London is a long way from Arlington in more ways than one. 9 hours is a long time to be in a plane, even if it is a first-class ticket. (that does help ease the pain though) We hit the ground running Saturday morning to try to cram in as much "traveling" as one can do in 3 days. Our bodies threatened mutiny since they thought it was 2am even though the sun was shining brightly. Caffiene appeased the beasts and we began our time on the ground.

Our hotel afforded us a decent view of the downtown area and the London Eye. While we never made it over there, I'm sure it was a lovely ferris wheel. Saturday really consisted mainly us of trying in vain to get discount tickets to a show and wondering around a bustling city before finally succombing to the time change with a nap. That evening, we went on our first "London Walk", a tour of haunted spots in Old London. Our guide was great and in character as a ghoul and had all kinds of stories about executed prisoners wandering the rooftops of the old city and the neighborhood of Sweeney Todd and his "meat" pies.

The next day, we got our daily passes for the Tube. For those who don't know, picture a hodge podge of "El" lines criss-crossing the city. Now picture those lines anywhere from ground level to about 1 mile below judging by the size and number of escalators we had to take. Anyway, onto the above ground portions of our trip.

You almost literally can't throw a stone without hitting something historic in London. On the walk from the train to the Tower of London, there was the remant of a Roman defensive wall, circa AD 200. Not a big deal, barely worth the measly little plaque that stood outside. It was in the area they called Londinium. Name more or less stuck from the looks of it. I guess there was a statue of Roman Emporer Trajan there for high-school aged kids to make fun of. The Tower of London was probably the most interesting thing we did while we were there. Arguably the most popular attraction in London, it has lots to offer. Some of the Crown jewels were on display. We saw a solid gold punch bowl that would probably hold 50 gallons of the stuff. I'll bet they didn't dump 7-up and Hawaiian punch in it though.

The Tower(s) themselves served various purposes over the years. One, the Salt Tower, was used in the later years as a holding for Jesuit prisoners. The carvings and inscriptions they wrote back in the 14 and 1500s are still there. Maggie and I both are always amazed at that sort of history. There's just not that much surviving from that long ago in North America. Right by the towers is London bridge which is, ba-dum-ba, not falling down.

One of London's most famous residents who never lived there was the great Sherlock Holmes. We stopped for some fish and chips in a little pub on our way over to 221b Baker St. Sometimes we think the restaurant service in the US is bad, at least we have some though. We might as well have been invisible to the people inside. we looked at the menu for a full 5 minutes as staff walked by before we decided they weren't going to ask us if we would like something to drink. Finally, I went up the bar and ordered drinks before asking if we were supposed to order food there as well. "Yes" came the reply, very matter of factly, as if their lack of signs and wandering waitresses were supposed to tip us off.

Sherlock's home turned out to be a bust...an in-development condo to be specific. A few doors down was the museum, but we decided a recreation of a fictional residence wasn't that high on the priority list. Later that evening, we took another London walk, a pub crawl to be specific. It took us through some very expensive neighborhoods and into some back alleys to see some little holes in the wall that have been around for a couple hundred years.

Monday main goal was to get tickets to a show. We scored some Billy Elliot seats, nevermind they were next-to-last row in theatre seats built for patrons of smaller stature. It was a pretty good show about a little boy who loved the ballet, even though dancing was apparently prohibited in the theatre itself. Earlier that day, we hit up Harrods and went to the British museum after that. It was very large and impressive and housed a bunch of stuff that they picked up from the colonies over the years. Quite a collection though, very cool stuff. Egyptian mummies, Roman weapons and pottery, all time periods and all parts of the globe. Too much to experience in a week, let alone in the 2 hours we had to spend.

All in all, London was amazing. For my first trip across the pond, I couldn't have asked for much more. It was sunny the whole time we were there which is no small feat in and of itself. It is a very lively city, extremely diverse and crowded and yet not overpowering. Next time we plan to branch out into countryside and see more of merry ol' England.