London Day 2

Greetings, All!

Another busy day in London, but thankfully we tackled this one with a good night's rest. After a hearty breakfast of rolls, cereal, yogurt and fruit at 8:30, we left our hotel near Wembley on our "coach" (not "bus", as we were informed!) at 9:30 with the lovely and informative Liz, our local London guide.

The bus (coach) tour took us by many famous London sites, including Westminster/Big Ben, Picadilly Circus, etc. Liz pointed out many areas and buildings that were destroyed and then rebuilt after the blitz in 1940-41. We had a short stop at St. Paul's Cathedral (the dome had survived the blitz while everything else around burned) for photos and ended around noon at Buckingham Palace, where we witnessed the changing of the guard.

Then, it was on to Churchill's Cabinet Rooms for a tour of the place where Churchill lived and worked during the war. Following that, some of us took off for our Thames River Cruise and London Eye experience. I accompanied that group - the views of London were AMAZING! Other groups shopped and explored the West End. We met up for a dinner in London's "China Town". I am now in an internet cafe getting ready to depart for the theatre. A group of 19 of us are to see Les Miserables in about 20 minutes! Other groups have returned to the hotel or are shopping in the Picadilly Circus area tonight.

Tomorrow we leave for Portsmouth and the D-Day museum and cross the Channel by ferry at night! All for now...