The day started a little more slowly than the last few have. We got up at about 7:30 AM and began putting stuff back into the suitcases. This reminds me a little of the Camino in that you are never really in one place very long, you are constantly moving. The room that we had at Gray’s Bed & Breakfast was very nice. Small, but quaint. I guess it doesn’t have to be very large because all you are doing there is sleeping and getting cleaned up. The rest of the time is out seeing the sights.
We had breakfast, which was included in our room letting, at Grays. We couldn’t have it yesterday because we needed to be on the road by 8:00 AM and breakfast starts at 8:30. The food was excellent! Both Laureen and I had the “Full English Breakfast” which included scrambled eggs, sausage, mushroom (a rather large thing), bacon, a roasted tomato and a little soggy biscuit (that really must be English). We also had a nice fruit salad with yogurt. The perfect way to start our new day.
Once breakfast was completed, we signed the guest register, settled up with the manager and fired our suitcases in the “boot” and back seat. Driving on the opposite side of the road that I’m used to has almost become second nature. I no longer tense up when I come to a roundabout (actually now I SPEED UP). We took a slightly different route than we did on our way from Gatwick to Bath when we first arrived. That new path took us behind Stonehenge where Laureen captured a really cool short video clip of it as we went by. The drive from Bath to Gatwick is just over two hours and it was uneventful.
We made a wrong turn on our way back into the airport and essentially drove through the departures area to eventually come back around and then back in to the airport – fist stopping at the gas station to fill up. Once I got the tank of the Ferrari filled up, we came back into the airport and took the appropriate turn to the rental car return area. When we pulled up and got out to grab our stuff, I asked the gent who was processing the return what the electronic sign boards over the motorway meant when they had an empty circle with a line through it. He said that it meant you were to travel the national speed limit. Might have been nice to know what that was BEFORE I started driving. It’s 70 MPH. I mentioned that I only realized that each of those electronic boards is also a photo radar about half way through having the car. I figured I might have gotten a ticket at one point, but the gent said that if I had – they would know about it already. He also indicated that probably half of those cameras don’t work. Maybe I got lucky. How can you have a Ferrari and not step on the peddle a little?
Leg one was car, now we are at the airport (planes), except we are not taking one of those – we are jumping on the train. If you put that all together one might say that we had a planes, trains and automobile experience today! The first train we took was from Gatwick to London. Laureen had purchased us an “Oyster” card, which is a pre-paid train card that you use on a plethora of trains that run in and around the city of London. You really can get anywhere you want to go by jumping on and off the correct trains. Our first stop in London was Victoria Station which is connected to the “tube”. We then took a second train to Euston, where our hotel is located. With a little help from locals, we got pointed in the right direction and with just a short walk from the Euston station (maybe a block), we were at our hotel.
On checking, the desk clerk mentioned to us that a Trafalgar representative would be in the lobby at about 3:00 PM, so we had time to go to our room and drop off our bags. It’s interesting, I would say that nearly 50% of the people on the trains are with suit-case like we were. The room, once again, is a little smaller than we are used to in North America, but well-kept and adequate for the next two nights. I laid down on the bed and fell asleep for maybe 45 minutes. I think I’m still getting used to the time change. When I woke up, we made our way down to the lobby to meet Roberta. She gave us the quick rundown of the next couple of days and talked us into an afternoon excursion after our morning one tomorrow (Friday). We are going to get a chance to see a bunch of the sights of London!
After that we went back to the room and put on our walking shoes and headed for the Tube. We wanted to get to the Royal Conservatory of Greenwich where the “Prime Meridian” is located. This is essentially the first meridian (longitudinal) line along the globe which is used by sailors for navigation. We arrived a little too late for the museum portion as it closes at 4:30 and we were there at 5 (ah – that’s too bad – but it saved us a few pounds). At first we thought we had missed being able to stand on the prime meridian – but Laureen talked to one of the attendants and she pointed us to a place just in front of the museum through what she called the “kissing gate”, where the meridian was marked. So, we walked over, and waited for our turn to take a picture there. Check that one off the list.
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| Standing in front of an important clock (I am not exactly sure why it's important - but it is) |
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| Standing on the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England |
I was dinner time now so we walked back out to the street where we entered the park and walked into the first pub that we saw. In England, you order your food from a pub at the bar and then just let them know where you are going to be sitting. We sat out on the terrace to enjoy the nice (apparently rare) warm sunny weather that they have been getting. Fish and chips was on the menu – so we simply could not turn it down. It was amazing!
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| What's Better in England Than The Local Pub |
From there we headed to the Thames river to attempt to see if we could ride the London Eye. Given that it is summer, it’s quite busy there – but once we arrived through the 3 different trains that we took (we did not get lost once), we bought an electronic ticket online using my phone. This got us into the Fast lane and by purchasing it online, it was a little cheaper. We were scheduled for 9:00. The ride on the London Eye was spectacular! The London skyline is bustling with new construction, and filled with all of the buildings that you have seen pictures of. Really enjoyed that!
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| Waiting For Our London Eye Ride - Big Ben and the River Thames in the Background |
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| The London Eye |
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| Big Ben, Parliament & Westminster Abbey from the London Eye |
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| Looking Down the Eye |
When it was over, we had another set of trains to catch to get us back to the Euston area, and this too was uneventful. A quick stop at the pharmacy to pick up a couple of required items and we were off to our room to get some sleep for another full day tomorrow.
One other item I forgot to mention. Before we went down to see our Trafalgar representative and while we were still in the room, there was a knock at the door. The lady who was at the front desk had come up with a bottle of wine and two glasses courtesy of the travel agent (Carter), that we used to book the trip. What a nice gesture! Thanks Carter.
Curt & Laureen in London
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