I hope that it will be, because it would not be nearly as enjoyable with umbrellas!

GROAN: We couldn't see Big Ben because it's being refurbished. Its leaning slightly and they anticipate it will fall over in 800 years if the tilt is not corrected!  So all you can see is the clock face at the moment.  They seem to be working on many of the older buildings ... they seem to keep them in very good repair!

MORE GRATITUDES: We took a cruise on the River Thames ... floated under London Bridge and then on down to the Tower of London.  For me, it was extra lovely to spend some time on the water ... away from the overstimulation of all the busyness and people and commotion!  We also enjoyed the panoramic views of the city from the London Eye! It's a magnificent ferris wheel that takes 30 minutes to make a full circle! Gives you stunning 360 degree views of the city!

Stopped in for a few appys and a cool drink at The Admirality Ale & Pie and ordered the Hamshire Black Pudding Croquettes; Frontier beer battered haddock goujons; Steak and London Pride pie (with carmelized shallots, button mushrooms & thyme); and curried spiced sausage roll! So good! Once again, the food services is second to none here in the UK.

We were meandering back to Soho ... and ... found ourselves wandering through China town. Lots of people out and about ... street musicians entertaining the passersby with their exceptional talent! We strolled past an all you can eat Chinese buffet ... for $10.95. It looked so good and smelled so good that we got the urge to fill our bellies ... again ... before we went on to the Picadilly Theatre to see "Strictly Ballroom; The Musical." When we got to the theatre we were delighted to learn that if you bought two large glasses of wine you could get the rest of the bottle for $3.00. And ... they would give you a number and place it on the ledge for you to refill your glasses during the intermission! So ... THAT is what we did!! 🥂

GRINS:  And lots of them. It was sheer delight ... such talent and scripting  and acting and humor and dancing and singing!  We even got showered with confetti at the end of it!  John said it was the best theatre show he has ever seen!  We have tickets to see "Wicked" on Monday ...so we'll see how it holds up to that competition!  

GRIPES:  Aside from the fact that I have picked up a head cold  ... it was truly a very enjoyable day in London!  Five Star kind of day!!  Talk to you tomorrow! k&jRead more