On Monday, we took a noon flight from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport to London's Luton Airport to start the final leg of our Grand Tour.
I am proud to announce that after walking together in Catania, Bolzano, Bergamo, Madrid, Logrono, Barcelona, Paris and now London, Laurie and I just got word from the United States Olympic Committee that we are now alternates on the 2008 U.S. Team heading to Beijing in a few days.
It was grueling but I truly believe that we earned our spot as the only alternates for the Pairs Figure Walking competition in China!
One last look out of our Paris hotel window
The Tube or Underground is a great way to get around London.
The London Tube Rocks-n-Rolls. I mean that literally. I have been in a lot of Metros all over Europe and they are a great way to get around big cities cheaply and safely. They have been smooth rides as well except in Jolly Old London. I have trouble reading the free newspapers they hand out all over town on the Tube because of all the motion. What price public mass
transportation?
After settling into our hotel we took exhilarating Tube into London. We needed to make a transfer to get down to the Tower of London and had to get off at the Baker Street Station.
WAIT JUST A SECOND!
Didn't Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, live at 221B Baker Street?
As we got off the Tube I suspected that I might be correct in my hypothesis!!!
Upon further analysis of the evidence I surmised that I was on the right track!
"QUICK WATSON, THE NEEDLE!"
The trail gets warmer...
There it was, 221B Baker Street, but where was that little vixen, Mrs. Hudson?
I was pumped, ANOTHER CASE SOLVED!
After we solved the case, we did continue on to the Tower of London.
The Union Jack is pretty cool flying over the Tower.
Tower Bridge spanning the Thames River
It was too late to go into the Tower of London and have enough time to properly see it, so we bought tickets to enter Tuesday morning instead.
The only way to make up for this minor setback was a good dinner.
We were walking towards the Globe Theatre when ewe stumbled upon The Walrus and The Carpenter with it's Lewis Carroll Bar and Dining Room.
Carroll is the author of "Alice in Wonderland", one of Laurie's favorite books so we just had to go in.
We ordered traditional British food
The Lewis Carroll prides itself on their sausages so we ordered the sampler plate of eight different sausages plus an order of fish and chips to share.
The food was bountiful as you can see. The fish and chips were excellent. The sausages were good but no where near as tasty as what we have been enjoying in Sicily the last seven months.
I am REALLY spoiled when it comes to sausage, I am going to have to find a GREAT butcher when I get home.
A nice illustration from "Alice in Wonderland" that was hanging in their stairwell.
St. George, where were you when we needed you?
What is a modernized statue of a Spartan doing in London?
A positive omen for the Rio Mesa Spartans perhaps?
Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral behind the much newer Millennium Bridge
Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana were married here. It's a tough old church having survived 57 nights of Nazi bombing raids during the Battle of Britain.
The Globe Theatre
This is the spot where William Shakespeare debuted many of his plays. The current building is smaller than the original but still holds plays on a regular basis, just not tonight...STRIKE TWO!
Piccadilly Circus
This area is alive by day and by night. We decided to take one more shot at going to a play.
"The 39 Steps" at the Criterion Theatre in very nearby in Piccadilly Circus
I had seen this hilarious four person play last January but could not enjoy it as much as I should have due to lack of sleep.
Laurie really liked the play and I did too, at least the parts I could stay awake for, I'm STILL suffering from sleep deprivation!
One last look at Piccadilly Circus as we exited the play.
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