Friday, October 21st, 2011 London
Woke about 7 am and wondered where in the world I was! A body on each side of me and finally I realized just where I was! LOL
Went back to sleep and dreamed I was in the breakfast room…when we finally went down for breakfast it didn’t look anything like my dreams so it must have been one from an old trip.
Woke up about 8 am according to the alarm clock that I’d set for England time late last night…woke the girls as we only had until 9 am to get to the breakfast room. I went down early, it was nearly empty and I figured everyone had come and gone. When the girls arrive they said I must have the time wrong as it was only 8 am now…oops…that why the room was suddenly filling up with guests. I’d read my watch wrong last night.
Breakfast was corn flakes or porridge plus scrambled eggs, English bacon, warm tomatoes and mushrooms plus toast, coffee or tea. Big meal but we ate nearly everything on our plates.
After breakfast we went back to the room…started Barbara’s food journal for her diabetes and other medical issues that she is working on controlling. She took her blood sugar test and then took Nancy’s also to see what she was. We should have done this before breakfast…must remember tomorrow.
We had a message from Barbara’s friend Lavinia that she was on her way to visit; she has an hour and a half train ride to reach the city. We sat for a bit in the lobby…I took some photos of our room and Mitre House Hotel lobby….and then decided to dash to the bank for the ATM instead of doing that later. While we were out we found a hair dresser only a block away that can do Barbara’s hair on Sunday afternoon. Also looked at prices on renting flats instead of hotel rooms in London; very reasonable. We arrived back at the hotel by 11:30 am and Lavinia was waiting for us. Off we all went to the Underground/Tube for a day of shopping till we drop!
We discovered that Barbara lost her prescription glasses yesterday so we’re sharing my glasses for reading. She has a second pair but they are not strong enough. Our first stop was at an Orange Shop (telephone service) where she purchased a “disposable” cell phone and plenty of time for necessary calls. Will be nice to have a second phone in our group. Then at the recommendation of one of the clerks…she showed us the way…we went to Bosini’s where Barbara and I had fish n chips….we’ve had better; and Nancy and Livinia had sandwiches. It was all filling but not that tasty!
From there we walked toward the huge department store Selfridge & Co. on Oxford Street….stopped at a street vendor and purchased some scarves: 2 for 5 pounds. While walking I noticed that there are sometimes five or six of the double decker buses within one block and too many taxis to count. Cars pay a fee to enter London and so most people are on foot…thus…multiple public transportation!
Christmas decorations are appearing on the streets and the stores are completely decked out for Christmas. Barbara was looking for a small neck pillow and settled for a small down pillow for the car before we left. Outside of Selfridge we caught the #10 bus to Harrods Department Store. It is much the same with minor changes resulting from the recent sale to another person. The doormen are no longer in green…security guards in white shirts and blue pants…all the clerks are in black outfits. The life size statue of the previous owner is gone but the memorials to his son Dodi and Princess Diana are still there. We had fun shopping, especially in the food court, and then sat for tea and cookies before heading out the door. It was about 6 pm as we left.
We rode the bus with Lavinia to her train station and we caught the Underground/Tube for our journey back to our hotel after a long day of shopping for a few scarves, a pillow and some trinkets to take home.
After only one change we were back at Lancaster Gate and walking towards our hotel when we decided to get some dinner. Ended up at an Italian Restaurant called Ask Italian that is literally around the corner! Good dinner and we were home by 9 pm. Completed the food journals and wrote and posted the blog!
Time for bed…it’s nearly 11:30 pm. Thank St. Anthony…Barbara just discovered her glasses that she lost! Somebody up there is looking after us!
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