Holborn

Day 3:
The big ticket item today was to do something I have never done before - go to an afternoon tea. Now, I was a little hesitant about this. I usually think of afternoon tea as something someone of the flowered hat and white gloved gender does. And, for the most part, that is true. But, I was relieved to find out that occasionally men participated in these events with their wives. I wouldn't have to go as Mrs. Nesbit, after all. We went big and booked tea at Fortum and Mason. This is the place the queen would go to and was suitably named the Jubilee Tea Room. There were men there, but mostly women. I expected those little finger snacks would leave me hungry, but no. They left me filled and not hungry for the rest of the day. The smoked trout sandwich and scones were the best items. A strong Irish breakfast tea blend was my choice. Kim got the Queen Anne blend. A mix of the raspberry jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream made the best flavor for the scones. As a guy, I noted that the clotted cream had the look and texture of a fine spackle for patching nail holes in walls. As a dad, I declared that the lemon curd had the consistency of pureed peach baby food - both of which are quite tasty.

Before going to the tea, we visited a crosswalk on Abbey Road. Yes, that famous album cover of the Beatles by the same name. We trotted across as numerous people took pictures of us. A word of advice. One needs to move quickly. Drivers here don't like to stop for pedestrians. I did, however, learn that it is illegal and generally frowned upon to run people down with a car. That was somewhat comforting, sort of.

After the tea, Adam and I went to the British Museum, and the girls went back to the AbnB. We would meet them later. There is so much that could be said about the museum. Best in the world. There are so many significant artifacts from around the world. While there are constant requests and demands from some of the countries to have items returned, there is also good reason to keep them at the museum. At least here, anyone from any country can see these treasures free of charge and appreciate the history and culture of the country from which it came. That is significant. Speaking of significance, the Rosetta Stone is, in my opinion, the number 1 artifact in the museum and was wonderful to see.

Lastly, we undergrounded over to Westminster to see Big Ben and walk along the Thames. On the previous trip, Big Ben was covered with scaffolding. It's all shiny and new looking now.

Tomorrow, we travel to Edinburgh, Scotland.Read more