London - We made it!

After an uneventful and fast flight across the Atlantic we arrived close to half an hour earlier than scheduled.  After collecting our luggage and clearing the border and customs, we quickly checked in to our hotel.  After a shower and a nap we felt relatively human again so we set off to London on the Underground.  It was pouring rain at every aboveground station we passed through.  We decided we would make our first  stop of the day Harrod’s rather than marching around in a deluge.  When we emerged from the Knightsbridge station next to the store, it had nearly stopped raining.

We rode the Egyptian escalator all the way to the top and then began exploring the floors.  What a fascinating place!  We were here earlier last year and they hadn’t yet begun to gear up for Christmas.  No so today.  There were so many ornaments it was mind-boggling! We wandered through the sections selling art and lots of decorative items for the home.  Some were beautiful; most were outrageously expensive.  We saw a life size woman made of thousands of pieces of gold art glass and sitting in a chair.  She cost a mere 168,000 pounds.  Al wondered if the chair came with her for that price.  (We didn’t buy her.)  Our last stop in Harrod’s was the Food Hall.  What a marvelous place it is!  The breads and pastries and chocolates are incredibly tempting.  As we had done in the past we bought some coffee and tea and we discovered a wonderful thing; Harrod’s knows our four favorite shopping words when traveling – Charge It, Ship It.  So our purchases will make it home before we do.

By the time we left the store the sun was coming out.  We walked up Brompton Road.  It was along there that we saw these buildings which are in such contrast, the very modern glass towers next to the more Rococo buildings. 

We loved the visual combinatio

As we approached Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch, the sun broke through and lit up the sculpture at the top of the Angel of Peace descending on the chariot of war being pulled by four beautifully sculpted horses. 

We walked past Green Park along Park Lane and then Piccadilly until we got to the Wolseley  This café-restaurant is operated in the tradition of grand European cafes and is famous for its afternoon tea service. We  had eaten there last year and enjoyed it so much we needed to revisit.  It was just as good the second time around. We were a little late for tea so we had an early dinner.  We had some of the best oysters on the half  shell and Scottish salmon we’ve ever eaten.

  

Hard to see, but this is the doorman of the cafe.

After a nice meal we walked to the tube station and headed home.  It turned out to be a grand day despite the rainy start.  Best of all we managed to stay up pretty late so by tomorrow we should be pretty well acclimated to the time change.

Well, tomorrow is another day.  We’re off to see ravens and enigmas.