Traditional breakfast with Dad and his family, quite a lovely tradition actually.
My sisters were a bit in hyperdrive this morning, as I had promised to take them to Hamley's and we had agreed it would be before lunch this day.
I wanted to go down to Parliament Square and take some photos, as Hamley's didn't open until 10 - so we agreed to meet outside at 10.30, and went to catch a bus at Bayswater Road straight after breakfast.
I just love Parliament Square, I think the atmosphere there is amazing and I love walking around there and taking in all these amazing buildings. As I did have to be at Hamley's at a specific time I didn't feel like I could walk there forever, but sometime it would be nice to have more time to spend there, maybe find some cool photo angles of the various buildings ...
Anyway, I took a bus to Regent Street and even though I was a bit early I caught a glimpse of the whole family across the street, so I hurried to catch up with them!
And I just have to say: It was WONDERFUL to go to Hamley's with kids!! What can I say?! I've been there before, but it's just sooo different when you're there with children. We hardly made it in through the doors before a really cool pirate came up to us and welcomed us, asked where we were from, and how old the girls were! (And yes, everyone was pretty amazed when I said we were from Sweden, and it was their first visit to Hamley's!)
We said we were going to meet with the girls' parents about 1½ hours later, which actually wasn't a lot of time ... We ended up walking through all the floors (accept the bottom floor, as it's basically only video games and things like that, and the girls aren't in to that at all) - and then of course we had to buy something. I had said I wanted to get them each a gift from Hamley's, as it was quite special - and they had also been saving their allowance to be able to shop there.
Unfortunately, basically everything is super-expensive there, but finally we managed to find some nice things. They got a cuddly Hamley's bear from me each, and my older sister bought a beautiful little dog, while my younger sister, naturally, had to have a bunny (she definitely has a thing for bunnies!)! :) We stood in line, and I think it's amazing how big the girls have gotten. The older one, who is ten, walked up to the counter all on her own (I had to stay with my younger sister), paid for her doggie without any issues and got a beautiful Hamley's bag! Then I walked up with my younger sister, and she paid for her bunny all by herself, and got her own Hamley's bag - and then I paid for their teddy bears! :) :)
We split up after Hamley's, after having made plans to meet back at the hotel. As it was the last night in London we decided to go out for dinner, before I was off on Les Misérables, so we decided to meet back at the hotel.
I went to do some shopping at Oxford Street, but I was really extremely tired, and I had been on my feet more or less constantly since about 8.30 ... I ended up buying a really nice London bag, and found a (for me!) brand new HMV at Oxford Street - yay! I was a bit too tired to check it out properly, but I ended up buying the first two seasons of Falling Skies before dropping dead (well, almost anyway!).
Even though it was early I headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a while, before I took a shower and got ready. My Dad and his family also came back a bit earlier than expected, and the girls came up to my Tower Room to collect me! :) We spent a little time i their room (which was really large!) before heading out. While I took the girls to Hamley's, the girls' parents had been checking out restaurants, so we took a (very slow!) bus to Oxford Circus and found this great restaurant. It was a bit crowded and loud, but worked out really nice and the food was yummy!
When we had eaten the others decided to walk with me to Queens but unfortunately it was SOOO many people everywhere we could hardly speak a word to each other.
As usual, a proper review of Les Miz will come in my musical blog later on - but it really was a great show!! We had an understudy for Valjean, which always makes me a bit nervous, but I knew of Chris Holland, who has been involved in the show for a while now, and he did a really great job! Not one of my very favourites, and he missed a few things - but mostly, great performance!
Also, extremely impressed with the three children this time! Amazing!!!
After the show I went to Piccadilly Circus to take a bus home, only to see that they had closed the nearest bus stop, and referred to a temporary bus stop. Yeah right! There were to temporary bus stop, so I ended up walking all the way up to Hamley's, to the next bus stop. And once there, no bus 23 came. I waited and I waited and I waited and I waited. Eventually I gave up and took a 94 bus to Bayswater Road. Wasn't exactly sure where to get off, and managed to almost get myself lost between Bayswater Road and Sussex Gardens!! Granted, it's not a great area to get lost in, so it's a bit embarrassing, but to my defence: the streets in there are extremely confusing!!! It was a bit nervous, as it was getting really late, but I hardly saw anyone, and I finally ended up at the hotel - although Les Miz ended around 10.30, and I don't think I was at my hotel until 11.45 or so ... *yikes*
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Day 4 - September 27
I felt better when I woke up this morning, but I still did get off to a bit of a late start. I usually watched BBC1 in the mornings at the hotel as they had a pretty decent morning programme and this morning I found out that about 8.50 a.m. they would have as their guest Ruthie Henshall - who played Fantine in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the Royal Albert Hall in 1995 - who would be talking about "making it in the West End". Of course I couldn't miss an opportunity to see her on TV, so after having had breakfast I went back to the hotel room and relaxed a bit.
