ole London Town
We left Four Marks at 9.30am and headed north to London. Naomi had been asked to housesit in Teddington, one of the outer suburbs of London, and there was room enough for us to stay. This was a great relief and great timing as the cost of accommodation is ridiculously stupid. A very average room in a hostel is around 60 pounds ($150).
We didn't have a proper map of the area and the A to Z (street directory) we had been given didn't extend to the outer suburbs. I looked up the route on the internet and tried to memorise the way but the map was not detailed enough to give me a precise location. We had a good run into London - just under an hour, and then turned right instead of left. When we realised our mistake, we backtracked and then stopped to ask for directions. My second mistake was asking a man for directions. My third mistake was asking a second man for directions. We went through the same traffic jam twice and I would have given anything for my little scooter so that I could lane split - the canary was far too wide especially with panniers. We got hopelessly lost until I pulled into a service station and looked at a map. We then reached our destination within 5 minutes. [It is a myth that women can't navigate. I have a terrific sense of spatial awareness and lived in London many years ago. I could navigate around London with the A to Z without getting lost and once I had driven a route I didn't need the map the second time. The BOSS seems to have inherited this quality.]
We unpacked our gear, had a quick lunch then jumped on the train into London so as not to waste any more of the day. We bought tickets for the Big Bus sightseeing tour and settled back to be entertained. This tour had a live guide who was very funny and it operated on two loops of the city - one east and one west. We sat up on the top deck and as the weather was still over 30o, we were grateful for the breeze. Two hours later we had completed the east loop and seen all the major sites (see piccies) and we were desperate for some food and a toilet.
One of the "must do" things on our list was a West End show - Les Miserables or Chicago - so we headed off to Leicester Square to the half price ticket booth. We were a bit late and all the cheap tickets were gone so we settled for the next best thing - X-Men. An evening with Hugh Jackman is not entirely unpleasant.
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