Peep meets London

We took our super coach tour this morning and it was worth getting up early. :) Our Blue Badge guide, Hugh, was very nice and gave us a ton of information, as well as some photo ops. We ended up circling around London Bridge at one point, which meant I had the chance with Peep in tow to take more pictures in London (i.e. facing the Tower) and see the sights in central London. We even got to see the changing of the guard and Buckingham Palace, two quintessentially touristy things that were still fun. Our afternoon plans didn't go as well, mostly because advance booking for tickets is very much a must around here. Still, it was neat to tour more of London than our immediate neighborhoods and then walk Leicester Square for some postcards/souvenirs. Check out some highlights of Peep's tour behind the cut as well as the fun conclusion to our afternoon of free time.

Peep at St. Paul's, very impressed by the sheer size of the cathedral

A Tower Bridge photo op by the Thames

Peep at the Palace!

After our bus tour, Peep took a break at the flat while we made lunch and tried to decide what to do. We unfortunately discovered that you must call well in advance for tickets to just about anything and thus, our hopes of catching some of the nearby shows (except We Will Rock You) were dashed. Literally, we kept discovering things to do about fifteen minutes too late, which was a little sad since some of them sounded fun and were free. In the end, we decided to tour Covent Gardens, which included a trip to the market and lots of window shopping and strolling. It was late enough on a Sunday afternoon/evening that everything was closed, and thanks to our indecisiveness and more timing issues, we ended up walking all the way back to the study centre before finding food.

During our search for theatre options, we came across multiple listings for performances at the Globe--one of my must-see options while in London (thanks to that English undergrad background)--but of course, they want two weeks' notice on bookings, which essentially precludes attending an actual performance at the Globe itself. As a consolation prize, we found a little pub called The Globe, but it was closing as we arrived; literally, they turned off the lights while we were looking at the menu posted outside. More sad times. Oddly enough, the little restaurant we finally found for dinner accepted American dollars and Euros, though, so in case we run out of English currency at the end of our time in London, we know where to go for an inexpensive meal. :)