Unfortunately the timing wasn't the best, so it wasn't until about 9.10 that Ruthie actually showed up!
It was quite an interesting interview, and while she wasn't one of my top favourites in TAC it was really nice to hear what she had to say about the business, about her way to success and so on!
When that was done, I collected my things and walked down to Bayswater Road, where I had to wait a while for the 274 bus toward Islington Angel. It was quite nice to take a bus ride where I'd never gone in London before, so the ride didn't feel like it took any time at all, although I think it is a fair bit to travel to get to Regent's Park and London Zoo.
I got off at the right bus stop and they had signs toward the Zoo, but it was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance. I was going to use my London Pass but had no idea how that worked, so I ended up going to the wrong place. It was no big deal, I was there just after they had opened, so there weren't a lot of people around and I could easily go back and head for the correct place.
I think I will be making a separate entry about the London Pass, because I really like the idea, and it was so smooth, they just swipe it through a machine and you're in! :-)
The Zoo was amazing of course, and I can't go into details about everything I did or saw!
They did do a bit of work, construction work and maintenance work, so you were allowed in all areas, which of course felt a bit sad - but I guess that a zoo that big always have to do something like that.
I was a bit disappointed that they had closed off a fair bit of the 'Outback' Area, where they had wallabies and emus, you could see them, but at a great distance ... would have loved to go closer there!
Also, there were no tigers at the zoo at the point. They were building a brand new, really large, habitat for the tigers, as they are running a major campaign to save the tigers, and while that was being done, the tigers had been transferred to another zoo ...
There were however, tons of other really cool stuff to look at. Lots and lots of different species of monkeys, the lions were really impressive, the have a new huge penguin pool that was awesome, the giraffes were totally cool ... the list goes on and on and on.
I didn't have time to go to all areas of the zoo, which was a shame when I had made my way there, but I had to collect my tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre around 2 p.m. - and I had no idea how long it would take me to get from the Zoo to Haymarket (knew I had at least one bus change on the way).
I walked around checking out the animals until about 12.15, then ended up in the souvenir shop - very very dangerous!!! I could easily have spent a fortune, all those ADORABLE stuffed animals, and other cool stuff they had ... wow!
I ended up buying the most gorgeous looking tiger as well as a cool magnet and some small presents, before heading out.
And then I couldn't find the exit! *lol* The signs weren't that easy to understand actually and I ended up walking another way, but found a very small exit there - and it was marked exit, it wasn't like I jumped a fence or something! :-)
Luckily for me, that entrance was just next to the bus stop!
Took a bus to Baker Street Station (and felt a bit guilty that I still haven't read any Sherlock Holmes books, meaning the only thing I know is that he lived at 221B Baker Street ... I think?? *embarrassed* ), and changed to another bus, which took me all the way down to Haymarket.
I still had a little time to spend so I went up to the HMV store and bought the cool Millennium DVD Box :-) before going back to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Collecting the tickets went quick and they had already opened the theatre so I bought programme/souvenir brochure at once and went to find my seat.
Won't say more of Phantom now, as I will write a separate review on it later on.
When the musical was over I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it was now about 5.30 p.m.) - oops! Headed up to Marble Arch had a late lunch/dinner at McDonald's, checked out some souvenir shops on Oxford Street and then went back to the hotel.
Unfortunately the timing wasn't the best, so it wasn't until about 9.10 that Ruthie actually showed up!
It was quite an interesting interview, and while she wasn't one of my top favourites in TAC it was really nice to hear what she had to say about the business, about her way to success and so on!
When that was done, I collected my things and walked down to Bayswater Road, where I had to wait a while for the 274 bus toward Islington Angel. It was quite nice to take a bus ride where I'd never gone in London before, so the ride didn't feel like it took any time at all, although I think it is a fair bit to travel to get to Regent's Park and London Zoo.
I got off at the right bus stop and they had signs toward the Zoo, but it was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance. I was going to use my London Pass but had no idea how that worked, so I ended up going to the wrong place. It was no big deal, I was there just after they had opened, so there weren't a lot of people around and I could easily go back and head for the correct place.
