The Penultimate Day

Another glorious day in Old Blighty full of history and culture and sights and sounds. We headed straight for the Tower of London today, with no strange issues on the Northern Line to delay us, and arrived within a few minutes of the gates opening at 10am. The sun had not yet decided whether to make an appearance, and quite frankly it was very chilly! But by the time we started our tour with one of the Beefeaters the sun was shining brightly.

If any of you have ever visited the Tower, you know that the Beefeaters are very very good guides, full of every bit of historical trivia about the Tower and London you could ever want to know, and extremely funny to boot. Our guide, Paul, reminded me a lot of John Cleese in the way he spoke, but I have to say I found him a little bit too sarcastic and a tad forced. However, during the tour it came out (during a conversation he had with some of our group who were in the US Marines) that he was a Sergeant in the British armed forces during the war in the Falklands, and precisely 27 years ago (almost to the minute, when he was telling the story) he had launched an attack and lost 36 men. He got quite emotional about it, and it really provided context to his demeanor. Anyway, overall an excellent tour. Just having watched the Tudors season two, I looked at all the gory historical spots with renewed interest.

After the tour we stopped for a cup of tea and enjoyed another view of the Tower Bridge. I know I posted a pic yesterday from the boat, but this one is better:

And then back to Leicester square to look at what tickets were available for performances tonight (none that we wanted to see) and then lunch, and then wandering through Picadilly, Soho, Carnaby, and into Marlyebone area (I liked Marlyebone - Baker Street is here, and one could really picture the gas lamps and carriages trotting past as Sherlock Holmes and Watson walked down the street).

By this time it was close to 4:30 and I was dead. I had been feeling quite tired all day, really, and Heather was good to put up with my lagging pace. Eventually we hopped the tube back to the hotel and I crashed for a couple of hours before heading out for dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant near Bedford Square, and had an excellent meal.

And now we are packed, and all ready for our long day coming up tomorrow. Unfortunately we are on different flights - she is on Air Canada direct to the Tdot, and I am flying KLM through Amsterdam.

What an amazing couple of weeks (almost) it has been. I am really glad I've been keeping a blog because so much of it is a blur right now, and I feel that I've experienced a couple of months of activities in this short time. I'm sure I would have forgotten something if I had waited until returning home to write.

For those of you who have followed along and left comments, I'm glad you enjoyed my rambling! This blog thing is a great way for people to stay in touch, and as I said, also a terrific way to keep a diary of sorts. I enjoyed writing, enjoyed your comments, and most of all, enjoyed the trip. I'm so grateful to the organizations who made this trip possible, and especially to Cathie for recommending that I accompany the team this year. It is an experience I will not soon forget.

But I will also be very glad to get back home to my friends, colleagues and family. As my grandmother used to say, "East west, home's best."