Wide awake at 3am, our day got off to an early start. By 8am we had checked our emails, read the paper, consumed a full English breakfast plus two cups of coffee, and set off in search of a laundrette so that when we depart for Morocco tomorrow we have a suitcase of clean clothes. The laundrette was a 10 minute walk away, but there was plenty of interesting things to see en route (the hard-sell from the day before continues...) including the house where Mozart apparently composed his first symphony.
After depositing our bag of dirty washing with the delightful woman at the laundrette, who for a mere 10 pounds would wash and dry it for us, we continued to Oxford Circus via the tube. I attempted to dazzle Dale with the enormous variety of stores and embarrassment of merchandise available. Economic with his words of admiration, I managed to score a grin from him when he saw the sweet selection at Hamley's toy store. Yes, the dentist has a sweet tooth! He also sighed with appreciation at the cup of coffee I sourced for him from my favourite London cafe, Sacred on Carnaby Street.
We had lunch at Hummus Bros in Soho - another London favourite of mine. The concept is simple, good quality hummus served in a bowl with warm pita bread and your choice of accompanying filling dolloped in the middle of the hummus. I love the guacamole, but they also have chicken, mushrooms, chunky beef, and meatballs to choose from.
Full of hummus-y goodness we caught the tube to St Paul's cathedral. Since I last visited, St Paul's has joined the technological age and now issues iPods with your tickets so that you can listen to different tracks outlining the history and significance of different parts of the church. What's also lovely is that you can listen to a recording of the St Paul's choir as you soak up the magnificence of the perfectly proportioned dome high above, the glittering mosaics, and the glossy marble.
We ventured up the more than 500 steps to the top of the dome and the best view in London. Dizzying high, the "golden circle" offers a 360 degree vantage point over the city.
In the evening we met up with high school friend, James Clarke, who is currently doing his MBA in London. It was great to catch up over a beer at a pub in Blackfriars.