London - Day 2

Saturday morning; slept well but at 9am it still felt like 4am to my body.  We had a great breakfast at the hotel and a nice chat with one of the owners.  He is from South Africa and has never been to Canada.  Interestingly, he has family in Calgary but didn't show any eagerness to go and visit.

Then we were off for another day of exploring.  We decided to start with a stroll through Hyde Park.  We walked along The Serpentine, man-made lake, past the Italian Garden, created by Prince Albert for Victoria, and out past the Royal Albert monument.

Next, Reuben used the loo at Royal Albert Hall, home of many a 'Last Night at the Proms'.  Then we walked through a hoity toity neighbourhood called Knightsbridge where every second vehicle was a Maserati or Porsche.

After this, we hit up a motorcycle dealership to pick up parts for Reuben and Bryan's Vespas.  Its waaaaay cheaper on this side of the pond.  For lunch, we stopped at Pico's which was next to the dealership.  It seemed like a good money saving strategy not to have a big meal at dinner time and not to eat near central London.  We had chicken croquettes, tropical pizza(maybe not called Hawaiian because it included corn as a topping) and a pint.  Quite delish!

Next we went to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  Since we are short on time and money, we didn't go in either since you have to pay and there are long queues.  Outside of Parliament there was a peaceful gathering of Muslims trying to reassure the world that they are peaceful(I think).

After this, we walked across one of the many bridges spanning the Thames and paid big bucks and stood in a half hour line to go on the London Eye.  I guess that kind of contradicts my reasoning in the last paragraph.  Oh well, I guess the point is, you have to pick your battles.  Needless to say the view was quite spectacular especially as it was sunset.

And then it was back to the Tube (our main mode of transportation besides our feet....our tired, sore feet!) and on to Covent Garden.  This is where opening scene of My Fair Lady takes place.  We thought we'd have a pint and a light snack at Punch and Judy's pub but the kitchen was closed so we just had a drink and were on our way.

To end the day, we went to the Tate Modern since it was open until 10pm.  It was a bit of a trial to get there because it was a long walk from the subway station and our feet were getting really sore and we were also pretty tired but we were determined to get the most out our day.  The art in the Tate Modern was pretty modern(Karyn, wish you were with us to help us appreciate it!).  Interestingly, we recognised one of the artists from our visit to the Guggenheim in Spain.

And that was it, the end of our 2nd day in London.