Welcome to Jolly Good England!

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

6:45 a.m.

London, England

We were awoken about 30 minutes before landing to freshen up. I used the toothbrush and toothpaste in the provided toiletry kit to freshen up in the restroom. I was given a hot wash cloth again to assist in freshening up (we got one before dinner). Landing was nice, and before long I was in line at customs. In and out in 20 minutes, met with a tour personnel who directed me to a waiting area for those of us who are part of tour groups. After speaking with a family of 3 who were from San Francisco while we waited for about 20 minutes, we got on a bus that was taking me to Thistle Marble Arch, and the others to their hotels. I am so glad I didn't drive, just getting out of the airport was maddening and confusing. We had to deal with rush hour traffic on Cheswick. I saw along the way that litterbugs are found here as well in the US and that tagging wasn't as prevalent. Many of the houses are row houses that have aerial antennas that I haven't seen much of since I was a kid. After dropping off the last of 4 people before me, the driver thought I was getting off with them. He had forgotten all about my hotel.

10:30 a.m.

After being in the van driving to all the other hotels, I was glad to be able to reach mine. Thistle Marble Arch is on the back side of block near Marble Arch. I checked my luggage with the porter outside and entered the ground floor to a nicely decorated building. The escalator took me to what the English consider the 1st floor to check in at the reception desk. I was assigned a room on Oxford Street which is very noisy, so I upgraded to a small suite (actually a normal size hotel room in America, but the bathroom is bigger) that was much quieter. With the upgrade I was able to go directly to my room, while with the other room, I would have had to wait until 2 p.m. I unpacked some of my things and decided to take a short nap. After waking up, I headed downstairs to check on my travel information with the Insight Vacations travel agent. I will have an all day tour on Saturday beginning at 7:55 a.m. Since it was still early in the afternoon, I decided to go to Hyde Park down the street and see if I can pick up my ticket for Sunday's Paul McCartney concert. After waiting 30 minutes in a line, I was told that the tickets would only be available on the day of the concert. I was feeling hungry, but hadn't located any restaurants that served something simple, so what ended up being my first meal in London?…..It was a Big Mac and fries from McDonald's!!! It was just over £ 3.00 (about $7). After eating, I decided to take the Underground (subway) from March Arch station to Waterloo station to see the London Eye. It cost me £ 4.00 (about $6) one way. I had to walk about 5 city blocks until reaching the Thames River where the Eye is located. When I got to the river's edge, there across the Thames was Big Ben next to the Houses of Parliament. I actually got choked up about finally seeing it in person.

After walking down the large pathway along the river and passing many street performers, I purchased a combo ticket of the London Eye and an attraction called The Tower Dungeon. I can take that tour anytime in the next 30 days, so even I can't get to see it while I am in London this time around, I can go see it when my tour gets back to London in July. I paid £ 27.50 for the combo ticket. The line was long, but the wait is short since each carriage of the eye holds up to 20 people. It takes just about 30 minutes to go one full rotation and then you debark. It had some great views of London, especially of Big Ben and Parliament. Afterwards, I decided to head back to the hotel since it was getting close to 6:30 p.m. I took a different route back to the Underground, and passed an Italian food and drink bar that offered a pizza and soda for under £ 10.00 (about $15). I was able to eat outside along the sidewalk. They brought out a 12” thin crust pizza! I thought it would be a smaller size pizza. I was just about to leave when a lady asked if she could sit at my table (they place was crowded and I was sitting at a table for 4). She ended up being from Wisconsin on business for the week. We chatted a little while I waited for my bill. After leaving I finally made it through the Underground which was packed!!! I barely made it into the train! I was hot and sweaty, so after a nice cool shower, I got things ready for tomorrow. I didn't feel like going downstairs to the business center to use the complimentary internet, so I will download all of this tomorrow along with the pictures.

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Comments

[Carter]

Is that where the Teachers Union meet?

[malinda65]

I wish!