London - The City Part I

Riding the bus tour

At 9:30 on a Friday morning Rob looked out the skylight window of the attic of the latest flat they rented -143 Plevna Crescent. He noticed a partly cloudy sky before leaving the flat for their walk to Seven 

Although they had done the
"Hop On - Hop Off" tour of London the first night they arrived, they
wanted to follow it up with a more in depth tour. Beth after purchasing a Rick
Steves' London ebook, had decided that they should follow one of his many
guided walks.





"Let's do the city walk,
Rob. He says it only takes about three hours depending upon how long we stay at
each destination. The iPad is charged so we can bring it with us to follow as
we go along. We should be done it by early afternoon and still have the evening
free."




Old Cocker on the Streets
In the past they had followed
Rick Steves' travel books and found the information interesting and
informative. However, they also realize that his agendas are idealized and
difficult to get through in the time allotted. However, the city walk looked
feasible and covered some of the sites they had yet to see.



"Today is a perfect day
for a walk as well. The chance of precipitation is only 10%, and that's only
for the evening."  At 10:30 in
the morning, they set out optimistically with Beth wearing her new red leather
Doc Marten Mary Janes and Rob without a rain jacket. 



On the walk halfway to the
closest tube station they passed a local diner where Rob paused. Despite having
had breakfast at the flat he suggested, "Let's stop for breakfast. It's
hard to resist at that price - £3 for eggs, toast, sausages and coffee."



Fountain across from Canada

House
at Trafalgar Square
While travelling on tube to
their starting point Beth suggested they make a detour to pick up train tickets
for the next segment of their travels. So temporarily redirecting their
destination they stopped at King's Cross station. After a short wait in line
they had their tickets for the next leg of their journey.



Harriet Potter
As they were walking through
the King’s Cross en route to the tube, Rob pulled Beth aside and suggested,
"The line up is not long." pointing to the Harry Potter platform 9
3/4 photo op. "Let's get your photo taken."



"Ugh..." She
grudgingly agreed and the embarrassment was over in just a few minutes.




After boarding the tube for a
short journey, they reached the Picadilly Circus stop at Trafalgar Square and
emerged for a walk to Charings Cross Road Station. As is common when emerging
from a metro stop in an unfamiliar area, Rob became disoriented but began
walking into the direction he thought correct. It took only one block before he
asked someone for directions that lead to the beginning of their tour in the
opposite direction... 12:45. Ok a little late starting.




Charing Cross Road Station

At Charings Cross Station they
realized that they both could use a bathroom break and thankfully reached the
French Franchise Paul's Cafe that serves great cappuccino and pastries. They
stopped in, used the facilities, drank a coffee and shared a delicious apricot
pastry. As they relaxed, they read up on the start of the tour.



"Hey, did you know that
Charings Cross is one of the few stations to still have a terminus hotel? In
the early days of rail travel it was necessary because of the length of time
involved in travel."



After glancing at her watch,
Beth urged Rob "Uh. We better get going... It's after 1:30 already."



As they stepped outside they
were dismayed to note that it had started to rain. She looked down at her new
shoes and at Rob without his coat shrugged and said, "At least it's only
sprinkling. Lets stick close to the buildings."



Convent Gardens
As they headed toward Covent
Gardens, the next stop on the tour, they came across three sporting goods
stores in close proximity. 



"We should go in and look
for rubber boots." 



After rooting through two of
the stores without luck they became impatient and continued on the tour without
boots and despite the rain.



When they reached Covent
Garden they were surprised to find a quaint, covered shopping square with a
string quartet playing in the centre. 



"I assumed there were gardens
in Covent Garden. I feel as if I've stepped into another world." 



They looked around at the
quaint stores, took a few photos, but it was a bit touristy and time was
a'tickin' so they moved on.




Awaiting Limo Ride at the 
Savoy
The next stop on the tour was
the Savoy Hotel which had recently undergone a hundred million pound
renovation. Inside, along one walkway, there were photos of some of the more
famous guests including Humphrey Bogart, Liz Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Katherine
Hepburn,...




Emerging from the Savoy a few
minutes later, they noticed with dismay that the rain was now falling harder.
They quickly walked out onto London Bridge for the river view of the shoreline
and then ventured on to Somerset House and the Courtauld Gallery. 




Degas

Degas"Rick Steves says that
although small it does have some good impressionist's paintings. And, look,
it's half price today and the fee includes the Picasso Paris 1901
exhibit."





Beth looked at her watch and
then out the door at the falling rain. "OK. But lets go through the
gallery quickly... There's still lots more on our tour."



After enjoying the small, but
impressive exhibit, they headed toward the exit. It was now 4:00. They had
hardly progressed at all in the city tour. However, they both stopped short
when they reached the doors as they looked out at the heavy downpour.



Cheers at The Wellington
In order to avoid what they
hoped was the worst of the deluge they decided to take shelter in The
Wellington Pub, which was back one block across the street, for a pint and some
fish and chips. Although they waited for an hour the rain continued to pour
down.



"If this is going to
continue we are going to need waterproof footwear. We can't stay inside the
whole time we're in London. Let's backtrack to the stores..."



They left the pub and quickly
walked back the two blocks to the cluster of outdoor sports stores to check out
the third store. They bypassed the rubber boots as they didn't seem comfortable
enough for walking long distances, and instead picked out some gortex hiking
shoes. Perfect! 



Superior Court
Half a block away from the
store Rob asked a homeless man if he wanted his old running shoes. Although
worn they still had a lot of wear left in them and the man accepted them with
gratitude as he put them. 



"OK. Now we have proper
shoes...lets get on with the tour." Beth said while glancing at her watch
and noting the late hour.



"Of course...but we have
to make a quick stop at the Savoy to take another photo. The other one was
blurry."




Wet London Streets
"The next stop on Rick
Steves' tour is the Royal Courts of Justice. The 76 courtrooms are open to the public
and the Gothic lobby is worth a view." Unfortunately, at this late hour,
the courtrooms were closed but they did take a peek in the lobby with the aid
of a security guard.





Twinings Shopping
Across the street was the
original Twinings Tea Shop established in 1706. Rick noted in his ebook that
the Twinings family still owns and operates the store after 300 years. Shelves
lined the long narrow store with dozens of different tea blends ranging from
the traditional English breakfast to more trendy varieties with a tasting area
at the back. They settled in and sampled a couple teas and marvelled at the
extent and charm of the vintage teashop.




As they left Twinings with
their purchases and stepped out into the cold, rainy, and now dark night, they
looked at each other with resignation and agreed that there would be no more
tour that night. On the way home they stopped at a pub along Charing Cross Road
and, while relaxing in the warmth, looked at the map to evaluate how far on the
tour they got.



"Oh no... We didn't even
get one-fifth of the way... Where does time go?"



*****************************************










"Yes, mum. You can go
right in."

*****************************************

Looking Wrong

"Agggghhhhh!" yelped
Beth as she jumped back on the curb as a car whipped by. "I can't get used
to looking the wrong way before I cross..."

*****************************************

Standing in the Rain

At 9:30 on a Friday morning
Rob looked out the skylight window of the attic of the latest flat they rented
-143 Plevna Crescent. He noticed a partly cloudy sky before leaving the flat
for their walk to Seven Sisters, the tube station nearest them that takes the
couple into downtown London for the day.

“What is the weather supposed
to be like today?”




“The weather ap says it will
be 8°C and sunny.”



“Good, I don’t want to bring
my raincoat today for a change."



Three hours later…



"I think you need to
change your weather app."

*****************************************