I think I will be making a separate entry about the London Pass, because I really like the idea, and it was so smooth, they just swipe it through a machine and you're in! :-)
The Zoo was amazing of course, and I can't go into details about everything I did or saw!
They did do a bit of work, construction work and maintenance work, so you were allowed in all areas, which of course felt a bit sad - but I guess that a zoo that big always have to do something like that.
I was a bit disappointed that they had closed off a fair bit of the 'Outback' Area, where they had wallabies and emus, you could see them, but at a great distance ... would have loved to go closer there!
Also, there were no tigers at the zoo at the point. They were building a brand new, really large, habitat for the tigers, as they are running a major campaign to save the tigers, and while that was being done, the tigers had been transferred to another zoo ...
There were however, tons of other really cool stuff to look at. Lots and lots of different species of monkeys, the lions were really impressive, the have a new huge penguin pool that was awesome, the giraffes were totally cool ... the list goes on and on and on.
I didn't have time to go to all areas of the zoo, which was a shame when I had made my way there, but I had to collect my tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre around 2 p.m. - and I had no idea how long it would take me to get from the Zoo to Haymarket (knew I had at least one bus change on the way).
I walked around checking out the animals until about 12.15, then ended up in the souvenir shop - very very dangerous!!! I could easily have spent a fortune, all those ADORABLE stuffed animals, and other cool stuff they had ... wow!
I ended up buying the most gorgeous looking tiger as well as a cool magnet and some small presents, before heading out.
And then I couldn't find the exit! *lol* The signs weren't that easy to understand actually and I ended up walking another way, but found a very small exit there - and it was marked exit, it wasn't like I jumped a fence or something! :-)
Luckily for me, that entrance was just next to the bus stop!
Took a bus to Baker Street Station (and felt a bit guilty that I still haven't read any Sherlock Holmes books, meaning the only thing I know is that he lived at 221B Baker Street ... I think?? *embarrassed* ), and changed to another bus, which took me all the way down to Haymarket.
I still had a little time to spend so I went up to the HMV store and bought the cool Millennium DVD Box :-) before going back to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Collecting the tickets went quick and they had already opened the theatre so I bought programme/souvenir brochure at once and went to find my seat.
Won't say more of Phantom now, as I will write a separate review on it later on.
When the musical was over I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it was now about 5.30 p.m.) - oops! Headed up to Marble Arch had a late lunch/dinner at McDonald's, checked out some souvenir shops on Oxford Street and then went back to the hotel.
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Day 2 - September 25
I slept surprisingly well the first night, and woke up early - which was good. I usually didn't have much energy at nights to deal with what had happened during the day, and since I often woke up early, I could take some time in the mornings to go through the day before and also to prepare myself for the day that was in front of me. Not bad at all! :-)
I went down to breakfast at about 7.50 a.m., it was nice that a continental breakfast was included in the price of the hotel room and I have to say, for a continental breakfast at a relatively cheap hotel, it was quite satisfactory - we got cereal and milk, juice, toast, ham & cheese, boiled eggs and coffee/tea. Quite nice and quite sufficient ... I'm not the kind of person that can cope with a "Full English Breakfast" at 7.30 in the morning!! :-)
I went back to my room to collect my things but was out and about at around 8.20 a.m.
I took a walk down to Bayswater Road and went into Hyde Park at the Victoria Gate - what a perfect way to start the first day in London! The weather was absolutely perfect, it was quite chilly (which I like!) but the sun was out and it was a beautiful clear blue sky! I took a long and quite calm walk through Hyde Park, down to the "end" of the Serpentine, ended up in an adorable little Rose Garden, where I actually made a friend! :-) There are lots and lots of cute little squirrels in the parks of London, and when I was about to walk out of the Rose Garden I spotted one next to a tree, quite close to the path I was on. I stopped, and then he rose up on his hind legs, looking SO cute! I grabbed the camera and took some photos, and then he decided to come closer (people feed them all the time, so they are not at all as shy and jittery as the squirrels we have here!) ... and closer ... and closer ... and ended up jumping up on a pole right in front of me!! So adorable!! I wish I had had something to give him ....
Since the weather was still good, and they had said it would be worse during the afternoon and the following day, I really felt I should try to go on London Eye - felt like it would be more fun to go if it was sunny than if it rained ... and then I just completely made a fool of myself - well, almost anyway.
