London - May 16 and 17

Friday, May 16

Today was the day for the Tower of London.  We set out about 10:30.  Gary has not been able to send e-mails from his iPad so we made a stop at the Apple store.  Unfortunately, they were not able to solve the problem so back on the bus to Trafalgar Square where we changed to the 15 bus to the Tower.

We ate at "Eat" which has sandwiches and other things (mostly pre-packaged).  We all had sandwiches (I had a really good egg mayonnaise).

I left the intrepid duo to do their thing about 1:00.  I had finished my book yesterday and needed to get another one so I went to Foyle's.  It is a great bookstore on Charing Cross Road.  I found two books from authors I like and then took the bus back to the Tower.  Sat out in the sun reading and people watching and had a really good ice cream cone.

The temperature has finally warmed up into the high 60s/low 70sF (20-22C).

When Carolyn and Gary were finished we took two busses back to the flat.  We rested for awhile and then headed back to The Tyburn for dinner.  Watched the news and made it an early night (I was in bed by 11:15!).

Saturday, May 17

Decided to take it easy today.  The Tower of London slowed down the intrepid duo with all the spiral (and otherwise) staircases.

Went out around ten for a late breakfast at Patisserie Valerie (Carolyn had pancakes and Gary and I had the bacon, eggs, and toast).  They have a take away special of four slices of pastry for £10 so we brought back a box for nibbling on later.

I suggested we go for a walk (surprisingly, yes, it was me who made that suggestion) around the block.  We walked up to Bryanston Square and then back down Seymour Place.  There are a couple of pricey restaurants around the corner from us with lots of quail and lamb on the menu.  One is a Basque tapas restaurant.  There are also two pubs around the corner - too bad we are not big drinkers!

Bryanston Square

We had our own afternoon tea with the pastries from this morning - the only thing missing was the cucumber sandwiches!

A little about our flat.  We chose the area near Marble Arch for its convenience to bus lines.  We are close to Oxford Street and Edgeware Road.  The flat has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room/dining room area and a modern kitchen.  The kitchen has an apartment sized dishwasher and a washer/dryer combo.  The front-loading washer/dryer combo is very common here and maximizes the space in many older buildings and small flats.  It likely also saves on water but I doubt on electricity.  The interior is small and holds less than my apartment sized washer at home.  The regular cycle lasts for two hours and twenty minutes.  Drying time for a load is between two hours and four for a load depending on the fiber content.  It also beeps frequently!  We have yet to figure out the exact length of time between the end of the wash or dry and when the door will open and release your clothes.

We decided to go back to Leicester Square for dinner.  We ate at a Chinese restaurant which was very popular with the local Chinese.  Watched some TV and went to bed early.