London Trip Report - Day 2 - May 7, 2005

Today we mostly wandered around with no set plan. We got a late start because of having to switch to our other room and trying to settle in. We went to get our "London Pass" and our 7 day travel card for the Underground. We picked them up at the London visitors center which is right down the street from Piccadilly Circus. From there we continued down the street, then noticed Big Ben pop up over the trees. We took a picture and continued walking. There are tons of monuments/statues. They are everywhere. We took pictures of several along the route. We found ourselves walking through St. James Park where the tulips were in bloom. The "Horse Guard" looked like they were set up for some sort of exibition. We made our way through the park and down the street by Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament. We turned a corner and found a bite to eat at a very small eatery. I had my first "fish and chips"...a London staple. We paid our bill...finding that the tip was already included. We walked down Victoria Embankment along the River Thames ("Tims"). We got some great shots of The London Eye. Everything had some sort of extra detail on it including the light poles. They had a fish design on them. We crossed the Hugerford Foot Bridge. It's a very interesting walking bridge with suspension cables. We were able to get a few really great panoramic shots of the river with the London Eye on one side and Big Ben on the other. We watched several street entertainers along the embankment on the other side of the river. The London Eye was very daunting. The line was too long for us to deal with today. After all it is saturday. We walked along and stumbled upon the Dali Universe (a great collection of the works of artist Salvador Dali). This is Linda's favorite artist so she was very excited. There were many things he'd done...sculptures, paintings, drawings, furniture he'd designed. The museum also had a very small Picasso exibit in the basement which we found to be disappointing. There wasn't much to see. After the museum we sat on a bench for awhile to rest and just watched the boats and people pass us. The we stopped in a cafe for a snack before heading to get on a double decker tour bus. We got our tickets and then found a bus. The driver delivered the news that he was on his final round. So that will be saved for tomorrow.

We found ourselves unsure of what to do. Everything was closing. We figured we'd walk around and shop. We walked a random path that took us through Leicester Square, Chinatown, and SoHo. Nearly all the shops were closed by the time we were passing them. They closed up before 6PM here even with it being Saturday. In Chinatown, I was grossed out by the ducks that has been cooked hanging by their necks in the windows of the eateries. There were tons of used book stores and closing stores for every taste. We finally found our way back to the room around 10:30 PM to take a rest. The plan was to go out somewhere but we ended up laying around for awhile and then just going out for something to eat. We hadn't eaten dinner. It was after midnight when we went for dinner! We found a late night place on Old Compton Street called "Balan's". On the way there, someone offered me pills. I was left wondering what was the drug of choice these days in London. The food was great and it was a very club-like atmosphere. I may want to go there again before the trip is over. It's now 2:45 AM and we're just going to bed.

	We awoke our first morning in London to see this view from our window. I felt like we were in Mary Poppins.
	Here is the Piccadilly Theatre again, but this time in the daylight. We kept wondering if we'd see Ewan McGregor or Jane Krakowski going in to rehearse.
	This is a view looking down Shaftsbury Avenue. I thought it was cool that I could see to many double decker buses and red phone booths in one shot.
	On the top of the column is a statue of The Duke of York. To the left of it, you can just see Big Ben as we first saw it.
	A statue of Edward VII.
	Our first spotting of The London Eye. It's the world's largest observation wheel.
	A squirrel in St. James Park.
	Tulips in St. James Park.
	Tulips in St. James Park.
	Tulips in St. James Park.
	Tulips in St. James Park.
	The Horse Guards Parade with The London Eye in the background.
	Big Ben in a light rain. Notice the security cameras. "Big Brother" was watching everywhere we went.
	Big Ben in a light rain.
	Big Ben in the sunlight with darks clouds in the background.
	Arches at the Cabinet War Rooms.
	Big Ben in the sunlight after the rain showers.
	Big Ben looking up from the base of the tower.
	The London Eye and the London Aquarium to the right.
	The London Eye and the Hungerford bridge to the left.
	The London Eye observation wheel.
	The Air Forces Memorial.
	The Playhouse Theatre which was getting ready to feature "The Postman Always Rings Twice" starring Val Kilmer.
	The support cables on the Hungerford Bridge.
	Striking a pose on the Hungerford Bridge.
	The view from the Hungerford Bridge looking South along The River Thames.
	The Hungerford Bridge with Charing Cross Railway Station in the background.
	The London Eye up close.
	Looking up at the London Eye from under the support beams.
	Big Ben across The River Thames.
	A sculpture outside of The Dali Universe which is a collection of Salvador Dali works.
	The London Eye with the sun setting behind.
	A steeple outside of Charing Cross Station.
	A monument to Oscar Wilde.
	A great quote on the monument to Oscar Wilde.
	A pedestrian mall. It reminded me of Harry Potter for some reason.
	The St. James Theatre where Agatha Christies "The Moustrap" is playing for its 53rd year.
	The Palace Theatre where Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Woman In White" is playing.
	The entrance to Chinatown.

CURRENT TIME

Norfolk, Virginia, United States

03:28 AM

London, England, United Kingdom

08:28 AM