Thursday, September 20

Our last night in London. Tomorrow we head for Venice. Hard to believe that we are moving on already, but I think we are ready. We got to see most of the things on our 'must do' list, but just experiencing London, the tube, the people etc was amazing. No matter when or where, the sidewalks are full of people and there is traffic. Still takes thought which way to look when crossing the street. The tube was interesting, but very tiring. Often had to change trains, which meant changing levels and often walking up, then across a fair ways before down again. Part of the adventure. Wendy was great with the adventure and really did well. Have to admit we were both a little uncomfortable with the men we saw one evening being intimate with each other going down to the tube. It always seemed safe. Could have used more toilets and garbage cans!

Today we slept in and then took the tube to St Paul's cathedral. One of the highlights of our trip, definitely. to think they built that and did such intricate art work 350 years ago with out cranes and other equipment. I expect we'll continue to be amazed as we travel. We climbed to the whispering gallery 30m above the main level. We chose not to climb the extra 81m to the top for the views. The detail and design were wonderful. We stayed for a reading of Scripture from the main floor before heading to the crypt. We thought about having lunch there, but nothing looked very fresh!

We found a sandwich shop, had a wrap then coffee in a little shop in an alley way. What we have come to realize is that it is not just one building that makes it interesting, but all of the buildings. They fill every spare inch of space and all seem to have character. Many are remodelled. It is 'living history.' After our coffee, we took the tube back to the British Museum area. We walked a couple of blocks to it and explored for a couple of hours. Neither of us is really into museums, but I wanted to see the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, the bog man and other things. Seeing the real thing is what made it worthwhile.

We came back to our room for a break then walked to a fish and chips place. Then explored some more stores (do people really buy those things?) Wendy saw a nice purse for 300 pounds. We had coffee and then came back to pack. In Venice the hotel has internet access from their computer, so assuming it works, I will keep up the written part, but may not be able to do the photos. We board the ship on Sunday and then it may be too expensive. We'll see. Realized that my camera was set to manual focus. Not sure when that happened, but the ones I checked look ok. Perhaps not the sharpness I would have liked to have, but still useable.