Sunday in London

Much of yesterday was spent traveling from Cornwall to London, first driving to Truro to drop off our rental car, then taking the 5-hour train ride to Paddington Station.  Let's call it an entertaining trip - we seem to have ended up in the ill-behaved children car.  I really should have dug out the camera to take pictures - especially the unbelievable mess made by two little girls sitting in front of us (garbage everywhere, crayons and junk food - which mum fed them nonstop for the entire trip - ground into the carpet under their seat, scribbles decorating the table and window, etc.).  Then there was the toddler who kicked Sheryle's back and screamed like a banshee until he and his apparently deaf and oblivious parents got off, only to be replaced by the undisputed kings of mayhem, Jack and Zach, whose thankfully brief trip to visit Auntie Helen left us all saying, "Thank goodness Auntie Helen live close by," and "Poor Auntie Helen."

Where's "Nanny 911" when you need her???

Today has been blissfully free of such excitement.

We began the day (after, of course, our hearty Full English Heart-Attack-on-a-Plate Breakfast at the Alhambra Hotel) by attending the Choral Mattins (that's how they spell it in England) service at St. Paul's Cathedral.  It was a beautiful service - the Cathedral Choir is amazing, and the message inspiring.

Following the service we walked along the Thames to Trafalgar Square, passing by the memorial to the volunteer firefighters who kept St. Paul's from burning during the bombings of World War II.

This iconic photo says it all -

We walked through Whitehall Gardens - in glorious bloom.

We had a great Sunday lunch in the Crypt Cafe of St. Martin's in the Field (where one of Sheryle's ancestors was married - before she was hanged for being an outspoken Quaker).  We couldn't pass up the warm crumble for dessert -

We can diet when we get home.

Well fed, we walked on toward the West End theatre district where we got tickets to the 5 pm matinee of "Jersey Boys" - a highly recommended musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  Hooray for "senior discounts"!  We were able to get "best available" seats for much less than the regular price - and they were pretty good seats, at that.

We had some time before the play, so we headed to Harrod's.  it was a busy place, but always fun to see.

I found just the thing for John's office -

A desk with an intricately inlaid map of the world - for a mere £85,000 - about $140,000.  The very talkative salesman said that it took 600 hours to create, and would take five minutes to sell to someone from China, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar.  And they wouldn't think anything of the price.  He had lots of opinions, which he entertained us with for 20 minutes or more.

The play was outstanding - I had always thought that it was just a "Mamma Mia" wannabe, but it far exceeded my expectations.

The crazy street scene after the play was fun, but it was nice to escape the madhouse and walk home through the quiet streets of Bloomsbury, past the British Museum, and through Russell Square, which was full of people enjoying the warm evening.

If the weather's as nice tomorrow, we plan to take a boat trip up the Thames to Kew Gardens.

Ahhhhh...