Day 8: London?

London. London? Yes London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary @&$(;/$& Poppins... LONDON! Today we awoke at 5:30 in order to finish packing. Somehow we got it all back into the bags before our Paris landlord showed up to get the keys from us at 7:45. This was the day of the trip we had been dreading...getting all this luggage onto the metro during the Monday morning rush. Fortunately, we only had one train to catch in order to get to the Eurostar and cross the Channel! We arrived in London around 1 and were let in to our new apartment. Wow. This place is right in the middle of all the money in London! We are just off Bond Street where some of the most expensive stores in the world are. The apartment is great. The Paris place was very old and grandma -like decor; this place is swank and modern...a welcomed change. After some lunch in a cafe by the apartment, we headed to the streets. We traversed Bond Street to Picadilly Circus, and then back down Regent Street to get our bearings. There are all type of people here, and it is a very exciting vibe. After getting a few miles on the legs, we headed home to rest up for the eveing.

Steph grabbed the camera and we again traversed the city. We walked across the River Thames to the London Eye (the fairly new ferris wheel that over looks the city). After our half hour ride around the wheel, we trekked past the Parliment/Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. For dinner, we decided to go into the original Hard Rock Cafe. I know...sorta touristy and American, but this was the place that Eric Clapton liked so much, he wanted a permanant table. The cafe owners granted his wish and mounted one of his guitars on the wall to mark his table; the rest is history.