Becky & Jim Go To London, Day One

I looked up the street. I looked down the street. I batted my eyelids in utter confusion. I glared at the map. The directions appeared simple and straight forward, yet there wasn't a single sign of Becky and Jim's hotel. I was lost. In my own city.

It's not a difficult thing to do, getting lost in London. Even people who were born here get lost on occasion. But it's kind of embarrassing when you're supposed to be playing tour guide. Instills a lot of confidence.

Eventually I found the proper hotel (or rather, Jim found me) and my stint as a tour guide officially began. Since my clients were of the HIGHEST caliber and the MOST discerning, I knew I'd better do a good job. Otherwise they might tell my mother on me.

So, off we headed into the great, wide world of London. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a little cafe and I discovered that Jim had recently acquired an addiction to baguette sandwiches. The little cafe, such a hole in the wall with dire green walls, served excellent sandwiches of all varieties. We were pleased.

After lunch, our first stop was New Scotland Yard. It only seemed appropriate to have a picture of one of Prineville's finest in front of the home of London's finest. No need to point out I found NSY completely by accident. Oh, no. Let us pretend it was all in my Master Plan.

After mugging it in front of one of the world's most famous police stations, we headed over to Westminster Abbey. What an amazing place! We spent a good couple of hours inside wandering through the, um, graves.

There were sarcophagi everywhere. From Queens to Poets, everyone who is anyone is buried under the floors of Westminster Abbey. Which is really sort of creepy, if you think about it. I half expected Chaucer's ghost to go streaking through the nave.

In the very oldest part of the Abbey, which dates back nearly 1000 years, lies a museum. Inside the museum are relics of the Abbey's past, from the crosses of long-dead abbots, to the death dolls of famous monarchs.

After we'd had our fill of Westminster, we wandered over to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, Friday just happened to be the only day they don't do tours. We consoled ourselves by poking through the tourist shop on the hunt for goodies. We resisted the goodies and instead headed over to one of my favourite places: Covent Garden.

Becky and I left Jim to his own devices and wandered about in the shops. The very same musical group Michelle and I had so enjoyed on St. Patrick's Day was playing again! I was thrilled that Becky got a chance to hear them. They were excellent, as usual, and we really enjoyed the music and atmosphere.

After a good long listen, we found Jim again and headed to China town for a truly delicious dinner at one of the local restaurants... roast duck, spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken, special fried rice... yum, yum, yum!

By this time my clients had completely worn me out, so I headed home to bed before the next grand London Adventure!