Journey Across the Pond

On the morning of May 20th, we headed to Dulles to begin our trip to London. Passports and tickets in hand, we boarded the flight full of excitement. We also felt a bit of fear, not knowing how Tommy would handle the 7 hour flight and ensuing jetlag. Well, he was great on the plane, and even charmed several of our fellow passengers with his smile and good humor. We landed around 10pm local time at Heathrow and made our way to a nearby airport for our first night.

Touchdown at Heathrow. The chubby cheeks arrive!

After sleeping late, we hit the hotel pool, grabbed some lunch, then caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station.

Famous Paddington Station. We didn't see Paddington Bear, but the place was something to see in itself.

We stayed near Trafalgar Square the next night, so after checking-in, we hit the streets. Here are EZ and Tommy in the square. The lions in the background are located at the base of Nelson's Column.

The National Gallery in the background. Looks like Tommy's trying to gag himself at the thought of viewing all that art. We spared him, even though there are works by well-known artists throughout the Gallery. Of course we wanted to visit all the must-see places in London, but our main goal was to visit Susie and family and to see London through the eyes of a local. Mission accomplished.

This is the view of London from the restaurant on the top floor of the National Portrait Gallery, just around the corner from Trafalgar Square. We'd heard it's very busy, and walk-ups usually walk away without a table. But, as luck would have it, they squeezed us in for a meal, and Tommy added to our enjoyment by sleeping through it all. We got so lucky with the weather during out visit, too. Nothing but 70 degree temps and sunny skies everyday except for the day we left. Our umbrellas and raincoats stayed in the luggage until then, thankfully.

We wandered around the area - Soho Square, Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus, etc., just taking in the sights. This pic is in Leicester Square, the park near where most of the London movie premieres take place. No celebrity sightings to speak of though.

Near Piccadilly Circus. There's no big tent there or anything, just a rotary where some major streets intersect and the famous fountain and statue of Eros. Great crowd-watching spot.

Tommy in the hotel room that night. Thought he looked grown-up in his jeans and Roots sweatshirt.

The next day, we continued our sightseeing. Here's EZ in front of a typical London phone booth with Nelson's Column in the background again.

We hopped an on-off bus to get an overview of the city, and had to hop off when Tommy started getting antsy. We ended up on the south bank of the Thames near Hay's Galleria, so we grabbed a drink and checked out the Tower Bridge.