Hannah and I arrived in London safely. Fears of missing our flight were ill spent, as we were wandering aimlessly in the duty free shop for what seemed like an hour. Don’t plan on getting any sleep on the Air Canada overnight flight from Halifax to London if you ever take it. Between the stop over in St. John’s and the three snack and breakfast service, you’ll be lucky to squeeze in an hour or two of sleep - induced by the complementary beverage service.
Excitement of travels, and coffee, fuelled our first day of exploring through the streets of London. We dropped off our bags at a ‘Left Luggage’ station so we could travel lightly and headed into Westminster. By foot we travelled from Victoria station all the way down the Tames to Tower Bridge, seeing all the sights on the way – Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and parliament, a statue of Abe Lincoln (yes, we were still in England), the Jewel Tower, the Eye of London, Country Hall, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Tate Gallery, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, The Monument to the great fire of London, … we didn’t go into many sites as it was an exploratory day.
After a day of site seeing, we fell asleep on the tube on our way back to Aunt Ruth and Steven’s, who are kindly putting us up while we are in London. Dad was right, no need to gloat Dad, I was going to forget at least one thing; this trip’s forgotten item is the contact information for all those we plan on visiting while in Europe. Hannah reluctantly followed me blindly as we trudged up the streets of South London on my faded memory, and we found the place in what I thought to be pretty good time. Thanks to my brother Marc, who confirmed the address, before I rang the door. It was great to be with family again, and be provided with a wealth of information on London and of course a delicious home cooked meal. We are definitely lucky to have such great family and friends to visit on our travels.
Today we are going to see if we can get rush tickets for a play, and if not continue exploring the city. Thursday we will visit my cousin Anna and Julian and their baby Lottie, and may also see some new friends I met in Lake Louise at cousin Dave’s wedding.
Wishing everyone the best.
