A Rainy Day? This is London, My Boy, Every Day's a Rainy Day!

Every walked in the rain and didn't really care if it was raining because you were in LONDON??  I'll just leave that there.

My flight on Virgin America was quite uneventful.  A few good points - a free drink, decent food and some good movies.  I watched "The Danish Girl" - which was fabulous, and then I watched the remake of "Vacation" which was fine, it did what it set out to do, I guess.  The only thing that would have been a negative was that there were two screaming babies on board, both in my section.  Thank goodness for noise cancellation headphones.  Eventually, they calmed and went to sleep.  Hard not to feel bad for these little ones.  They can't tell you what's wrong, and I bet it had something to do with their ears. Another good thing was that I didn't have anyone next to me, so I was able to spread out a bit more.  I can't really sleep well on planes, as long as I'm relaxed that helps.   I listened to some music and watched movies.  

Getting through customs was easy.  I never know what to say when an official asks if I've been to London before.  I'd hate to lie, but in the end, we just agreed it was a "no". LOL. I took a cab to my hotel.  I booked this hotel under the recommendation of Ricahrd Newton, my resident English expert.  It's a great place, very roomy and comfortable.  As per Euopean tradition, a double room is two single beds.  At least I don't have to share with another person or a dog.  I got settled in my room and laid down and watched some TV and fell asleep for an hour or so.   I woke up and thought "ok, now what?"   I remember when I was in Venice a few years ago, and I had such a crappy first few hours in Venice trying to get to my hotel that I was "done" before I began.  But a text from mom told me to get out and start exploring - and I did.  So, that's what I did.

I had a small list of things to do - I had to find a second Rick Steves guide to London as I forgot the one I was reading and studying at home, and I needed a second electricity converter.  So, I put long pants on and my jacket and took off.  I walked out of the hotel and realized that yes indeed, it was raining - just enough to annoy me. I realized this wasn't going to happen without an umbrella, and I hadn't packed mine because I couldn't find it.  So I went to the gift shop and bought an umbrella and an electricity converter.  I was on my way - singing all the way "I'm just a fella, a fella with an umbrella". I walked the few blocks up to the main drag through Kensington, and started to walk toward the Royal Albert Hall.  I found it interesting that I saw this

At least I knew where I could go that might have been familiar.

I made it to the Royal Albert Hall - the world famous Royal Albert Hall, that is.  Here are some pics

Front of the Royal Albert Hall

Back of the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall and Double Decker Bus selfie

This was across the street from the Royal Albert Hall, I believe that is Albert.  

Tomorrow, I'm doing the Hop On/Hop Off Bus thing, I found the stop closest to me.  Here's the bus

I found a church, it was locked.   Here is the Netherlands embassy. 

I walked up toward Notting Hill, hoping to recreate a scene from the movie, but on my journey up, it really started to come down.  I found a bookstore and bought a pocket version of the Rick Steves London book, and then headed back to the hotel.  I kinda took a wrong turn on the way back and went way out of my way,  In the pouring rain, this happened:

From the streets of London:

(Pouring rain, I'm trying to get back to the hotel)

Two guys stop me and said--

2 guys:  excuse me, can we borrow your umbrella

Me:  uh, may I ask why?  

2 guys:  so we can walk around London in the rain

Me:  yeah, well, that's what I'm doing, so good luck with that.

<end>

They had an accent, so I don't know if they were locals or maybe just high??  I finally made it back to the hotel, but not with my Visitors A-Z London app that Raegena said I should have.   It lead me back without a hitch.  So, back to the hotel, out of my damp clothes and then headed downstairs for dinner.  London doesn't seem like other countries I've visited, it's not like "Let's try and eat the cuisine of the country", well, I did - I had fish and chips for dinner,.  Very yummy.  

Tomorrow, hopefully lots of London sites and my first West End show.  It's probably going to be Les Miserables.  I'll suck it up and deal with the tin pot orchestrations.

Pip Pip Cheerio!