It's almost 6:00 p.m. here. I had forgotten to upload a photo of my hotel, so that is the cover photo for this segment. I didn't go to Harrod's or Madame Tussaud's today. Instead, I put on warmer clothes & comfy shoes, walked up to Bayswater tube station, bought myself an Oyster Card and took the subway to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Well, first, I got off the train at the wrong station. LOL! I got off at Kensington High Street but was supposed to get off at South Kensington. Didn't realize it at first. The first station dumped me out into a really nice food court. I was hungry so I stopped in Pret A Manger. I'd heard good things about this chain and I was not disappointed. All their food is freshly prepared with no additives or preservatives. All the sandwiches & wraps are assembled and wrapped--ready for you to select from a display case. They also have an assortment of fruits, drinks, juices, chips & soups. I picked up a sandwich, chips & diet coke. It was a little pricey, though--I think it was over £7. But, I felt better eating something that wasn't fried. Oh yeah, it did have bacon on it, but that doesn't count. After lunch, I headed for the exit where there were signs directing you to nearby attractions. But, the V&A museum was not listed. I pulled out my tube map and realized I was at the wrong station. So, back down to the trains I went. I got off where I was supposed to and then it was a long walk through a tunnel to get to the museum. That was handy because it was raining and I didn't have to go outside. This place was huge! There was so much more to see than my feet would allow. I saw some really wonderful things. I'll try to upload my pictures shortly. I don't think I took very many, though. Wandered around as long as I could stand it and finally pooped out. The train back to Bayswater was very crowded as it was then rush hour, but it was only about a 10 minute ride. When I got back to my hotel, I laid down for about 30 minutes but forced myself to get up because I was afraid I'd fall asleep. I packed up my computer and headed to.....you guessed it....Starbucks! The pub I ate at last night is on this same street, so I guess I will go back there for dinner when I leave here and make an early evening of it. If I'm going to be doing all this walking & standing I need to rest up. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm sitting here drinking a coffee at 6:00!! But, my feet & body are so tired I'm sure I'll fall right to sleep. I probably won't be coming here in the morning since I'm blogging now. I'm sure nothing exciting will happen between now & then. But, that also means that I can get an earlier start tomorrow. Now that I'm an "expert" tube rider, I think I'll go to the Tower of London first thing in the morning before the lines get long. From there I can make my way over to the London Eye and then Westminster Abbey. If I have any energy left after that, which is doubtful, I'll go on to Buckingham Palace. If not, I'll head back to my hotel. Plan B is to take a train to Windsor Castle. I haven't heard the weather forecast for tomorrow yet. It has stopped raining and it looks like it wants to clear off but it could be pretty cold tomorrow. I've heard you should plan to spend 3 hours at the Tower. If it's really overcast, I'll skip the London Eye. Today's observations:

• If you are a Londoner, you must wear a scarf around your neck (men & women)
• The dogs here are pretty ugly (although I saw 2 cute Poms in Hyde Park yesterday)
• There are an awful lot of French-speaking people here
• There's an Al Roker look-a-like here in Starbucks and he is rocking himself and talking to himself.
• The biggest news story over here is about Pudsey, the adorable dog that won the Britain's Got Talent competition Saturday night.

I saw his final performance, as well as the final performance of Charlotte & Johnathan (opera singers--Johnathan is amazing!) I was surprised that they didn't win but have to admit that Pudsey was awesome! I'm sure there are probably YouTube videos of him and his Mission Impossible performance. OK, "Al Roker" just left, but not before I captured his rocking on my phone! Oops, he left his jacket. I'm sure he'll be back. OK, time for me to go. I'll do a quick photo upload if I can and will fill you all in on tomorrow's activities tomorrow.