I guess I can blame it on the fact that it's been a while since I been to London and this was my first day, or something - but I ended up thinking sooo wrong!
So, I was down at Hyde Park Corner, and needed to get to Parliament Square - by bus (still haven't mastered the underground, but I will hopefully get back to that in another entry!)! Felt like, no, probably no buses will take me straight there ... maybe I can catch a bus from Oxford Street. Yeah right, it's actually quite a bit to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Oxford Street ...
After having walked for a while I realized, I'm not sure that there are any buses going all the way from Oxford Street (technically Marble Arch) to Parliament Square ... but I do know that bus no. 12 stops at Parliament Square. One problem, it starts at Oxford Circus! Okay, maybe I can take a "short-cut", walk straight through and come out at Regent Street, and catch the no. 12 bus from there.
(Yes, no need to tell me, I just thought about it all the wrong way!!)
This is what I in the end actually did, which was madness. It was so far to go, and all the streets in London are like a giant big maze, nothing just cuts straight across. What I also hadn't thought of was that I'd be crossing right through Mayfair - which is this really posh area of central London where all the high-fashion boutiques are ... boy, did I feel out of place!!??!!
I finally ended up at Regent Street, but my feet were absolutely killing me at this point. Naturally, I went the wrong way on Regent Street and ended up having to walk all the way up to Oxford Circus, before I could finally get on a bus and rest my feet for a little while.
I got off the bus at Parliament Square, and I really really love that place, it's amazing!! I ended up taking quite a lot of photos there, then walked across Westminster Bridge and took even more photos! ;-)
I walked over to London Eye - and learned something else there! If you want to visit London Eye, no matter when, book a ticket in advance!!! There, lesson learned!
The queues were really long, although I have to say I am surprised that it didn't take longer time, at first I thought I'd be standing in line until late in the afternoon! Once I had gotten my ticket and got out of the ticket office, it turned out there was another queue to get on the actual wheel.
But, again, it went pretty smoothly and it didn't require as much waiting as I thought it would.
When we approached the wheel they had a full security check with body scanners and the whole nine yards - again, I realize the necessity and I think it is good, but it does still make me a bit uncomfortable!
I was also quite surprised about the fact that they don't stop the wheel for people to get on and off (had actually wondered about that before as well), they have this really long ramp and the put people in different lines and you basically have get on (or off) while the pod you are in is still moving! I mean, it's not moving fast or anything, and they can stop the wheel if it's needed, but I got a bit stressed about that, so it felt a bit scary to get on (but it worked out quite well).
The tour on London Eye was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, it was absolutely fantastic!! I took a ton of photos and, to my surprise, I didn't even feel uncomfortable about the hight!! I usually get dizzy if I have to climb a kitchen chair, I don't dare to walk the roof on our summerhouse, which is low and fairly flat, but riding this giant wheel, which is 135 meters (!), was quite all right! :-)
I won't go on and on about it, but the half hour it takes for the wheel to go around went way to quickly and I gladly would have stayed in there and gone one more time! :)
However, my feet were hurting before and after having stood still (well almost, you can move around in that pod, but not that much), both waiting in line and on the wheel, I really really needed a rest!
I took a short break, but for some reason I didn't feel like I could just sit still and do nothing ... so I started walking again! :-)
Went over Westminster Bridge, took more photos, went over by Westminster Abbey, and took photos and continued to walk along Victoria Street and tried to find New Scotland Yard, with the cool sign outside ... but no luck! According to the map I should have walked right passed it, but I didn't see it! :( Continued a bit along Victoria Street and turned at Buckingham Gate, and walked up to Buckingham Palace! It's really an impressive sight to see, that's for sure. Walked around there for a bit, and took some photos (duh! what else?! *lol*). The flag was raised so The Queen was apparently there!
From Buckingham Palace I went to St. James' Park, I really like the parks in London! :-) Walked there for a while, went over the bridge and finally found a bench to sit down (by this time, I thought my feet were about to fall off!!). Didn't sit long though, as a few benches over there was this extraordinary old man, feeding the squirrels and the pigeons and the other birds from his hands. It was the most amazing thing, the squirrels jumped up on his knee and ate from his hand!! Other people were taking pictures, and so of course I had to get up and do the same! :-)
And then I continued walking ... Apparently the path I was on was closed due to construction work, so I walked back, crossed the bridge again and continued toward Whitehall - and I met the Pelicans! *lol* They are totally cool!! :-)
Walked passed the Horse Guards and onto Whitehall, and further up to Trafalgar Square. At this point I also realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and maybe a meal, and a place to sit down, and a bathroom, would be a good thing. But of course, once you start looking, you don't find it!!
