A Busy First Week.

We flew from San Francisco to London leaving around noon on Tuesday and arriving Wednesday at 7:00am.  The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner was a great improvement in comfort and it was nice to have a direct flight straight to London with no stops.

The queen was waiting to greet us and give us a ride in from the airport.  Not.

So the first lesson/shock was the prices of everything in London.  I had studied and was prepared for the shock but the $120.00 taxi ride confirmed we weren't in Mexico anymore.  A comparable airport ride in Mazatlán would be $35.00 for a longer distance.

We stayed in the Paddington area of London and loved the location near the Underground subway and train station.

Terri looking for Harry Potter on track 9.5.  She didn't find him at Paddington Station.

We had a wonderful old hotel that was 59 steps up to our room.  Every building in this area is a couple hundred years old but all looked beautifully restored.  There was a park across from our hotel so as we looked out the window it all was very British.

The Cardiff Hotel.

Tulips in the park.

I will bore you with the obligatory photos of London.  Sorry old chap.

Going to see the Queen.

Double decker buses and British taxi cabs.

The girls looking at the Bentley...... only $746,000..... I'll take two.

We bused and walked for two days until our feet were about to fall off.  Then it was back to the hotel to climb the 59 steps to our room.  I loved it all and we hope to go back to spend some real time in Britton. 

The London part of this trip was a last minute change because we are flying with Shari who is a United Airlines employee.  The London flight had the most open seats, so we decided to change our previous plans and drop in to see the Queen.  Free is a very good price for airline flights.

Westminster Abby

The Tower of Big Ben.
Where's the "rosy red cheeks of the little children".
You must be old to get this musical reference.

It's not London Bridge and it hasn't fallen down.

That's all from London.  There is lots more coming from Brussels, Bruges and Luxemburg.  But that will come in another blog.

Life is bloody good, old chap.