Day 2 • Aug. 31

We got up and going about 8:30 a.m. with the bare bulb staring us in the face.  We ate breakfast at a restaurant recommended by Mushi, which should tell you something about the place.  Actually it wasn’t that bad.  (Note:  Mushi’s explanation for why he no longer served a continental breakfast:  Everybody wants an English breakfast anyway.)

After breakfast, we went to the Paddington Underground station to obtain a 3-day Tube Pass in exchange for our prepaid voucher.  There we were told to go to the rail station, where we were told to go to one of the main stations (e.g. King’s Cross).  Having failed to obtain a pass, we checked out a couple of hotels on the other side of Russell Square and settled upon the Falcon.  The Falcon was £12 more per night that St. George’s but well worth it.  Our room featured a shower and lights with covers and that actually could be turned off if so desired.

After purchasing four cans and one bottle of beer, we took the tube to King’s Cross station, where we finally got our pass.  From there, we took the tube to Tower Hill station to begin our long peregrination through historic London.  Our course very nearly mirrored the path taken by my dad and me in 1983.  The exceptions were we didn’t tour the Tower of London but did take the Tower Bridge tour, we ventured through the London Dungeon (although at a rushed pace because of time constraints), and instead of the park path to Piccadilly, we took the mall from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square (quite impressive) on up to Piccadilly.   Along the way, two couples asked us to take their photographs, which I did, and two people asked me for directions, at which I could offer no help.  Also we discovered that “Evans” had/has a majestic coat of arms, bearing a gold and blue shield with a lion, whereas the “Lloyd” coat of arms is a configuration of three Neanderthal types spaced about a cross.

During our walk along the Thames, we stopped at the same restaurant/boat for coffee on which my Dad and I once hoisted a beer or two.

After Piccadilly, we dined at an Indian restaurant, where Sharon had curried chicken and I had some spicy beef or goat dish and rice costing $8.00.  The food was quite good, as was the King-Fisher beer.  Then it was back to Paddington Station.  By this point we were getting rather familiar with and efficient at using the Underground.  We stopped off at our hotel room to drop of our cameras and then headed to the Dickens Inn in Paddington for a few pints.  We chose to drink at the bar in the front room instead of the back room where the “foreigners” hung out.  [I’m not sure what I meant by this last comment.]

Back at the Falcon, we drank a few more beers and watched Twilight Zone, two of the original episodes, on the telly.  Finally, we fooled around and went to sleep about 1:30 a.m.

Notes:

• The bars still have last call at 11:00 p.m.

• The clock tower (i.e. Big Ben) looked grand—no scaffolding.

• Downtown London remained a clean and orderly city.