Day 9 - London Day 2
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Hobbit's Day 2 in London
I received additional assurance about the sitting up in bed incident from our guided tour today when the chipper recorded voice said, “Londoners wear only a hot water bottle to bed.”
Wendell and I actually fell asleep on the tour bus.
I told Wendell that we had to be at the Tower of London by 3 Pm today, but he could have the rest of the day. He started us off with a run in Hyde Park. Hyde Park has the unusual feature of horseback riding paths with actual horseback riders on them. We have some working horses in Seattle, but no pleasure riders. I guess it makes sense that since London has been around for a long time, there would be a few horses left in the town. There are a zillion bicycle riders in London, none of whom wear helmets. Also they are much less aggressive than cyclists in Seattle. Maybe because they don’t wear helmets. But then, they have more bicycle lanes here. Cyclists here do not say “On your right” when they are passing like we do in Seattle (“on your left” actually since we drive on the other side of the road).
Wendell and I are still in the habit of moving to the wrong side of the sidewalk when passing people. At crosswalks, London has written LOOK LEFT with an arrow, or LOOK RIGHT, depending on which way you should look. Their traffic lights have a cool “get ready” feature. So the light will be red, then the yellow comes on for a few seconds. Then it turns green and you can go. Kind of like READY, SET, GO!
OK, so Wendell got to schedule our morning. After Hyde Park and a shower, he took us to look at monuments to war heroes, statues of war heroes, a war battleship, and the Museum of English Gardens. [Note from Wendell - I found a British Admiral's Tomb in the Museum of English Gardens.]
Seattle was designed pretty much after the car, so it’s on a pretty good grid. You can tell that London evolved from foot paths, because there’s not a straight street in the entire city. Looking at a map of the city is an artistic experience.
Tower of London is really cool. I could have spent the entire day there and should have since it cost us sixty bucks to get in. We bought advance tickets and ended up going in the back/group entrance and missed the “welcome center” so we were a little confused at fist trying to figure out where to go and what to see. Wendell wanted to spend our precious time looking at the arms and armament museum, but wouldn’t agree to go by himself and meet up later. Finally , I stormed off and left him so I could see the bloody tower and the Traitors’ Gate, and he could go see what he wanted. It’s cute that he wants me with him all the time, but I had stuff I wanted to see which differed from what he wanted to see. He did finally relent and went on the Beefeater tour, which was really good.
We had Chinese for dinner. Other than Asians, we are the only ones that use chopsticks.
Our so-called hotel will get a scathing review. The last straw in our backpacks came when we got back and discovered that somebody had gone out of the room with the toilet closing the door behind them, which was locked! There is another, but it’s farther away and has the shower in it. So, if somebody takes a shower, you cannot go pee.
Accommodations in London can be either really good or really grotty. We ended up with grotty.
Inside The London Tube
Wendell Pays A Visit To 221 Baker Street
Hobbit At Paddington Station
What's at 122 Baker Street?
Hobbit Does The Impatient Dance In Front Of 122 Baker Street
After visiting 221 Baker Street, we move down to 123 Baker Street
Hobbit In Front Of Girl Guide Headquarters (Across The Street From Buckingham Palace)
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