Our Last Day in London -
While it has been magical exploring all of the wondrous things in London that I have dreamed of seeing for decades… the Reitan’s have definitely hit their wall with city environment. We are really looking forward to the following:
* Less crowds
* Peaceful scenery
* slower pace
* Country views
London has been wonderful - but I have never walked so much in my life. Perhaps if I was younger, with better & healthier body parts - we would have powered through more, but we definitely got to a point today that we just had to call it done and head back to the hotel for an early afternoon, some relaxation, and a dinner close to our home base.
Today we started out with tickets to tour Westminster Abbey. Again, there are just no words to do it justice, it is magnificent, beautiful, historic, and a bit overwhelming. Majestic! And very cool to see where the coronation just took place. TV cannot do it justice. And, they still have the coronation chair on display, so that was a special surprise to be able to see that as well. You can feel the presence of all of those who have been buried there, and have passed through the doors in the past 1000+ years. It’s peaceful, a bit haunting, and definitely moving.
Our day as a whole had a slower pace to it, as we left with plenty of time to get to Westminster, and good thing as we managed to hit the underground during rush hour work time - yes, that experience also did us in. While everyone is pleasant and nice on the train, being packed in like sardines just isn’t high on the Reitan family list of ways to travel.
Our lunch today, we decided to just hit a McDonalds. So - we get it, not very exciting, and very American, but we thought we would see if it was any different here. Cody and I each had a ‘Big Tasty’ which I would describe as similar to a Big Mac, but shaped and sized like a Whopper. I thought it was good, Cody not so much. Of course, I was seriously hungry, so it really didn’t matter. Greg just had a chicken sandwich, he said it tasted normal.
From there we hit a bookstore - YES! Although not a local store, it still is always my happy place… so I picked up the British edition of the latest Outlander Book. Cheaper over here also! After that, we wandered back down to the park we hung out at previously right next to Parliament and literally crashed until our next scheduled tour. We were dragging!
The Churchill War Rooms was our final activity. We toured all of the underground meeting rooms, map rooms, sleeping rooms, typing rooms, etc. that Churchill ran the war from. Extremely fascinating. I have read many books about this place and it was thrilling to be able to see where it all actually happened. Many of the rooms still hold the exact items that were there back then, or have been closely replicated. It is absolutely mind-blowing to imagine what this city would have been like during those war time days. We all loved seeing it, but we also were just so exhausted. Are you starting to sense a theme?
We literally decided we couldn’t muster up the energy to go to the underground (so many steps and walking to get there and get out and back to the hotel…) Black Cab it was!
Tonight we had dinner at this marina next to our hotel. We ate at a place called Zizza - that has pizza, pasta, and other wonderful things. Dinner, cocktails, and tiramisu for dessert…. Now it’s back to the hotel. We have reorganized our things - are packed and ready to roll in the morning. Tomorrow starts our driving adventure. Please pray for me - send us positive SAFE TRAVEL vibes… as this will be quite interesting. At least most of our driving will be country roads or highways - but the way these people drive so fast on these narrow roads - Yikes!
Let the English Countryside be ready for the Reitan family Truckster - because we are on our way.
Tomorrow night starts my Cottage dream!
Cheers -
T.
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