Thursday, 26th May

It seems impossible to me that anyone could read history and not become intoxicated with London. From a small Roman settlement to the seat of an Empire stretching around the globe, the air fairly reeks of history and achievement. London has four world heritage sites, over 200 museums and art galleries and 120 historic buildings. When you add in the parks, theatres, markets, pubs, walks and tours, I don't know how anyone could ever be bored in London.

I waved goodbye to Z and Birmingham and novel and suitcase in hand, boarded a train for the second of four days I would spend in the capital. The trip south was to prove significant for a couple of reasons. First the train was extremely crowded and I sat near a mother with two young children who not only talked nonstop, but who managed to cough and sneeze on me at least a hundred times. Their mother was apologetic, but I reassured her that I worked with kids all the time and was impervious to their germs. Famous last words. I'm not positive they gave me the virus that plagued most of the rest of my vacation, but they have received the blame. I kept hoping they would get off at one of the stops along the way, but they rode with me all the way to London.

It was also on this train trip that the surreal nature of my vacation began to set in. I felt as much an observer of this grand adventure as a participant. On one hand I was having a marvelous time, but on the other I felt guilty for enjoying myself. And whereas the longing to share the experience with my husband was always present, I also felt an exhilaration of freedom and independence for the first time since his death. After 32 years of marriage, I was able to do exactly as I pleased. Which was something else for me to feel guilty about. Thank goodness the train arrived in London when it did or I would have needed a shrink instead of a drink.

I was met at Euston Station by Agapanthus, who had generously offered to play tour guide once again. We took a bus to Waterloo Station where we stowed my bag in left luggage and picked up Teuchter who had arrived from Yateley. It was to be a girls day on the town.

Before my arrival in England we had discussed possible ways for me to explore London. They all sounded fun, but I had to choose. So I opted for one of the Thames River cruises. All day unlimited travel on the River Red Rover for £9 each. What a deal. We were near the Waterloo Dock and so boarded there. The boatman was extremely entertaining and pointed out the famous sites along the route.

The boats have open upper decks, which is where we settled in. It was a beautiful, sunny day, a bit too sunny as we were to discover. Agapanthus went home with a sunburn. The River Red Rover makes four stops - Westminster Pier, Waterloo Millennium Pier, Tower Pier and Greenwich Pier. Tickets let you get off and on as often as you like during the day. We decided to stay on board until we reached Greenwich.

Quite a large number of famous landmarks are located near the river. The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben's tower, Westminster Abbey, County Hall which now houses the London Aquarium and the Marriott Hotel, The London Eye, the Royal Festival Hall, Charing Cross station, Cleopatra's Needle, St Paul's Cathedral, Bankside, the Tate Modern Gallery, the recreation of the Globe Theatre, Southwark, the Tower of London, the Docklands and Canary Wharf are all on the way to Greenwich Pier. The boatman also pointed out the bridges as we travelled under them - the Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, the Millenium Bridge, London Bridge and Tower Bridge all figured in his commentary. It was a great relief to find London Bridge intact, since I thought it had been moved to Arizona!

Greenwich isn't just another neighbourhood in the London Metropolitan Area, it is a World Heritage Site and deservedly so. From its naval and royal history to its architecture to its world famous time line, Greenwich is a fascinating place.

One of the first sites you come upon after leaving the Pier is the Cutty Sark, probably the most famous and only surviving tea clipper from the Nineteenth Century. She was the fastest sailing ship of her day and has been in dry dock at Greenwich since 1954. I suspect that she would be less well known in the US if it weren't for the copious amounts of whisky bearing her name consumed every year.

We walked through the small business district, took a stroll through the market and bought sandwiches, drinks and crisps for our lunch. Then we headed for the park where we found a shady bench and spent a pleasant hour eating and people watching. Greenwich Park is lovely. It is the oldest enclosed Royal Park in London and has a hilltop that affords a wonderful view of London and Canary Wharf.

I was delighted to finally see someone walking their dog. I had been away from my pets for eight days at this point and was beginning to wonder if the stories about the English being such animal lovers was a bunch of hokum. This was the first four-footed critter I'd seen since leaving home. I hadn't even seen any cows or horses or sheep pastured alongside the highways or rail lines.

I also got to try a tuna and sweet corn sandwich. It would never have occurred to me to add corn to a tuna sandwich, but it was quite good. When making tuna sandwiches in the Midwest, we add finely diced celery, sweet pickle relish and chopped egg. And sometimes onion, which adds a bit of zip. The corn gave it a nice crunch and I have since added it to tuna salad at home.

We did not go to the Royal Observatory and I did not stand in two hemispheres at once. As cool as that would have seemed to me when I was 12, I decided to give it a miss. Truthfully, I would have probably thought that was cool up to about age 55 and if I hadn't been saving my energy for the following day, I might have walked up there anyway. Besides, we must have walked across the line somewhere during our ramblings. Near the entrance to the park, for example.

We wandered back to the Pier and boarded the boat for the trip back to Westminster. We had a different guide, but he was equally entertaining. I recommend the river cruise as a great way to spend the day in London. We could have gotten off at every stop to take in the sights, so I think it is an excellent use of tourist dollars or euros or whatever sort of currency happens to be in your pocket.

Agapanthus waved goodbye and Teuchter and I queued for tickets for the London Eye which is located on the south bank of the river between the Westminster and Hungerford Bridges. I've ridden Ferris wheels of various sizes over the years and thought, 'It's a Ferris wheel, how big can it be?' Sure I'd spotted it several times on the horizon, but wasn't familiar with the distances involved and besides, things like that can be deceiving. So I will have to admit to having one of those 'Holy Cow, Batman!' moments when we walked up to it. This is one whopping big carnival ride.

The London Eye is 443 feet (135 meters) high and has 32 sealed and air conditioned observation capsules attached to its outside circumference. It rotates at a rate of about 0.6 mph, so one revolution takes 30 minutes. The rotation is so slow that passengers can easily board and disembark at ground level without stopping the wheel.

Rumours were flying that the lease for the property where the Eye is located was being increased to such an extent that there was a possibility it would close down. I'm glad to say an accommodation was reached and its future in its present location seems secured.

The London Eye is the tallest wheel in the world, although plans are afoot to build taller ones in Las Vegas and in Shanghai. The view is spectacular and worth the cost of admission. I was expecting seats inside the capsules, but there is a wooden bench in the centre with plenty of room to walk around and look out, which everyone did. I was told that an object in the distance was the Eiffel Tower and that on a clear day you can see Australia. It was a good try, but having lived in the Ozarks and Texas, I recognize bovine manure when I see it, hear it or smell it.

One last thing about the Eye. We rode in car number 14. They left number 13 empty because they thought it would be bad luck. I guess this is supposed to be amusing. It just seems silly to me, especially as they are said to be millions of pounds in debt. Do people still believe things like that? In a sophisticated world capital?

Teuchter and I made our way back to Waterloo Station, picked up my bag from left luggage, caught the train to Fleet and then drove back to Yateley to Teuchter Towers. So far my experiences with public transportation had been fine and I was wondering why people complained about it all the time. I was to find out the following day when we went back to London for the Chelsea Flower Show.

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