This morning we had a lovely cooked English breakfast in our hotel before setting out for our explorations. Typical though, we got to Paddington station to find that the Bakerloo line was closed due to an operational problem, so we sat down and replanned our journeys. By the time we finished, we made our way over to the underground to find the line was open again, but only spasmodically, due to overcrowding on the platforms. So on we went - Tom off to check out the HMS Belfast, a WW2 cruiser permanently moored on the Thames. After thoroughly exploring the ship he continued on to the Tate Modern Art Gallery, the Golden Hind and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. He then walked across the Millenium Bridge and returned to our hotel. I went off to Trafalgar Square, checking out the beautiful St Martin in the Fields. I didn't go to the National Gallery because we went there last time, so I went to the Pret a Manger sandwich shop for lunch and to use their free wifi before going to the tour office (where I met a lovely couple from Cootamundra). Five other people were also booked to go on the 3 1/2 hour tour and we had a lovely little minibus driven and commentated by a man from Chicago. The tour was really comprehensive, diving down little alleyways and through mews. We saw the houses where Brian Epstein, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Freddy Mercury, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Jimmy Hendrix, John Lennon and Ringo Starr used to live. We also saw the address that was used as James Bond's home address. We saw the address where Keith Moon and Mama Cass both died in the same bed, in the same house, 4 years apart. We also saw the current London homes for Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney (since 1966 - he had a 14 year old girl break in - she came in through the bathroom window), J.K. Rowling and Brian Adams. We were shown the church where Stella McCartney was christened and the temple where Cat Stevens became Yussef Islam. We saw #3 Saville Row where the Beatles did the concert on the roof. We saw the Lords cricket ground, and also the Chelsea Town Hall where many stars have married. We saw the first house that Mick Jagger ever bought (it had a red door he wanted to paint black). We saw the Albert Hall, recording studios for Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull, and Island Records. We saw pubs where the Beatles drank, and where Keith Moon used to drink. We heard the story behind the Hard Rock Cafe and saw where Mary Quant had her shop. We saw the studio where the Sgt Peppers cover was designed and the college where most of Queen met (one is a trained dentist). We saw Bill Wyman's pub called Sticky Fingers, and went to Abbey Road - saw the studios and WALKED ACROSS THE CROSSING!!!! And these were only the things I found interesting - there was so much more on the tour. We were left at the Hard Rock Cafe which was a problem - I'd only written instructions to return from Trafalgar Square. So I walked for an hour or so in the right direction but it was getting late, we had a dinner booking and I was worried I was lost so I got a taxi back to the hotel, just in time to change and freshen up for dinner. And dinner was delightful, as Bel Canto always is. The food was delicious (smoked salmon for starters, tender chicken breast with truffle sauce for mains and creme brûlée for me, delicious chocolate dessert for Tom). The 5 performers sang at least 10 different arias including those from Lakme, Rigoletto and La Traviata. Our waitress was one of the performers and she told us to be sure to ask anything about the music they performed. I misheard and thought she said we could ask for any music, so I told her I'd love to hear the Pearl Fishers. The next thing I knew, one of the male performers dropped by our table to tell us they would be singing that next. It was just wonderful. The manager popped by to ask us if there were any differences from the last time we had dinner there. Later on we were getting tired and stood up to leave 20 minutes before the end of the evening and the waitress was quite dismayed and rushed over to offer us a drink on the house if we would just stay, so with a glass of prosecco in our hand we managed to stay on till the end. They were selling CDs for 10 pound so Tom bought one and we had it It autographed by all of the performers. It really was an awesome evening.