Getting Used to the Big City

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

Our train ride today was rather short, only 1 1/2 hours. This train was more high tech than others since it had an electrical outlet at our table. We'll have to wait for the day until they have satellite wifi on the trains. This is holiday weekend in England so everyone is traveling and there was not a seat available on the train. We haven't seen that happen yet.

It took little effort and minimal map searching to locate our hotel. We extended a helping hand to another tourist by explaining to her where she was on the map and how to get to a museum.

After having a quick lunch and checking in to the hotel we set out to take our first subway ride in search of a chosen bike shop to rent some bikes. We were fitted with brand new Treks that still had packing tags on them, helmets, and locks. Our intention was to ride the wharfs and walkway along the River Thames. It was somewhat of a challenge to ride the narrow streets with so many buses and the high traffic volumes. There are occasional bike lanes which you share with buses and motorcycles which we would rather not do. The bike lanes are not continuous and often disappear. We had received maps at the bike shop but tried to rely on our GPS unit. The only trouble is due to the many high buildings in downtown London the satellite signal would disappear and reappear while we rode.

Today was more exploratory than sightseeing. We needed to develop a comfort zone of the area and get acclimated to the big city. It was very obvious that this city is populated with a lot of people, not just tourists, but locals too.

The highlight of today was seeing the London Bridge and crossing it by bike. At the foot of the bridge we took a break in a park and watched people walking their dogs, jogging, biking , and taking photos of the tour boats in the river and the London Bridge. We needed to get back to the bike shop by 7:00. We got there with 15 minutes to spare.

Before heading back to Bloomsbury, a district of London, we decided it was time to look for a dinner location. We passed several bars that were overcrowded with locals that were having a beer before heading home. The bars are so crowded they overflow into the streets. We selected an Indian restaurant called Silka's for dinner. The food was again delicious and something different from all the other meals we have had.

We caught a 15 minute subway, called tubes in London, to our hotel. Tomorrow we need to get up early because we've got a lot of territory to cover and crowds to contend with, afterall we're all on holiday!

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