Day 2, July 28th, London

We slept late and headed downstairs for some coffee. We had a cup, but the waitress was miffed that we didn't want anything to eat and didn't even offer us a second cup. We met up with Sue and Linda and found a Starbucks for the real fix and a muffin.


The plan was to meet Dick and Raylene at the London Eye at 9:30, and we weren't very late. We bought our tickets and waited about 20 minutes in line to get on. It was a great ride, you can hardly tell that you are moving. They don't stop it for you to get on or off, but it moves slowly. The ride (they call it a flight) takes about 30 minutes and the views are fantastic from 135 meters up.

From there we walked past Buckingham Palace, but it was a real zoo. The changing of the guard was at 11:00, and we got there about 11:15. We could hardly move.


We walked back to the hotel and looked for the tour bus stop that was supposed to be there, but couldn't find it. We walked all the way to Victoria Station to buy tickets and get on the bus. It was a pretty good tour; we saw things that we just wouldn't have had time to see otherwise. We got off at the stop near the hotel - it turned out it was less than a block away but we somehow couldn't see the sign.

Tonight we are going to take the Tube to Temple Station to take the Hidden Pubs of Old London Town walking tour and plan to walk back to the hotel afterward.

P.S. 11:00 pm.

We just got back from the pub walking tour. We are footsore and tired, and found that the pubs stop serving food at 9:30. We found a pizza place and got something to eat, and the pub was still serving beer. The walking tour was worth every pence; the guide (Steve) was entertaining and witty. He told a lot of stories about the history of the places we visited and we did get to have a bump at each pub we stopped at. We made a bunch of new friends in the group too - as soon as we spoke we were asked where we were from. We met a couple from Boston, one from Michigan, and another from Ohio as well as several Brits.


This is the outdoor sign for the oldest pub in London. It was rebuilt after the fire of 1666 that destroyed 75% of London. Doctor Samuel Johnson, who wrote the first dictionary, was said to frequent this pub. His cat Hodge is memorialized by a statue near the pub as Dr. Johnson was quoted "That was one fine cat".

On to Edinburgh at 8:00 tomorrow from Kings Cross Station. We may sleep on the train.