Maybe it was the long day in Paris, maybe it was still jet lag, but we slept in yesterday. Since we didn’t have a full day to ride the tour bus, we decided to see some sights on our own. We headed to the river area, where there are several things clumped together.
The parliament building and Big Ben are unmistakable. Parliament looks like a church. At first I thought it was Westminster Abbey. But it wasn’t. THIS is Westminster Abbey:
This, on the other hand, is the parliament building:
The Eye is right there, too. The area was jammed with people. It was fun to walk through, but we didn’t ride The Eye. It would take too much time and money.
Next, we headed for St. Paul’s. I was singing “Feed the Birds” all day. I had tuppence (two pence) with me, but there was no bird lady. I sat on the steps for a picture. Can you find me? There’s a bird in the air near me.
We stopped for lunch at a place called Yo! Sushi. You sit at the bar, and food passes by on conveyor belts. You take what you want, and when you’re done eating, they count the empty plates and charge you. I had edamame and some salmon sushi.
Nearby was the Globe Theatre. It had the cheapest admission of anything we had seen that day at only 12 pounds (18 dollars), but we still didn’t go in. Sheesh! You could go broke just looking at things.
In the evening, we went to the shopping district. I have to say, this was one of the high points of my time in London so far. We were mingling with the locals, feeling some local flavor, and not being completely gawking tourists. And just to prove how much I wasn’t a tourist, I took a picture. Heh.
So, does England swing like a pendulum do? Bobbies on bicycles two by two? Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben? The rosy red cheeks of the little children?
Sorry.
I love the sushi bar! Have you seen the videos where they set a camera on them and it rides around taping people? Very surreal. Why were there two faucets in front of you? Was one of them Pepsi? (Because that would be awesome.)
Say – I know that song! It’s by the same guy who did King of the Road, no? Lauren…you must be older than you look! He he.
One spigot was for “fizzy” water, the other was for “still”. I had “still”. I paid one pound for it. 🙁
I too am captivated by the convener belt. I wonder if we could get one for our house?
That would be great! A conveyor belt from the kitchen to the couch! Lauren, this calls for a prototype!
Brad, your pictures are great! I think you could sell them to a travel agency…you could be the poster guy for world travel!
And I love reading about your adventures. It’s almost as if I was there…almost.
How sad that you could not see the inside of where Charles and Diana solidified their lifelong commitment to one another because there was a fee to get in. (No, wait…were they even married there, now that I think on it?) In fact, it sounds like there were many fun things prohibited by the need for more than “tuppence”, eh? Bummer…to be so near and yet so far…particularly from a live theatre – er – theater production for (only) $18.00 (which is not an “only” when one does not have it!). Glad you have tons of outdoor snapshots to verify where you were, though. Still many great “free” memories!