LondON

Today Paul was kind enough to take me to London and show me around. We drove 15 minutes North to the Coulsdon South Station and bought a Day Travel Card for £6.30 (about $10). From there we caught a train into the London Bridge Station in downtown London. The train ride seemed very fast and the scenery on the way was quite entertaining. Since we were right there, we took a walk around the corner and visited the famous Tate Modern. The Tate Modern is a gallery of modern and contemporary art showcasing piecess from 1900 to the present. The building itself sits on the River Thames and is a converted industrial plant with a huge tower in the middle. This might be the largest (and coolest) art gallery I have ever been to. As we walked from room to room and floor to floor we perused works created by world renowned artists such as: Mark Rothko, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock, Anish Kapoor and Barnett Newman. I could go on but we must keep moving along. Using our Day Pass we then took the London Underground to Trafalgar Square... Talk about great people watching.Acrosss the street from the square we stopped for a quick steak sandwich and after washing it down with a Stella we took a brisk walk to Buckingham palace. I have to say that I was a bit disappointedd in the palace itself. I just thought it would be more grand. The grounds around it, the guards, the gates, the fountains and the people were better than I imagined but the actual building itself was very monochrome and dreary. Next, we headed into the downtown shopping scene utilizing our Day Passs to catch a double-decker to Regent Street. Oxford and Regent Street seem to be the crossroads for shopping in London. It is a fun area and people are everywhere. We grabbed an iced coffee and hit the Apple Store on Regent Street. It is a massive store with a glass staircase that leads you to a second floor. Starting to feel a little tired we once again used our Day Pass to grab a subway to Knightsbridge where we visited Harrods. For those of you not in the know... Harrods is one of the worlds most famous department stores. It is fascinating to walk around in. It is huge and is contained by one of the most beautiful buildings. I actually did some shopping there. They pretty much have everything you could ever want and if you ask them for anything (even though it might not be in the store) they will find it and sell it to you. You could literally ask them for an elephant and they will find one and sell it to you. Two words... ME LIKEY. Well after wandering a store like that my dogs were a barking and we made our way back to the London Bridge Station. By the way, I don't know who is spreading this awful rumor but London bridge is definitely not falling down. Anywhoo, we made our way back to the Coulsdon South Station utilizing our Day Pass yet again and made it safely back to the manor. I wish I could have a day like this everyday.

The End