chase the light

And off we go… Mom and I on a grand tour of the England before I stay on with Liza for a bit. We left Thursday evening and got in Friday afternoon. British Airways, not a bad flight, it’s always long but was smooth and uneventful. It was pretty out as we circled London and I was able to point out some landmarks as we got into the flight pattern for landing. In the rollover picture from the plane you can see Hammersmith to the right above the Thames. Chiswick (which means cheese farm, they harvest bad jokes there) is to the center and right above the river, and waaaay off in the distance you can see the white arch of the newish Wembley Stadium. The torn down old Wembley Stadium is where Live Aid took place. They were the world, they were the children.

We landed and Mom’s eyes were the size of saucers as she took everything in. She just followed me around and did what I did. I turned around occasionally to check on her and her little rolling bag. We pulled some cash out of an ATM and hopped on the Tube to get to Trafalgar Square. Liza had booked us a hotel there that she stays at when in London and it was really nice and convenient to all the sights. I thought I’d be a lot more tired than I was but we still got a quick nap in before we headed out to see some Londinium things.

It gets dark by 3:30pm, so by the time we got out the door it was dark and cold. Like, cold as ice. The kind you’re willing to sacrifice. We started at Trafalgar Square, then walked down Whitehall and stopped by Downing Street to see the Prime Rib Minister. Yum. Then on to Parliament. We were there in time for Big Ben to ring at 6:00pm so Mom got to hear the bells chime like her clock at home. Walked around Westminster Abbey then crossed the bridge to get some pictures of Parliament from the river. Really beautiful from the river but OMG I’m c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cold. We walked back along the opposite side of the river before crossing the Golden Jubilee bridge. I was hoping to get to the Quiznos near the train stop for some soup or something. Anything. Nope, the place seemed a little odd so we moved on. Actually I was starving at that point so it was off to Nando’s!

Got over to Soho and of course Friday night it’s really crowded but we got some dinner then headed out to Piccadilly and then down Regent Street to Oxford and then headed home. Absolutely exhausted after the first evening out on the town. No scones or babbling brooks sighted yet.