Hunter Visit Day #3

Written By:  Amy after a quick trip to the grocery store to get pepper.

Bry and Cry decided that one of things they’d like to see while they were this close was London.  Since we love that place, Ker and I were like “Why not? Let’s do this!”.

So, we were up at 3:30 am (which was only an hour or two of sleep for Crystal and Bry, eek!) and headed to the airport to hop on a plane to play in London. 

Our first stop once we got off the train in London was to grab a Full English Breakfast on our way to the Tower of London.  We found this total hole-in-the-wall place and ate in an empty restaurant.  It was a cool little place, though. 

Once fortified with a TON of coffee, we headed to the Tower. 

Bryan and Crys at Traitor's Gate

This time, there were no lines and we were able to see the crown jewels easily.  It’s really amazing to think of all the monarch’s jewels in one place.  Kinda weird though.  All those stones, all that wealth just to act as symbols of power and prestige.  It is so different from the way we think in America, it just doesn’t compute for us, I think.  But, we had another excellent Yeoman (Beefeater) tour.  Our guide was funny and knowledgeable.  I’ve now been to the through the tour 3 times and am just amazed at the skill of the guides at the Tower.

We had some lunch at the Tower Café and then it was off to Abbey Road to get a picture with the Beatles.  Er, I mean get a picture like the Beatles for Bryan.  He wanted to explore London’s Rock and Roll music history.  But, we found that we would need to be there at 9 pm when the pubs and other venues opened.  Which was a bummer because Bry is really into that kind of stuff. But, we did get the Abbey Road picture.  

Well, kind of.  Apparently, our first attempt was not correct because they were facing the wrong direction.  So, we had to take another.

It wasn't easy taking pictures in the middle of a street in London.  I had to fight for my position as a photographer because some other tourist wanted to get the picture too.  But, I won.

Next we headed to Picadilly Circus to do some sourvenir shopping.  But, while there, I think our party just hit a wall.  The wall was called exhaustion.  It was too late in the day to see more of the sites and too early in the evening to go to dinner.  So, after a beer at a steakhouse we hailed a cab and drove around the sites of London while our cabbie gave us some interesting facts about what we were seeing. 

Riding in a Taxi in London Traffic

London from a native was really cool.  I was surprised at how open Number 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister’s house) was to the general public.  It’s not like the White House where we were only allowed to come as close as ¾ of a mile away from it.   10 Downing Street is just a ½ block from the major street.  You can just walk up to the black gate and take a look at it.  I was told it was surrounded by snipers and other security.  But, it looked surprisingly accessible.

The cabbie dropped us off at Ole Wautling Ale and Pie House.  He told us that this pub was for the workers who rebuilt London after the great fire of the 1660’s.  So, it was really historic and neat.  However, it had a fancy dress code so we headed back to the back section to have our dinner because we were in our jeans and sweater tourist clothing.

I felt so bad because by this time, Crystal was so tired.  She was just beat.  So was Bryan.  They had only slept maybe10 hours in 3 days.  Don’t get me wrong, they were troopers, but it’s just not fun watching someone pry their eyes open, ya know?  So, after a fine dinner, we head back to the airport a little early to wait for our flight.  Crystal got to rest for 45 minutes in the train which gave her enough energy to wander around Stanstead airport with me.

After the uneventful flight home, we all just crashed in our beds completely exhausted.