London Towne and our Sail-away on the River Thames.

     A foggy day, in London Towne…….Bobbies on bicycles two by two……. those two songs have been running through my head for weeks now, but today it should have been; A Sunny Day In London Town…… and Bobbies on Horses, two by two. While we did drive by Westminster Abby, the Tower of London and Big Ben, we saw no rosy red cheeks of the little children, sunburned maybe…

     We got a great start Saturday morning, with just one bus load of folks for our six hour London tour. At least three of those hours had to have been spent on their “M” something or other, I swear we seemed to pass the same landmarks a couple of times.  It indeed was a sunny day and we did enjoy the ride. Once again we were blessed with a very knowledgeable young British guide, Linda, with most everyone staying awake the whole time.  We made two stops; one to “see” the changing of the guard, along with several thousand other tourists. Our “changing”, consisted of just watching the guard as they marched back to their barracks, accompanied by crowd control Bobbies on horses.

     It was a very festive occasion and I think all in our group were pleased.  On our march back to the bus,  Alan’s troops stopped by Clarence House, the official residence of Prince Charles and his family, to watch the two gate guards as they “marched” their post.

     After boarding our bus our driver , Clive, skillfully navigated his behemoth through the narrow streets, searching for a parking place near Covent Gardens, where we were to disembark and enjoy an hour and ten minutes for lunch and shopping. Covent Gardens is so large that most intrepid shoppers would need a couple of days to shop there.  I think most of our “would be shoppers”  were satisfied just to join their husbands in the local “Lunch Pub”, as they enjoyed a pint and a plate of fish and chips. Barbara had only a taste of my fish and chips, while she enjoyed a cup of tea and I a pint of bitters. Our  bill came to around $25.   While we were waiting for our food and drink, we noticed quite a loud gathering of young ladies at the bar celebrating someone’s birthday.  Barbara had to have her picture so she went over and asked for permission.  The center of the celebration whole heartedly agreed and even asked Barbara if she wanted an autograph, “because she was famous”. On the back of one of our Prinsendam postcards she wrote “Hi Barbara Love Sarah Harding, Girls Aloud X.”  Now this meant nothing to us until we asked Linda who the young lady was, and she verified, “She is Famous”.  The “Girls Aloud” is her rock group. Here is a picture I took just before Barbara approached them.

     The downtown section of London is a fascinating place to visit and I imagine it would be even greater place to spend a couple of weeks.

     Promptly at 5 PM our good Captain Albert, and crew “cast off all lines” and we sailed peacefully down the Thames, toward the north sea.  We are now around five hours out to sea sailing along the east coast of Great Britain on our way to our next port of call; Edinburgh, Scotland.

Next: Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle with Lunch