After the best part of a month away, today I'm finally blogging about a place while I'm actually in that very same place! Unfortunately today (the day I'm writing this) I'm on my second visit to London, and the day I'm writing about is the second day of our first visit. From over two weeks ago. There's an indication of how far behind I am! But I'm trying! Plus, while I'm behind there's always that anticipation that you might have more than one entry to read when you get up. When (if?) I catch up, you know that days aren't produced any quicker, so you'll only be able to get one a day (shut up to anybody who says that's better than now). Anyway, no wonder I'm so far behind - two paragraphs in and all you've read is ********. I hope you're still with me! Today (as in the day I'm writing about, not the day I'm writing it) was going to be a bit of a half-half day really; there were a few things Dad and I wanted to do in the morning, before we met Daniel in the arvo, which would give us a chance to walk around with him and show him most of the quintessentially London things for his shortened time here (after a day cruising the street of course we're experts). It was also a day for prayer too, praying to God that he found his way to the station, his right train, and right connection. We were after a miracle really! Having had my shave yesterday (and therefore removing any facial hair for years (thanks Dutch heritage)), I joined Dad for breakfast at the hotel to fuel our day, before we gathered our things and headed out. One thing I've really noticed in our couple of days so far is how clean and polished London is. This morning it was confirmed why; I actually saw a street cleaning dude hand sweeping up...a leaf! And he didn't get it first go, so he went in again and rid that street of that leaf. I pity that man come autumn. Dad and I decided to spend the morning at the Tower of London, which is a World Heritage Site, to make Dad feel young, given the fact some of this place dates back almost 1000 years. We successfully caught the tube to the nearest station, which saved our legs that long walk. Good golly (purposeful use of Englishy words) we'd gotten good at this public transport thing! Clearly the definition of 'tower' has changed since it was used here; there really isn't anything resembling a tower here at all. Really it's like a fort, an old castle, and an old city all seemingly rolled into one. But regardless of what it's name is or whatever, given its history it really is quite amazing, and it's a history I just can't fathom! It's been the Royal Mint for England, so some of the earliest coins in England's history were produced here, housed English royalty for centuries, and still houses the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, which were really sparkly! We wandered around the historic grounds for a couple of hours, before heading back to the adjacent Tower Bridge, which I was keen to do the tour of and climb to the top of. Because it was 42 metres high. Yeah yeah!! We did the tour, which was interesting, and saw the old engine room for the bridge. Again they must've been small a century ago, because I bumped my head on the ceiling in this room! Ouch. Maybe they ******* head butted the thing open back in the day! By the time we'd toured the Tower Bridge, it was getting close to Daniel's arrival time. Like the local pros we now were, we took the tube to his station and waited at the platform for him. His train was delayed. No matter; having done all we wanted to in London we were in no hurry! When the train eventually did arrive about 25 minutes late, Dad and I watched in eager anticipation for the lanky p****to emerge. Unsurprisingly, it didn't happen. As Dad strolled back from the end of the platform, confusion all over his face, I couldn't help but laugh. I wasn't worried about his welfare - I knew he'd be fine - and I knew we'd work it out eventually and get him to London (along with an awesome story to tell), but I just wondered what the hell he'd done, and where the hell he had found himself. Unfortunately, no such luck. Turns out his train arrived at a different platform and he was waiting in the arrivals hall. b*****. We helped him get an Oyster Card (actually I helped him get an Oyster Card to save us from yesterday's fiasco), and we yet again successfully navigated the tube back to the station closest to our hotel! Well done us (me)! After letting Daniel settle in, we headed back out for a jam packed afternoon to show him the sights. We retraced a bit of what we did yesterday, which really didn't matter because we'd done pretty much everything we had wanted in our couple of days, showing him Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, before we decided to cross the Thames and do the London Eye together. Sadly it wasn't quite as nice a day as yesterday, with low clouds clinging to the sky meaning the view didn't extend very far, but it was still pretty awesome to do the London Eye. Also I did rabbit ears behind Dad on the professional photo he then decided to buy from on board the wheel! Afterwards, we did the 4D experience that was included as part of the ticket. It was ****. Don't do it. Nothing more needs to be said of it. By the time we were done there, the afternoon was fading away, and Daniel has happily done enough of London to brag about it. We decided to make our way back towards the hotel, then head back to the sports bar from last night to watch tonight's round of soccer matches. Along the way, similar to Daniel last week, Dad got his left and right confused! Except it was better, because he tried to dig himself out of a hole, but inevitably made it bigger and bigger. There was a phone box up on the left that Dad and I had seen yesterday that we knew was the right way home. So after I pointed out 'the phone box on the left up there' to Daniel, Dad pointed out 'the phone box on the right'. Clearly it was on the left. Telling Dad this, he came up with every excuse under the sun as to why he said it was on the right, each one digging him further and further down that hole, but he wouldn't let up. We tried hugging him better, but he hated it! Poor Dad! It was at this point I remember our first day, how excited he was at the prospect of taking his sons to Europe. I wonder if that realisation of a month with us has sunk in yet? We got back to the hotel, got ourselves ready for the night, and headed back to the sports bar from last night. Luckily we were there early enough tonight to secure a table, which meant we could have some tea. It also meant we would be there longer than last night, and with my drinking partner Daniel back, we made the most of it. It was at this point too we experienced the most London things about being in London - we had a Foster's! It was our first ever, and it wasn't too bad, but we still went back to Heinekens at the end of it! By the end of the night Daniel and I were a bit drunk! We all headed home, and Daniel and I took cute selfies in the bed. I was so happy to have him back in the same bed...! We cuddled up, spooned a bit, and called it a night!