I had in mind that there was a McDonald's low on Regent Street, near Piccadilly Circus, so I took a bus from Trafalgar Square - but of course I didn't find it!! By this time I wasn't feeling well at all, so I took another bus to Oxford Street and figured I'd have to be able to find a burger on Oxford Street ... yeah, well ... sort of ...
Found a sign for McDonald's at Bond Street Station, went in and found it eventually. It was really hectic and stressful but I placed my order, and saw that they had "seating downstairs". Okay, down some really horrible stairs (with my feet barely working and balancing a huge tray that was not easy) only to find like 7 tables, all totally crowded, and no restroom!!! Gahhhh!
I had to eat my burger standing up, still hadn't found a bathroom and it was hardly the relaxing break I had been hoping for, that's for sure!!!
It was still fairly early, but I really didn't know what to do ... my feet were not in a good shape, and I had eaten so fast I felt sick - but I still didn't want to just "go home". I ended up taking a bus out to Queensway and went there for a little while, headed over to Kensington Gardens, but it felt like the rain was going to start any minute, and I really really didn't feel like walking any more - I was seriously scared I would injure my feet to the point where I wouldn't be able to walk much at all for the rest of the trip, not good! - so even though it was rather early, I went back to the hotel and tried to relax a bit.
I went down to breakfast at about 7.50 a.m., it was nice that a continental breakfast was included in the price of the hotel room and I have to say, for a continental breakfast at a relatively cheap hotel, it was quite satisfactory - we got cereal and milk, juice, toast, ham & cheese, boiled eggs and coffee/tea. Quite nice and quite sufficient ... I'm not the kind of person that can cope with a "Full English Breakfast" at 7.30 in the morning!! :-)
I went back to my room to collect my things but was out and about at around 8.20 a.m.
I took a walk down to Bayswater Road and went into Hyde Park at the Victoria Gate - what a perfect way to start the first day in London! The weather was absolutely perfect, it was quite chilly (which I like!) but the sun was out and it was a beautiful clear blue sky! I took a long and quite calm walk through Hyde Park, down to the "end" of the Serpentine, ended up in an adorable little Rose Garden, where I actually made a friend! :-) There are lots and lots of cute little squirrels in the parks of London, and when I was about to walk out of the Rose Garden I spotted one next to a tree, quite close to the path I was on. I stopped, and then he rose up on his hind legs, looking SO cute! I grabbed the camera and took some photos, and then he decided to come closer (people feed them all the time, so they are not at all as shy and jittery as the squirrels we have here!) ... and closer ... and closer ... and ended up jumping up on a pole right in front of me!! So adorable!! I wish I had had something to give him ....
Since the weather was still good, and they had said it would be worse during the afternoon and the following day, I really felt I should try to go on London Eye - felt like it would be more fun to go if it was sunny than if it rained ... and then I just completely made a fool of myself - well, almost anyway.
I guess I can blame it on the fact that it's been a while since I been to London and this was my first day, or something - but I ended up thinking sooo wrong!
So, I was down at Hyde Park Corner, and needed to get to Parliament Square - by bus (still haven't mastered the underground, but I will hopefully get back to that in another entry!)! Felt like, no, probably no buses will take me straight there ... maybe I can catch a bus from Oxford Street. Yeah right, it's actually quite a bit to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Oxford Street ...
After having walked for a while I realized, I'm not sure that there are any buses going all the way from Oxford Street (technically Marble Arch) to Parliament Square ... but I do know that bus no. 12 stops at Parliament Square. One problem, it starts at Oxford Circus! Okay, maybe I can take a "short-cut", walk straight through and come out at Regent Street, and catch the no. 12 bus from there.
(Yes, no need to tell me, I just thought about it all the wrong way!!)
This is what I in the end actually did, which was madness. It was so far to go, and all the streets in London are like a giant big maze, nothing just cuts straight across. What I also hadn't thought of was that I'd be crossing right through Mayfair - which is this really posh area of central London where all the high-fashion boutiques are ... boy, did I feel out of place!!??!!
I finally ended up at Regent Street, but my feet were absolutely killing me at this point. Naturally, I went the wrong way on Regent Street and ended up having to walk all the way up to Oxford Circus, before I could finally get on a bus and rest my feet for a little while.
