Day 17-Whirlwind Tour of London

After the late night before, sleeping in would have been nice but that would leave the city of London without our wondrous presence...or something like that. Instead, when the alarm went off at 6:00am we were all up and showering (actually Cindy's mom told us her dad had been up since 4am talking about the previous day and his ancestors) so we could be down for breakfast when it was first served at 7am. We enjoyed another nice meal seated next to the window facing the back garden, watching the sunlight dapple the trees and grass with its rays. It looked like a beautiful day for touring the capital city of the United Kingdom.

After breakfast we grabbed our backpacks and walked 7 blocks to the nearest "Tube" (Subway to us Yanks) station. It reminded me of New York City; bustling, crowded, everyone in their own space despite being shoulder to shoulder, and funny to watch as people move like herds out of cars, down station hallways and then either up stairs to the world above or onto other platforms to catch a different car. After a route and tube car change of our own, we emerged from the Charing Cross station at street level near Trafalgar Square...into a steady downpour of rain.

Since we planned to take the 2 hour, double-decker, open top bus tour around London shooting photos and video, umbrellas were called for and quickly. Fortunately a store selling said rain shelters was right around the corner and we were soon outfitted with sufficient cover for our soggy sojourn.

Also right around the corner from the tube station was a bus/kiosk for The Big Bus Tour. The attendant there tried to do his job by upselling us on a cruise up the Thames River, special add-ons, etc., etc., etc., but when we explained that we were only in London for the day and wished to take the 2 1/2 hour tour that hit the high spots of the city, he generously discounted our tickets from the regular price of 20 pounds per person to 18 pounds. We then walked a few streets around Trafalgar Square to the stop for the next tour bus.

London reminded me of New York City (as well as Edinburgh) in other ways as well, such as the cosmopolitan makeup of the population, the insular attitude of most people and the "feel" of the city. For instance, the attendant for the tour bus was Asian, the female tour guide was British and the driver looked to be Middle Eastern. In Trafalgar Square later in the day we saw a veritable cornucopia of races, cultures, ages and religious beliefs represented. As is usually the case in large cities, most people (with the exception of panhandlers) project an attitude of "don't talk to me, I won't talk to you". In fact, Cindy read in our tour guide book that "most Londoners do not appreciate being approached or spoken to, but they will assist if you need directions." I'm not complaining, mind you, because that is one of the reasons I myself prefer large cities; they permit you a certain "aloneness" even in the midst of a sea of people. Regarding the "feel" of the city, that's a little harder to describe. It's the total experience; sights, sounds, smells and the sense of "hugeness" you get from the sum total of those. You see buildings rising up hundreds of feet into the air, knowing at the same time that scores of feet below you an entire transportation and utility system is operating like clockwork (I'll say this about the Tube, though it's been years since I was on a New York subway, the Tube is much cleaner, both in the cars and on the platforms, than I remember the subway in the Big Apple being), and that all of that spreads out for miles around you holding almost 8 million people.

Anyway, I won't bore you any further with that or with details about the 2 1/2 hour tour. Suffice it to say we saw almost all of the metropolitan area of London and almost all of the "must see" attractions such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, London Bridge, Parliament, the British Airways London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, St. James Park, St. Paul's Cathedral, and many other lesser known areas of interest.

Partway through the tour Cindy's mom and dad got off and changed to the "blue" tour route which would take them to Harrods' for a little shopping. After that they planned to take the tube back to the B & B where Jenny would pick them up so they could spend some more time in the afternoon visiting with each other. Cindy and I stayed on the "red" tour route until it came back by Trafalgar Square and then we got off and grabbed some lunch at, of all places, Subway. After sitting in Trafalgar Square eating our lunch and watching others do the same, we ran into The National Gallery for about 30 minutes and I enjoyed viewing Leonardo da Vinci's "The Virgin of the Rocks" as well as works by Titian, Botticelli, Cezzane, Raphael and others. Though brief, it was a refreshing experience. Then it was on to our next undertaking

On the last part of the bus tour we had changed our plans for the remainder of the day. After reading through a brochure and realizing it would take us to a great deal of what we wanted to see anyway, we decided to take "The DaVinci Code Walking Tour" which was scheduled to begin at 1pm and would last approximately 2 hours. During the bus tour the rain had stopped and the sun had even come out, but of course as we arrived for the walking tour the rain began to fall again. Fortunately it only lasted about 20 minutes into the walk.

This was the highlight of our day in London, I believe. This walking tour combined elements of some of London's "oddities" with locations in "The DaVinci Code" that take place in London, the most famous of which would be The Temple Church. It was unbelievably cool to walk into the church and see the same stone effigies lying on the floor that author Dan Brown described in the book, and even cooler when I watched the movie 5 days later and watched Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen walking in the very same place that we had walked inside the Round Church and The Chancel. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and personable, but she seemed to take delight in poking fun at the book and some of its descriptions or premises. I was sorely tempted to remind her that writers are expected to exercise a certain "literary license" to move plots or characters along in a story, but I restrained myself.

We stayed in London for another 2 hours shopping (where, oh where will we pack it all?) and then caught the tube back to the B & B during rush hour, so it was more crowded cars and platforms. After a quick shower we were picked up and taken back to Julie's where everyone was meeting before dinner. We got to see Joe, who we hadn't seen since his visit to Orlando 5 years ago when he was 13, and to meet his older brother Harry who is an actor with commercials, a TV series and a motion picture under his belt already, along with Harry's girlfriend Jemma.

From there we went to a Greek restaurant named Lemonia in Primrose Hill for our 8pm reservation where we spent about 3 hours eating some wonderful food and enjoying the chance for one last visit with our cousins across the pond. Back at the B & B, we stood in the middle of the street hugging and saying our goodbyes to each other, then we wearily trudged up the steps and the inside stairs to our rooms and collapsed in bed, knowing we were spending our final night in London.

Tuesday morning we were up early to shower, pack and go downstairs for our final breakfast at the B & B. Our driver picked us up at 9am and we arrived at Heathrow at 10am as scheduled. We flew from London at 1pm to Reykjavik, where we had a 2 hour layover, then home to the Sanford-Orlando Airport where we arrived at 9pm local time. By the time we got our luggage and cleared customs, dear Rebecca was waiting for us just outside the airport and graciously drove us home.

This was my first trip overseas and we all had an absolutely wonderful time both in Scotland and in London. World Quest is scheduled to continue with possibly some trips here in America and a planned trip to Paris, France next Spring or Summer. See you then :)

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