London Pictures

Westminster Abbey.

St. Paul's Cathedral.

Pigeon silhouetted against the Thames.

Statue in front of Buckingham Palace.

Austin, Big Ben, Parliament.

Hyde Park, next to the dog cemetery you cannot actually reach.

Very top of the Long Water, Hyde Park.

Statue along Victorian Embankment.

No one uses land lines anymore; these red boxes are for the tourists.

Typical tourist pics.  Sorry to say we did not do much more than walk the streets (about 35 or 40 miles a day for two days), with occasional beer and tea stops.  We saw Picadilly Square, Paddington Station, Regents Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the Globe Theatre, ate a terrific Indian Curry dinner, had fish and chips for lunch, crossed Millennium Bridge, walked through Soho and Chelsea, spent time at Covent Gardens Market where we saw street buskers and bought nothing.  We hit the tube, saw Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column, 10 Downing Street, Buckinghman Palace, the Horse Guards, Parliament, Big Ben, the Victoria Embankment, the Tower Bridge, St. Pancrass Station, Charing Cross, St. Paul's Cathedral, and more. 

We were pretty tired at the end of two days, but the hotel we were staying at was just a 5-minute walk from Paddingon and only cost 74 pounds a night.  Beat that!  Any cheaper in London and you are homeless.  A bit skimpy to be sure (no air conditioning was our chief complaint), but it sufficed.  After 35-40 miles a day on your feet, you tend to sleep!

So what did Austin learn that he will actually remember?  Well for one, London has a Chipotle.  Also a lot of KFC's, McDonald's, Subway sandwich shops, and Starbucks.  Basically London is a lot like America, but it's not as hot (about 20 degees cooler in the UK) as at home, and about 50% more expensive. Plus there are a lot more carved up old stone buildings, some very well landscaped parks, a huge Ferris wheel in the middle of town, a massive train station with a big glass roof, and prices that should be doubled if you want to know the real cost in dollars. He also learned that Soho has a sex shops and a porno bakery, and there are a lot of Pubs with very cool names, and some pretty good beers of various types.   His most positive feeling (and a surprise to him) was how many Asians there were in London, and Africans too. 

Austin like London!

Next stop:  Paris by a train that goes under the ocean!
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