I got off the bus at Parliament Square, and I really really love that place, it's amazing!! I ended up taking quite a lot of photos there, then walked across Westminster Bridge and took even more photos! ;-)
I walked over to London Eye - and learned something else there! If you want to visit London Eye, no matter when, book a ticket in advance!!! There, lesson learned!
The queues were really long, although I have to say I am surprised that it didn't take longer time, at first I thought I'd be standing in line until late in the afternoon! Once I had gotten my ticket and got out of the ticket office, it turned out there was another queue to get on the actual wheel.
But, again, it went pretty smoothly and it didn't require as much waiting as I thought it would.
When we approached the wheel they had a full security check with body scanners and the whole nine yards - again, I realize the necessity and I think it is good, but it does still make me a bit uncomfortable!
I was also quite surprised about the fact that they don't stop the wheel for people to get on and off (had actually wondered about that before as well), they have this really long ramp and the put people in different lines and you basically have get on (or off) while the pod you are in is still moving! I mean, it's not moving fast or anything, and they can stop the wheel if it's needed, but I got a bit stressed about that, so it felt a bit scary to get on (but it worked out quite well).
The tour on London Eye was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, it was absolutely fantastic!! I took a ton of photos and, to my surprise, I didn't even feel uncomfortable about the hight!! I usually get dizzy if I have to climb a kitchen chair, I don't dare to walk the roof on our summerhouse, which is low and fairly flat, but riding this giant wheel, which is 135 meters (!), was quite all right! :-)
I won't go on and on about it, but the half hour it takes for the wheel to go around went way to quickly and I gladly would have stayed in there and gone one more time! :)
However, my feet were hurting before and after having stood still (well almost, you can move around in that pod, but not that much), both waiting in line and on the wheel, I really really needed a rest!
I took a short break, but for some reason I didn't feel like I could just sit still and do nothing ... so I started walking again! :-)
Went over Westminster Bridge, took more photos, went over by Westminster Abbey, and took photos and continued to walk along Victoria Street and tried to find New Scotland Yard, with the cool sign outside ... but no luck! According to the map I should have walked right passed it, but I didn't see it! :( Continued a bit along Victoria Street and turned at Buckingham Gate, and walked up to Buckingham Palace! It's really an impressive sight to see, that's for sure. Walked around there for a bit, and took some photos (duh! what else?! *lol*). The flag was raised so The Queen was apparently there!
From Buckingham Palace I went to St. James' Park, I really like the parks in London! :-) Walked there for a while, went over the bridge and finally found a bench to sit down (by this time, I thought my feet were about to fall off!!). Didn't sit long though, as a few benches over there was this extraordinary old man, feeding the squirrels and the pigeons and the other birds from his hands. It was the most amazing thing, the squirrels jumped up on his knee and ate from his hand!! Other people were taking pictures, and so of course I had to get up and do the same! :-)
And then I continued walking ... Apparently the path I was on was closed due to construction work, so I walked back, crossed the bridge again and continued toward Whitehall - and I met the Pelicans! *lol* They are totally cool!! :-)
Walked passed the Horse Guards and onto Whitehall, and further up to Trafalgar Square. At this point I also realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and maybe a meal, and a place to sit down, and a bathroom, would be a good thing. But of course, once you start looking, you don't find it!!
I had in mind that there was a McDonald's low on Regent Street, near Piccadilly Circus, so I took a bus from Trafalgar Square - but of course I didn't find it!! By this time I wasn't feeling well at all, so I took another bus to Oxford Street and figured I'd have to be able to find a burger on Oxford Street ... yeah, well ... sort of ...
Found a sign for McDonald's at Bond Street Station, went in and found it eventually. It was really hectic and stressful but I placed my order, and saw that they had "seating downstairs". Okay, down some really horrible stairs (with my feet barely working and balancing a huge tray that was not easy) only to find like 7 tables, all totally crowded, and no restroom!!! Gahhhh!
I had to eat my burger standing up, still hadn't found a bathroom and it was hardly the relaxing break I had been hoping for, that's for sure!!!
It was still fairly early, but I really didn't know what to do ... my feet were not in a good shape, and I had eaten so fast I felt sick - but I still didn't want to just "go home". I ended up taking a bus out to Queensway and went there for a little while, headed over to Kensington Gardens, but it felt like the rain was going to start any minute, and I really really didn't feel like walking any more - I was seriously scared I would injure my feet to the point where I wouldn't be able to walk much at all for the rest of the trip, not good! - so even though it was rather early, I went back to the hotel and tried to relax a bit.
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