Wednesday, October 02, 2013 This little bunny went to London Town . . .

Wednesday, October 02, 2013  This little bunny went to London Town . . .

We were up, had breakfast, and had our luggage about half way to the car before Andrew arrived at 9 this morning.  He loaded up most of the large pieces before Trevor showed up a few minutes later.  Then they distributed everything between the two cars and off we went.  The ride into London was long and uneventful, thank goodness.  Trevor told us some things about what we were seeing in London but not a whole lot.  We have a lot to learn in the next few days.  The streets in downtown London were SOOOO busy with double-decker buses, taxis, cars, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles.  I don’t know how the cyclists survive since they take so many chances.  I saw them going between two buses with only an inch or two clearance – scary.  This is Trevor - he seems relieved to see us gone.

We found the hotel fairly easily and soon had all the luggage on two trolleys in the hotel lobby waiting for us to return after the rooms were cleaned.  We went on and checked in so we were ready to go later in the day.  

We bought tickets for the Big Bus tour and walked about one or two blocks to wait for the next one.  We got on the red line which had an Englishman telling us what we were seeing instead of pulling in earphones.  It was rather chilly and windy up on top but we lasted for about an hour.  We did pull on hoods and at the end it was much colder than when we begin, seems like.  We saw lots of interesting sites but it was all kind of a blur.  

We got off the tour near the Hard Rock Cage and walked miles and miles to have lunch there.  Well, it wasn’t miles and miles but it certainly seemed like a long way.   

We mostly had hamburgers for lunch and they were good – we were also hungry which probably made them seem even better.   

We then went to the Rock Shop so we could buy Hard Rock items.  None of us spent a fortune there, thank goodness, but I got a neat pin with a Beef Eater rocking out.  Several people made other purchases, but I was so tired by then I couldn’t think about that.  We walked back to the bus stop (miles and miles) and we passed a hotel that had paparazzi outside who seemed to be waiting on a celebrity of some type.  I think some of the girls saw them chasing someone up a street, but they were just standing around when I went by.  Any of you recognize this guy??

There was some confusion about which line we should get on, red or blue, because we wanted to see the things on the blue line but the fella said it was too late and the blue line would not take us back to our starting point.  We waited hours and hours on a red line bus.  Well, maybe not hours and hours, but it seemed like a long time.  About halfway home I decided something at lunch had not agreed with me so I hopped off the bus and went in search of a bathroom.  I found one and then later hopped back on a bus (a blue line bus even) and got back to the hotel not too long after the other girls returned.  

Here are some of the sites we saw from the bus.

We each did our own things for a couple of hours – Sue and I unpacked what we will need for the next few days and put away our luggage.  The room is very small but has two small beds and and a little bit of storage space so I guess it will do.  The bathtub sides are quite high so it’s no fun getting in since we have to climb in.

We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in the hotel so that was nice and simple.  All I can tell you is that Sue and I shared a pizza and I don’t know what the others ate – I’m tired and so I can’t remember things well.  It took a long time for dinner but the food was okay and now we are all back in our rooms getting ready for bed.

Tomorrow, Sue, Ann and I are getting on the tube at Waterloo (right next to the hotel), going to Euston Station, transferring to another line and going to Watford Junction.  Then we will get a bus to the Harry Potter Studio Tour at Leavesen Studio where the Harry Potter movies were filmed.  I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m so tired that I’m thinking of renting a little motorized scooter thing to help with all the walking I expect we will have and sharing it with the other girls – when they can successfully pull me of it.  

The other girls plan to get back on the hop on, hop off bus, but take the blue line this time so they can see other interesting sites we didn’t see today.  They may also take a boat trip to Greenwich or go to the Tate Modern Museum or do something else.  They will decide sometime tomorrow.  It is supposed to rain pretty much all day long with thunderstorms in the afternoon so that will have a big impact on their decisions.  We had about 5 minutes of sunshine today and it was really nice while it lasted.  Unfortunately we were having lunch during that time!!!

We are glad to be in London but today was a rather bleak start with all the traffic and clouds and people moving everywhere.  I bet we will enjoy in after a couple of days.