Sunday, 18 July 2010 -- Day 210 (223)

We're back in London, and my dogs are exhausted. We left Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent this morning by train, arriving at Victoria Station in London, and taking a taxi to St. Georges Hotel. After checking us in, I learned that we're up eight flights of narrow, narrow stairs w/ no lift (elevator). I obviously missed something when booking online that would've given us first-floor accommodations. The service here isn't the best, but I asked that Ron's suitcase be carried up the eight flights. While climbing these stairs, I'm reminded of the movie, Barefoot in the Park, w/ young newlyweds Robert Redford and Jane. She's excited about the apartment she's just rented in NYC that has no elevator, and is on the top floor. By the time Redford's character gets up to his apartment, he's so winded he can't even speak.....yep, that's what I felt like after hauling up my 40+-pound suitcase and 160-pound ass.

After catching our breath and getting settled in our room, we set off to explore London. We should've had pedometers to clock the miles we walked this afternoon and evening. We saw Westminster Abbey but only the outside since they don't have inside tours on Sunday's. We saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Parliamentary Square that was filled w/ tents and people protesting England's involvement in the Middle East, toured The National Gallery to see some original works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Rembrandt, and kicked around the West End and Piccadilly Circus. Feeling more confident in my abilities to navigate London, we attempted to ride the double-decker bus to return to our hotel. Big mistake! We ended up going the opposite direction, and had to get on the Underground (subway) to Oxford Circus and then jump onto another subway train to Victoria Station. I literally mean "jump" since we got off one, cross to the other track and got on the next. Good thing we bought a travel card that allowed us to ride any train, underground, or bus as much as we wanted. We again took a taxi to our hotel since by then it was about 9:30 p.m. Ron said at one point today that he had a moment when he thought, "I can't wait to show Mom these pictures." We're always looking at store names and pointing out the really catchy ones, which is a game Mom loved to play. She really is w/ us everywhere we go.

BTW......I've discovered Skype is a WONDERFUL communication medium when being far away from loved ones. I can have video calls w/ Maddy, and by putting money in my Skype account, I can talk to Kenzie and Doug on the phone.