Enjoying London Without Rain

Linda and I both went to bed about 9 last night.  When I woke up at 9:50 this morning I was shocked.  How can one sleep so long?  Air flight had definitely depleted both of us.  We scurried around and left the hotel in time to walk to the London Eye for our Fast Track tickets scheduled for 11:30 a.m.  My sister and I went on the London Eye two years ago.  We unfortunately went up during a rain storm and this was our view.

Fortunately for Linda and I it is a beautiful, sunny day in London with a temperature high of 62 degrees.  The perfect weather.  

The view from the top of the London Eye was worth the money.

As soon as we exited our “pod” four men with mirrors attached to long poles, entered to look under the bench for explosive devices.  I guess London has had its share of domestic terrorism.

We walked along the Thames, headed for Borough Market to have a grilled cheese (or toastie) at Kappacasein Dairy.  Linda got in line for the raclette over potatoes.  I got in the line for the grilled cheese sandwiches.

There is no place to sit at a table so we used a cement pylon as a table/chair.  Both the grilled cheese and the potatoes were yummy but it was really too much food and too much cheese.  Luckily we were too full to try the edible insects. 

Borough Market was bustling with people and shops.  There were long lines also for fish & chips, black pudding, sausage rolls and a wrap around line for a glass of strawberries covered in warm chocolate.  

We stopped at Monmouth coffee (highly recommended by a friend) and I got a latte.  It was beautiful and one of the best lattes of my life.  They did charge me 5 pounds for the cup…still worth it.

We crossed the river on the Millennium Bridge.  We wanted to pop our heads into St. Paul’s Cathedral before returning to our hotel.  

It costs around $30 to enter St. Paul’s and we didn’t have much time left so hopped on a double decker bus rather than hoof it back to the hotel.  We collected our wits about us, changed clothes and walked to Dishoom for dinner.  It is an Indian restaurant in Covent Garden.  With help from our waiter we got the okra fries (something I have had before and highly recommend), the house chaat, Ruby chicken (a must have) with naan, rice and an amazing dessert.  

When we came out of the restaurant there was a long line of people waiting to get in.  It pays to be retired and eat dinner at 5 p.m.!

To work off this delicious meal we strolled down streets to head to Piccadilly Circus.  One side street was covered with lanterns in celebration of Lunar New Year.

Down another street we walked under lights that celebrated Ramadan.  London is such a lovely place, filled with such lovely people.

We arrived at Gieglud Theatre in good time to find our seats (on the front row of the balcony) to see “Oliver”.  One review we read said it was the best production of “Oliver” ever.

The show did not disappoint.   The children were amazing but Fagin absolutely stole the show. 

We walked back to the hotel singing, “Consider yourself at home….consider yourself part of the family.”   It was a glorious day!