It was the nicest weather day in London, (ever).
Sun shining, birds singing, the houses safe as houses.
Gareth had some time before having to get to work, so we walked...
...to the Lewisham Docklands Light Rail station...
...and then up to the Greenwich Observatory.
The view of the field below through the monocular was stunning.
This was what the 24-hour clock looked like from around 30 meters away - in fantastic monocular vision.
We caught a ferry from Greenwich heading down the Thames.
I made everybody pick up their stuff to move up to the front row.
Under the glass canopy.
And the best view.
We passed under several famed bridges.
And then passed the great London Eye, and docked right next to the Houses of Parliament.
We resisted the temptation to take pictures
inside the phone booths.
And walked toward Saville Row, through St. James Park. All the office workers were out on lunch - basking in the warm spring day's sun.
We stopped for lunch at a place near Green Park.
After dessert, we started hunting for some "real tweed". On Neil's tip, we walked up and down Jermyn Street, looking for the bespoke. We wandered into a store full of fancy shaving tools - everything was gold plated. There was a barbershop downstairs where very proper and unconcerned men got their hair cut.
But it was getting late - we had to leave to go see some fossils and things.
There was an exhibition on Evolution going on at the Natural History Museum. The tickets were for a specific time slot, so we went to see some dinosaurs while we waited for our turn.
A terrible monster! With such cute hook hands!
We then spent about an hour in the Darwin exhibit, which made me feel slightly guilty, as it was all this stuff I had foggy memories of/should've remembered from college. The most valuable thing (re)-learned from this show? One of the defining features of a mammal = 3 inner ear bones.
Afterwards, we looked at a bunch of stuffed animals. This is just a close-up of a huge, cluttered case full of branchfuls of hummingbirds.
We stayed until closing, and left as the sun was setting.
We met Neil at the Waterloo station.
He showed us the Southbank Centre/Royal Festival Hall...
...and the nice walk next to the Thames. We went to a cute pizza place for dinner, where we toasted his pending birthday. Then we ambled by the Tate Modern...
...and stopped to take in the dramatic
Millennium Bridge. You can see St. Paul's cathedral across the river.
Neil said it's one of his favorite views in London.
We checked out the closed
Borough Market - usually thronging on Saturday mornings - as we got to the London Bridge station. Then we returned to the Coach House.
It'd be frightening if I'd actually see this on the walk to the station - it's actually the google maps street view of the road near the dudes' house.
It was closer to being this peaceful.
1.5 months (or what felt like it!), 7,600 miles and 5 lbs. later, it was time to have a nice 11 hour/5,400 mile rest.
Sweaty and satisfied, I waved to the tarmac dropping off below us. Till next time! :)
Sun shining, birds singing, the houses safe as houses.
Gareth had some time before having to get to work, so we walked...
...to the Lewisham Docklands Light Rail station...
...and then up to the Greenwich Observatory.
The view of the field below through the monocular was stunning.
This was what the 24-hour clock looked like from around 30 meters away - in fantastic monocular vision.
We caught a ferry from Greenwich heading down the Thames.
I made everybody pick up their stuff to move up to the front row.
Under the glass canopy.
And then passed the great London Eye, and docked right next to the Houses of Parliament.
We resisted the temptation to take pictures inside the phone booths.
And walked toward Saville Row, through St. James Park. All the office workers were out on lunch - basking in the warm spring day's sun.
We stopped for lunch at a place near Green Park.
Afterwards, we looked at a bunch of stuffed animals. This is just a close-up of a huge, cluttered case full of branchfuls of hummingbirds.
We stayed until closing, and left as the sun was setting.
He showed us the Southbank Centre/Royal Festival Hall...
...and the nice walk next to the Thames. We went to a cute pizza place for dinner, where we toasted his pending birthday. Then we ambled by the Tate Modern...
...and stopped to take in the dramatic Millennium Bridge. You can see St. Paul's cathedral across the river.
Neil said it's one of his favorite views in London.
We checked out the closed Borough Market - usually thronging on Saturday mornings - as we got to the London Bridge station. Then we returned to the Coach House.
Again past those blasted trees...
...nabbed an energizing coffee at a shack on the platform...
...and to Portabello Market to check out the 2nd hand goodies and yummy mummies.
Of course, our first out-of-the-house snack of the day.
A terribly healthy and filling protein salad.
And some pastas - the wooden bowls made these things taste that much more wholesome and nourishing. Oh, and the requisite bread side. After an adventure with the automated public toilet stall, we moved onto the goods.
Hats!
And real tweed coats.
Things started to shut down not to long after, so we walked south easterly.
And kept walking, past Kensington Gardens, to the chemist for some allergy meds. Then back to Brockley for dinner time with the dudes.
Neil led us to the joint.
For some Turkish food. The dining room was filled with smoke.
The foods were delicious.
And even the rice pudding, sorry to look at but a joy in the belly. And then it was a digestive stroll back to the Coach House for the evening.
...a walk out the dudes' front door, to the park across the street. We'd heard the kids at soccer practice (and the soccer dads yelling at the kids) for a while already, through the skylight in the bathroom.
We did a quick run through the cute little monthly farmer's market, stopping to get some fresh and piping hot apple cider, and a loaf of "President's bread" from the baker's tent. The loaf was chock full of some kind of fruit and nuts, and as solid as a bulldog.
The train from Brockley took us to another train, which took us to the sea.
Brighton wasn't what I had expected. It was city-er, cuter, and more boutique-y than the english version of Coney Island I'd imagined.
We walked along the sidewalk above the boardwalk for a while.
There was another pier that had burned down - the sign shows what it had looked like back in its heyday. Its skeleton stands in the background, wading in the water.
It was like the hull of a whale.
Neil found his friend and we wandered onto the functioning pier. The weather had cleared up but it was still pretty cold and windy.
They were playing some 80's pop music over the loudspeakers as we passed the carousel and headed back toward land.
The guys settled on a good-lookin' fish and chips place.
Good tastin' too! The green stuff at the back of the plate? Not guacamole, but surprisingly delicious mushy peas!
We walked back through town, and the streets were jam packed. Even though the shops looked so very very promising, I had to bow out, as I'd started to feel super run down.
Neil and Co. stayed to pub it, while Gareth, Evan and I headed to the station...
...and on the train back to Brockley. Between small naps, we experienced a super "posh" girl clique, and a weekending husband/wife team doing a costume change for dinner in the city.
