After arriving in London and getting my tour of Harrod's, we set off on the first leg of our walking tour. The idea was to give me as much of a sampler of London as possible, so we weren't going to take the time to do any really in-depth tours. This is not unlike what my grandparents and father did in 1956 because when you're on a European tour and only have maybe 1 or 2 days at the most in any given city, there's no time to do anything in great detail. It's what I call taking a "Lite Tour of Europe" -- looks great, but less filling.
From Harrod's, which is just at the Knightsbridge station on the Underground (a.k.a. The Tube), we set off toward Sloane Square, walking along some of the side streets to (a) avoid the crowds and (b) get a more interesting look at some of London's architecture. I was introduced to something called "mews houses" which in the old days used to be more of the servants quarters behind the larger stately row houses but which are now being snapped up by people with real money and converted into charming homes for around a million pounds, give or take a few hundred thousand quid. This photo is NOT of the mews houses but a choice piece of Sloane Square real estate and it just looked beautiful in the pink light of dusk... just how I pictured a London street.
From Sloane Square, we caught a double-decker bus (the newer models, not the grand old traditional ones, but they're still red and when you sit up top you get a great view of everything) and headed for Picadilly Circus. Iain pointed out the statue of Eros and the big neon board that's smaller but reminiscent of Times Square in NYC, complete with Coca-Cola advertisements.
Somewhere in here (I've lost track of what we did when), we stopped at Peter Jones so Elizabeth and Iain could check out some lighting options for their Southampton apartment. This was where we stopped for some hot chocolate and where Father Christmas put in an appearance. I liked this store a lot, it's the kind of place I'd probably shop in if I lived in London; not too posh but a great selection of all kinds of merchandise, much closer to what I'm used to but can't seem to find (yet) here in Paris.
We walked through Trafalgar Square (part of what Iain called the "anti-French tour" as we kept seeing monuments to Nelson's defeat of the French and references to Waterloo... and I sure hope I'm not getting all this history wrong!) I think we also strolled by the church of St. Martin in the Fields which was under a big renovation project.
Then a walk up to and around Covent Garden where I bought a few souvenirs. Later we stopped into the Savoy, hoping to get into the American Bar, but it was full up so we settled for a glass of champagne in one of the other public areas in the Savoy.
We made our way back to the apartment over Waterloo Bridge (see what I mean about the anti-French tour) where there was a beautiful view of "Big Ben" and the Parliament tower, as well as the London "Eye".
Shortly thereafter, we enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal at a favorite restaurant right near Elizabeth & Iain's place, where they are clearly regulars judging by the service and attention we got. We even got an after-dinner drink on the house: limoncello which I've only had once before, at an Italian restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany. Delish, and the perfect ending to a wonderful day!
Next installment: another all-day walking tour where we covered at least 10 miles (OK, a few of those miles were by bus but we really did walk most of it!) and for which I have a 3.5 page list of what we saw along the way!
