Bill and Jan: LONDON PROPER

Our trip to London started off well. We were a little later than we planned. It was HOT all day and we just wilted along the way. The boat cruise took us a lot farther than we thought to go. Clear to Greenwich - where the International Date Line is. Well worth it. But that took so long that we didn't have enough time in London proper - so we're planning lots more trips. It was only 10 pounds to ride the train. Our tour bus and ride on the Thames was 25 pounds - each. But, we don't have to take the bus anymore.

When we got back to the train station about 8-9 o'clock, all the trains had been cancelled - a great big board on the wall and all trains everywhere were cancelled. They had a water main break further down the line and a mudslide covered all the tracks. But the railroad was so great they had a bus for us. It took us all the way home, stopping at each little station along the way to let passengers off. The British don't believe in air conditioning and we cooked. We got home about midnight and had to be at the Temple at 8:00 this morning.

So here are some of the pictures we took. Is this too many? I get carried away but I do want to use this as a journal, kind of, of the places that we see and our mission.

Next Monday, Clark and Dianne (Bill's brother and English wife) will be here and we plan to go to Canterbury and Dover. That will be awesome. And good to see them too. They're bringing me Goldfish!

We started in the baptistry today. It was OK - we have a lot to learn and it sure was busy there.

Parliament and Big Ben

Love it, Love it, Love it!!

This is King Charles I in Trafalgar Square. The mileage distance on road signs are measured from this point. Does that mean its the center of London?

Piccadilly Circus

St. Paul's Cathedral - we didn't get there in time to see it. Next time.

Fountains at St. Paul's

Streets of London

London Bridge the 4th. Someone (a bigwig Navy guy from another country) knocked the first one down. One was taken to Arizona. And I don't know about the other one.

Elton John lives on the top floor of this building - so our tour guide said.

This one I love - The door on the left is one of the homes of J.K. Rowling

Tower Bridge

During the Black Plague - no one would come and help England for fear of getting the Plague. They needed food and supplies. The Dutch decided to help them by bringing in supplies. This is where they put the food - so they wouldn't have to be around people. The British were so grateful to the Dutch that for 300 years they didn't charge them taxes for bringing in their products to sell in English ports.