Friday, April 5, 2013

The Whirlwind of London

We got up this morning, early naturally, as we went to bed at 7:30.  After a hearty English breakfast we headed out to continue our whirlwind tour of London.  We had in mind to visit two of the highlights, but as it turned out, we got to Saint Paul's Cathedral, and were so enamoured in the tour, the art work, the ceilings, the ball and, in fact, the cross that we only had time to do that.  It was truly an amazing and beautiful cathedral.  We climbed and climbed and climbed up the whispering room, and beyond, and the very view from the top, these are for you, Rachel and Alice.

We did some more bus gawking on the to and from Saint Paul's, and some people watching.  Sadly, it is still winter in London.  We toured in the snow, my friends, ah, yes, the snow and wind. 

Amongst the flurries, plucky daffodils are poking up everywhere in clusters, but the trees are still bare and black, nothing is going to coax them out a winter's rest yet.  

Busing around London afford a lot of people watching opportunities, and London appears to be very cosmopolitan, not only culturally, but in other senses as well.  Well dressed business downtowners, street people, service industries employees of every nationality except British and tourists poured down every byway and alley...all sharing a common bond of brotherhood.

They are all really, really cold. 

Surprisingly, most of the tour bus employees are Eastern European.  They were bundled at every stop, selling tickets and giving directions.  II think they are attracted to this type of vocation because they miss the inhospitable living conditions of their motherlands.  

At three in the afternoon, having picked up our luggage from our little B&B in Paddington, we hustled over to the station and caught a train to Bath, where, not fifteen minutes out of London, the rolling pastoral English countryside of the postcard variety slowly unfolded before our very eyes.  

With each passing mile, the towns and hamlets got cuter and the valleys and hills ran further afield.  Until we arrived an hour and a half later in the very heart of cuteness, at the Old Malt House B&B in Timsbury, outside of Bath.  

Our delightful hosts chatted with us, made us amazing fish and chips, and people are now snoring, in their cozy beds, awaiting another day of surprises and wonders.  

No comments:

Post a Comment