Found a camera store down the street from the hotel, so bought a D70 with 28-200 lens and a 1GB card. Now I can still take pix; I’ll take really good care of the camera and then return it before we leave.
Stopped by the British Information center and got info and tix to the London Eye and Tower of London. Had lunch (fish and chips) at Captains Cabin – a nice pub near the Information center.
After lunch, we took the “Original Tour” bus at Trafalgar square; saw a bunch of the city (from the top deck), and got off at the London Eye (a big ferris-wheel type thing that gives you panoramic views of the city).
The London Eye was ok, but went too slowly. The cars you ride in are completely enclosed. The windows are curved, so any pictures you take are distorted and full of reflections. Not worth the time, in my opinion.
We walked back across the Millenium Bridge (over the Thames). Happened upon the Sherlock Holmes Pub (Restaurant) near Trafalgar square and stopped in. I had a snack of “Cheddar Ploughman’s Platter”. YUCK! – it was nasty. The English rendition of cole slaw sucks (at this place anyway). The “platter” was this cole slaw, a stale bun, a slab of cheddar cheese and some sliced gerkins. I just ate the cheese.
We walked around a bit more, and ended up at “Pitcher and Piano”. Met a nice (and gorgeous) Welch waitress (wannabe actress) there. She had lived in Texas for awhile, and had a “boyfriend” from there – who was a Marine being sent to Iraq. Wonderful food. The Lady had smoked salmon with fresh dill cream sauce. She topped it off with a couple of Brazilian drinks – Capricanas? Great bossa-nova and live jazz as well. Cool! We were pretty much the only people in there. The bartender told us how to get to the Charing Cross area (where the bookstores are). We walked around and found the Bookstore Alley off Charing Cross. All the shops were closed (it was past 9pm), but it was nice to find.
After walking around a bit more, and trying to find a subway station entrance that was open, we opted to take a cab from Charing Cross Station to the hotel. Night Night.
