Notting Hill

I was pretty sure I lost my watch at the Bristol Train Station.  I went into the Lost Property office to see if anyone had turned it in.  Greg figured this was a waste of time, it is a 20 year old girly pink and green Timex ironman watch not worth much.  But it is my greatest travel buddy that wakes me up so I don't miss my tours, and allows me to countdown how much time remains in a flight.  So I persevered. 

As I walked into the  Lost Property office I could hear a watch alarm going off...and my heart started to beat faster.  I remember setting my alarm watch for 12:40pm on the train yesterday.  And it was...somewhere close to 12:40 (of course I didn't know what time it was since I didn't have my beloved watch).  The time was approximately correct, the beeps of the alarm sounded like my familiar beeps - it had to be.  I felt in my heart my worthless little watch was in that very office.  As I stood at the back of the line-up I yelled to everyone who could hear (much to their delight):  "Yesterday I lost my watch, and now I can hear it!!  I know it's here!!".  This was the start of my lucky day.   Can you believe they made me fill out 4 forms and PAY $3 to get my own watch back?

We hopped the train to London, on which I slept most of the way.  We arrived in the super busy London Paddington train station in the middle of the afternoon on a bank holiday (Easter Monday).  It was a zoo.  I didn't have a map, and figured we would be adventurous and take The Underground to find our hotel.  We asked the guy at the ticket window which subway takes us to Edgware St.  He said "Whoy don't yew just wahlk theya?". 

In a city as big as London, the road to  our hotel was conveniently a few blocks from the train station.  Lucky!  The trick was when we arrived at Edgware Street - in which direction do we walk to find our hotel?  Keep in mind we are wheeling our suitcases, sporting our backpacks down busy sidewalks without a map.  We walk around for one block only to turn around and look up - our hotel was right there!  Lucky Lucky!



Getting stabbed by St. George (& Dragon) by the hotel.  Not so lucky.

 London!  I can't believe I am here.  The first thing I did was walk through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace.  I saw the guards that don't laugh or smile or talk - BORING!  I wonder what they are like when they get home?  They are probably hyper, funny guys - kind of like a clean shaven, short hair, English version of Kramer. 

The famous balcony at Buckingham Palace.  This was the smallest croud we saw here.

At least this guy gets a gun.

 

I was on The Mall during all the prep for the Royal Wedding.  It was so special to watch the wedding and say "I was just there - in that very spot!"  Seeing the news coverage of the area and all the barricades, scaffolding and bleachers made visiting this week a unique experience.   

Beautiful flowers and press boxes outside Buckingham Palace.

Bleachers for those willing to brave the elements.

Any possible view of Westminster Abbey is being set-up for TV crews, like the corner of this building rooftop.

We saw Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street (famous shopping district).  One of the neatest stores was the National Geographic store.  They sell clothing, books, posters, maps, trekking gear.  The store also had an exhibit of photographs of water from around the world.

View into the cafe at the National Geographic store.

Piccadilly Circus.

Regent Street shopping district.

We took a bus through Notting Hill.  When the "Notting Hill" movie came out - there was a rush of people looking for the famous bookstore with a blue door.  As a result - all the shop owners in Notting Hill white washed their doors.  To keep the tourists happy - there is one bookstore with a blue door in Notting Hill, too bad it has nothing to do with the movie!

Don't be fooled!

  

Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square are where the theatre district is.  There are advertisements, stores and theatres along many of the streets.  It had a great vibe, and it was thrilling to drink it all in.  We found a booth with discount theatre tickets.  We picked up 2 tickets for "Les Miserables", which we both had not seen. 

Les Mis at the Queen's Theatre.

I love how Les Mis sells out every night in London - and yet came twice to Calgary for a total of approximately 14 days.  That tells you how big London is!  The actors sang their hearts out.    After the show we had a pint of beer in St. James pub.  We rode the tube from Piccadilly Circus back to our hotel.  I will never forget how it felt to be in all these famous places. 

In the Underground Station about to ride the tube.

"OK Will & Kate, we can still be friends even though you forgot to mail my invitation to the wedding."