Leaving London

Well, if any of us were worried about getting exercise on this trip, we are, um, not worried anymore. We’ve walked for almost two days straight. Jess showed Stivo and me how speed walking was really done. She’s really good at it… and she does it in flipflops. Impressive!

Last night we saw Wicked which was pretty great. The lead character was really really talented. I think everyone liked it.

We stopped for a drink afterwards to start celebrating Stivo’s birthday. We had some interesting conversations with the locals. One in particular was pretty annoying, but I could tell if I just humored him a bit we might get a round on him. It worked, but I was happy when he left for sure!

Then we hurried to the “tube” (subway) to catch the last train. We were a little horrified to see they had already shut the place down. We’d even checked the times at tourist booth!

Then we started on a 90 minute bus/walking adventure. We had to make some inventive bathroom breaks, but other than that it was a pretty direct route. We did get to take a ride on a double decker bus, so we got to check that off the list at least!

Today we went to see West Minster Abby and Big Ben and then took a break in St. James Park. There were all kinds of people there – school kids, tourists, homeless, business people napping on the grass in suits. It was really pleasant!

The temperature has been comfortably cool but it’s been gray. I think everyone is excited to move on to our next destination. We leave for Holland tonight on an overnight ferry. More soon!

Oh yes, and Stivo is making me run this correction. It was actually Jess who suggested that the Queen could easily be taken out, not her!