Now, came the part of our trip Margaret had dreaded. We headed for London. It's not that we didn't want to go to London, but driving there was not something any of us - except Barry - were looking forward to. Our luck held, though. Stopping at a filling station, Barry had the good fortune to run into a man who let us follow him to within a block of our hostel. Of course, it still took us 10 minutes to find it! After checking in at our hostel, Barry returned the car. For the next 3 weeks, we would be true backpackers, riding the rails.

The evening ended well, as we met up with a couple from Toronto and their two children. They've spend 4 days in London already and said everything was wonderful so we look forward to our adventures in this amazing city.

July 14

Ah, London in a day. Yes, you heard us! In a DAY!!! Unbelievable, but true.

We met up with our friend, Lubos, at 9:30 a.m. He had been going to school and working near London. We met him when he was on exchange from Slovakia to Edmonton a few years ago. It was wonderful to see him! He hadn't seen that much of London so it turned into a sightseeing extravaganza for all of us.

We came off the tube (subway) and entered a skyline filled with the Big Ben Tower, the Houses of Parliament, and the unbelievable splendour of Westminster Abbey. We went into the Abbey first and Barry bought an audio tour, so he played tour guide while we wandered around viewing the tombs of the most famous monarchs of all time, from Edward the Confessor (Longshanks from Braveheart) and Henry the Eighth, to The Queen of Scots (imprisoned for 19 years only to be executed) and her captor/rival/cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Margaret's favourite part was Poet's Corner, a part of the Abbey dedicated to the great writers like Chaucer, Milton, Dickens, Laurence, and so many more. Ironically, Darwin who, last time we checked didn't really support all aspects of the church, is also buried there. The beauty of the Abbey lies in its celebration of the lives of the many airmen, soldiers, poets, artists, politicians, and nobility who are venerated here.

From the Abbey, we decided to walk along the Thames to see the sights. Everywhere we looked, there was a famous building in the distance and though we were tempted to view them all from above in the London Eye (a HUGE ferris wheel) we restrained ourselves and decided that close-up was better.

Ten minutes later, we were at the Globe Theatre. Again, Margaret led the way into an exhibition, followed by a tour of the Globe. We saw part of a rehearsal for Othello and enjoyed a close-up view of this incredible building.

Next was a crossing (again) of the Thames via the Millenium Bridge, which at one point glowed like bridge to heaven in the bright sunlight as walked towards St. Paul's Cathedral. It was really cool, but we decided if that was what heaven's gate is like, we wouldn't want to enter with that many tourists on either side of us.

When we got to the other side, we walked the rest of the way to St. Paul's Cathedral, another incredible building. Lubos had been inside before and said it was one of his favourite buildings of all time, but the crowd that met us was huge and we'd already had two tours that day, so we took a quick peak inside and headed on.

If St. Paul's Cathedral was busy, it had nothing on Picadilly Circus. No wonder they call it a circus!!! Huge crowds, perched on every step and statue, and the carnival atmosphere was wild.

We met quite a character while looking for lunch. He jumped out at us on the street, said we looked hungry, said he had the best deal, and said he could get us anything we wanted. He was right. We had a good lunch, and then made the huge mistake of leaving our camera on the table (Margaret's fault) when we got up to leave. Believe it or not, the cook ran out after us and returned it. Any negative thoughts you have ever had about London should be totally forgotten. The people are friendly and helpful and lots of fun. As another example - people can drink in the streets here, so you'd think we would have seen a lot of obnoxious behaviour, but it has really been the opposite. Even the tube has been filled with families and elderly people, so it feels safe and friendly. We've talked to people everywhere and they are all really excited about our journey and smile and ask us about ourselves. It's lovely.

After lunch, we started a LONG walk. First stop was Trafalger Square, where we found our own steps and enjoyed watching Connor and Tessa climb everything in sight. The Bobbies were there in abundance, and when Tessa left a backpack one foot from the group, one was quick to remind us that it could be stolen very easily.

From Trafalger Square, we walked to Buckingham Palace. Have you ever seen a rainbow in the distance but the longer you walked, the further away it looked? After all the walking we did, the palace seemed very far away. However, we stopped for a beer and game of footbag (hacky sack) and eventually got there. It was well worth the walk.

The following walk through Hyde Park was refreshingly green and filled with many people recreating (no, not procreating!) in all kinds of ways including jogging, rollerblading, lounging, cycling, picnicking and, OK, a few procreating! We got to Speaker's Corner and were inspired after an impassioned speech to give out hugs. Barry declined but the rest of the family hunted him down and he had to admit that there is nothing like a hug to make you smile.

Off to Covent Gardens, which is like Old Strathcona Market during a festival. We saw singers, street performers, and crowds of people eating at restaurant patios and on street curbs everywhere. In addition, it is very close to the theatre district of the city and we saw massive advertisements for 'Joseph', 'Les Miserables' (running for 20+ years straight), 'Fiddler on the Roof', and too many more to mention. The people walking around ranged from punkers to the rich and richer. At one point, we saw a corner with two pubs across from each other, and the people had simply spilled out into the street, sitting on the road and curbs. Anyhow, we found a restaurant advertising dinner and a glass of wine for six pounds per person and we sat, looking out along the street, watching the theatre crowd walk by. This was the best dinner we had had in England, thus far, according to the kids.

There was only one thing left to do to make our day in London complete, so we headed down to the Tower Bridge, yes the big one, the famous one, and watched the sun go down. We ended the night with a pint and a fond farewell to Lubos. Legs aching, but our memories full, we headed back for our hostel for a well earned, hard sleep. And tomorrow…..Paris.