By My roommate and I woke up but our travel buddies decided to sleep in. So after breakfast, Cammie and I wandered in the park. The weather was beautiful and the birds were flocking. There are signs everywhere telling you not to feed the animals. Being a rule follower, I obeyed. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a chocolatier that I remembered from my last London trip and picked up some Belgium chocolate for snacks (and for gifts).
Next up is a Richmond. Just an FYI, I totally recommend staying at our hotel for the location alone (but yes the rooms are nice and breakfast is good, too). The tube stop is very close by and can get you anywhere. We arrived in Richmond and did some shopping (I’m all shopped out, but my friends were not.) as we sauntered over to Richmond theatre for a Pantomime. If you haven’t been to a Panto, it is a definite MUST. I believe my friend described it as Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Children’s theater. It’s funny, bawdy but not too risque. Today’s show was Cinderella and featured an actress from Call the Midwife (along with 2 guys in drag playing the step-sisters…their tag lines were ‘Aren’t we gorgeous?’ to which the audience booed mercilessly. Their retort, ‘AHHHH – shut your faces!’). After the show we window shopped and then took a taxi to the Dove for dinner. This time I enjoyed the Fish and Chips…and we all enjoyed Barbara the pug who was sitting at the table next to us.
Sadly it was time to get home, so we took a taxi to Hammersmith station and returned to London…but not the hotel. We have one more activity today – the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. I walked by The Tower every day (via Tower bridge, of course) on the way to and from work…but I have never attended this ceremony before. It’s a delicious piece of history and perfectly encapsulates all that is British – pomp and circumstance with quite a bit of dry humor.
At the conclusion, we tiredly took the tube home. Of course, someone on our tube coughed… I swear I could see the virus floating in the air. Fingers crossed I don’t get sick (news flash…I do).
