A Little Rain Can't Stop Us!

Last night was the first time I didn't write a blog in a while! I guess it's just not as fun to write about London as it is about Uganda! Either that or I was so tired when I got home last night that there was simply no way I was going to write. So this morning I shall take a few minutes whilst Heather is in the shower. (By the way - we need to get "whilst" back into circulation in North America. It's so refined.)

As I write this it's raining. Really hard. And there was thunder earlier. Sigh... this makes it hard for a girl to be properly inspired to get out there and see and do! On this kind of day at home I just curl up and read a book.

Yesterday morning it was raining too, but more like a fine mist that is just hard enough to require an umbrella, but not so hard that you feel like you're about to be washed away down the street. We set off about 9 to find some breakfast, and found a small corner shop selling Indian food that also offered "Full English Breakfast" for 4.99 (with free tea - tea is good.). The store was clean and inviting and so we went in and had the best breakfast ever. Greasy, spicy, tasty and filling - I'm thinking we may go back there today!

Next we headed down Charing Cross to Leicester Square to buy our theatre tickets for the evening performance for Billy Elliott. I have never seen the movie, but had heard good things about the play, so that was our choice for the "West End Experience" (West End here = Broadway in NY). The rain hadn't let up just yet, so we put our "indoor" plan into action and hopped on the tube to St. Paul's cathedral and did our own little self-guided tour, including a climb up 239 steps to the Whispering Gallery in the dome of the Cathedral, and another 100 steps up to the first level outside gallery - the highest gallery was closed for maintenance. We went outside and walked around and were nearly blown off the balcony (the rain was now going sideways) but we were determined! We had almost as good a view of the city as we had the day before from the London Eye.

Quads and calves shaking and quivering, we descended back to the cathedral floor and took the tube to Harrods. Yes, yes I know. Just about the most cliched and tacky touristy thing to do. But my sister had asked for plum pudding (which, by the by, is only available at Christmas), and Heather was looking for some special brand of soap that is only available at the posh stores here. So we wandered around and had a little snack (another cream team for me - honestly it was so good, tacky tourist stop notwithstanding. Tea must be in my blood. There is just nothing as restorative for me, so a couple of big fat warm scones and a cup of Darjeeling set me up for the rest of the afternoon. Below is a pic of my snack... doesn't it look yummy?).

We decided we would wander up the street and check out some of the shops, took a quick tour of Harvey Nics, popped into some boutiques, and then got on the tube and headed up to Notting Hill along with a zillion other people, it seemed. The rain had stopped by now - still cloudy, but so much more pleasant for being outside - and so an outdoor market was next on our list. We walked up and down Portabello Road (no sign of Hugh Grant) for close to three hours, and once again I was overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and smells of a bustling market, however different from Kampala's market! Heather bought a chocolate brownie that, if one can judge by the fact that she was still talking about it at midnight, was clearly the best. brownie. ever. I was not even remotely hungry, which was too bad because the enormous vats of steaming paella, the frest cooked chorizo sausage in foccacia, the pots of shrip, the falafel, fresh rasperries and chocolate croissants were sooooo tempating. And by this time it was close to 4pm and the vendors were trying to get rid of their food, so all the sales calls just added to the ambiance! "C'mon love, 5 boxes of rasperries for a pound!" or "All cakes half price!"

After Notting Hill we took the tube back to our hotel to change for the theatre and have a little time to rest our feet. But not for long! Soon we were back on the tube heading down to Victoria Palace Theatre for the 7:30 show of Billy Elliot. Frankly, I thought it was only ok. Really good story, the kid who played the lead was simply amazing, and the set was very clever. But something was missing - I think perhaps the music was uninspiring. We were in the very very highest row in the theatre, and the seats were so shallow that I had indentations in my legs from pressing against the seat in front of me. This is to be expected in these old theatres, so I didn't mind so much. In fact, since we were in the last row, I just stood up and sat on the back of my chair for a while!

On the way home we stopped for an amazing pizza at a little restaurant, complete with uber attentive (read: sleezy) waiter who seemed to think his over-done Italian accent would make us swoon. Not so.

And that was it. Back to the room about midnight, asleep about 2 minutes later, and here we are with another day ahead of us. Rainy day plan #2 is needed - British Museum I think to start. We'll see. Tonight we are having dinner with my dear friends Lisa and Brett, so I'm really excited to see them!