London - Day Two

I mentioned the overcast & damp conditions when we arrived here on Monday. Tuesday was much the same with the sun emerging maybe a half-dozen times. It rained only briefly, just enough to spawn some humidity, but overall it wasn’t bad with temps in the high 60’s. Today we had sunshine for about 2 hours in parts of the city – otherwise it was very overcast with a high of 72 – no rain as of 8pm, but it’s threatening.

We were once again off early this morning. For a Wednesday, it was busier than Tuesday for us. Massive crowds and heavy traffic at every turn. Traffic was so bad today, that we actually hopped off our favorite mode of touring (Hop-on/Hop-off) toward the end of the day and took the Underground back to our hotel. We were very frustrated as it was taking several minutes to move a simple city block.

Highlight of our day was Buckingham Palace. We toured the stables where they train & house the royal horses, and also had opportunities to view the many magnificent carriages used over the years for various activities to include the wedding of Princess Di. We weren’t able to tour the actual palace today. Residence tours are offered only when the Queen is away, which is typically July & August we’re told. Several exterior photos to share with you here, along with some other interesting shots from around the city.

We’re off to Paris at 6:00am tomorrow so I’m cutting this update very short. London has been a great experience for us in terms of overall sightseeing. We needed to cross this off our bucket list but as I mentioned yesterday, one visit is enough for us. Two days is definitely insufficient to see and do all the typical touristy activities, but getting around expeditiously is a real challenge. Make no mistake – London is renovating and modernizing at a frantic pace. Everywhere you look is construction activity.

And a final brief observation. I’ve mentioned the building graffiti in Athens – some of the worst to be found anywhere in the world. London is absolutely free of any malicious building art – we saw none – and believe me, we hit every corner of the city. Hat’s off to the folks here – that’s a lot to be proud of, and something you don’t see every day. Such pride in their communities here!