LONDON TOWN

WEATHER:  Tops 19C – Lows 7C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting to sleep in till 9am  

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not having the confidence to ask some-one to take my Bernstar photo

BUYS OF THE DAY:  William and Kate wedding magnet 1GBP

My first full day in London, and I had no schedule.  The only thing I wanted to do was get some washing done.  After waking up at 9am I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood and work out where the laundry was and how long it would take me to walk to Westminster Abbey.  Our driver yesterday mentioned that the London Marathon was on today – so I made a mental note that I would probably try and get to see some of the race.  The laundry I sussed out to see what coinage I needed and to make sure it was open on a Sunday and the walk to Westminster took only 10 minutes!  Very close indeed.  They had closed the Westminster Bridge due to the London Marathon, so was pretty cool to see people walking on the road of the bridge, just because I saw it so busy with traffic the day before.

The marathon was awesome.  They have 3 static starts, so there are pretty much runners coming around all the time.  They have four main categories which are the men and women elite and the men and woman wheelchair events.  There is certainly a lot of support along the course and you always knew when some-one was coming as you could hear the noise and the clapping coming up along the road.  There were plenty of places to view the race as well; well it wasn’t super busy on the side of the course I was on.  I stayed around the 25 mile cheer mark for most of the time, and it was just an amazing experience to see these people running and giving it all they have as total strangers cheered them on.  The sun was out and the sky was blue – it was an amazing day to be out and about.

I headed back to the hotel to collect my bags of washing and back to the laundry to get a wash done.  Hand washing gets you through with your smalls and t-shirts, but eventually nothing beats the good old washing machine wash.  The machines were awesome – I could get it all into one load 3.60GBP with 32 minutes to wash.  The dryer was only 1GBP for 12 minutes and I was done!!!  Best damn 4.60GBP ever spent to have some fresh smelling clothes again.

It really was just a chill day for me today.  All very low key.  I want to save some things to do when Chelsey and I come back May, as she will want to see the main sights and I have a BIG day tomorrow on a day tour that will visit Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Oxford.  I better get out the tube map and check out how I get to Victoria Coach Station in the morning.  I wonder how long it will take to get there?  Better leave an hour earlier to make sure I make it on time.