London

Final destination incoming!

Eurostar does meals well. 

Nice cityscape downtown. 

I'd like to talk with their advertising folk. 

The Queen's row barge?!?

This is why they call it 'The Shard.'

Borough Market never disappoints!

First London apartment was a dump, so I bailed and found a better place. 

Time to do some budget shopping. 

Got me some of these already!!

A hotel old fashioned that was amazing, as were the best corn nuts I ever had. 

Okay, this was rich....hordes of men dressed like this, some with umbrellas to top off the look. 

Asked one guy what was up. "We had a military parade in Hyde Park, which is why we're dressed like idiots."

This is what I call a coffee maker!

Leave the Westminster tube station and run into Big Ben. 

Churchill's War Rooms: a fascinating underground bunker. 

The Plant Room; of course, I was fascinated by the power distribution setup!

The original 10 Downing Street door. Unfortunately, I couldn't get close to the current one!

This gem was in the gift shop wartime recipe book. 

Huge entourage formed outside, probably two dozen vehicles. Yep....Princess Kate on the way to the Dollar Store or something. 

And a David Letterman lookalike. 

The Royal Albert Hall. 

Sir Winston, Sir David, Sir George....and Sinatra snuck an appearance, too. 

I mean, come ON: Barry White and Quincy?!?

I missed Paul Simon by a day. 

Sat in Princess Diana's family box. Sorry, no pix: there was a rehearsal in progress, and the very proper (and snobby) tour guide would not allow cameras inside the bowl. 

I freaked out when I saw Nile Rodgers......(see what I did there?)

King James was here....I'll see him in a couple of months. 

I love my Bucket List, and I'm crossing items off with regularity. Here was a big one, the site of Roger Bannister's barrier busting 4 minute mile in Oxford. 

A follow-on race 3 months later pitted Bannister against Aussie John Landy, who by then had broken Bannister's record. In their match race, Landy was leading out of the final turn when he snuck a peak behind. At that moment, Bannister burst past on the other side and took the race.

A college buddy's BFF Karen, from Central City Nebraska, now lives in Maidenhead....she had a job near Oxford on my last day, so I took the train up to the track, paid my respects, then met up with her for lunch and a lovely drive back to town. 

She mentioned that Sir Nicholas Winton lived in Maidenhead and was immortalized at the train station. 

That was a great afternoon to finish a great trip!

On my flight home, I had four seats to myself, so I was able to sleep for five solid hours!! I'll take it. 

A fantastic 32 days. Back soon!