Thursday, September 1- Exploring London

It had been a long time since I'd had a day in London as a tourist.  I bought a Day Pass for the Underground and my first stop was the Earls Court station to check out the London Town Hotel, where a friend had had an extended stay a few years ago.  He'd gotten to know the owners well and really wanted to know how they were doing.  It was a good destination- as he said, it was removed form the usual tourist destinations (which were my next stops!).

Earls Court Station

London Town Hotel

Hotel Entrance

From there I continued to Westminster, an area I remembered well from a 3-week stay on business in 1983.  I used to run across Westminster Bridge every day.  This time I walked it.  

St. James' Palace

The other area I wanted to visit was Trafalgar Square.  It was beginning to drizzle so I took the Underground and then headed to the National Gallery.  This was my first visit even though Id been to London a few times.  I enjoyed a very good but overpriced lunch (well, it supports the Museum) and then walked through the galleries.  I saw a few famous paintings that I hadn’t realized were at the National Gallery. 

The rain had stopped when I got out; I took one of my favorite walks from Trafalgar past the cenotaph back to Westminster and then took the Underground back to Heathrow and my hotel.  I tried to help a Middle Eastern tourist who was bewildered because the train ended at T2/T3 and he needed to be at T5.  That required a change to another line one floor above us.  I showed him the map but I’m not sure he understood.  I knew how he felt.

It was weird to be in London for only a day but I was glad I had the opportunity.  It was only because I hadn’t been able to get the nonstop to London today and had to leave the tour a day early.  My original flight through Paris tonight landed around 10 PM, half an hour late, but I would likely have made the connection.  I was just as happy I’d gotten in last night and had a day to explore London.