London - July 7

Lazy morning today. Getting a late start which is certainly okay. Had to get a pic of one of the pets that Mel and Neil keep on their patio. There were quite a few of them out yesterday but only one this morning. We will probably take off soon to Trafalgar Square. The premier of the last Harry Potter movie will take place not far from there this evening. The red carpet will start there and end at the theatre. Thousands of fans are already there and don't know if we will even be able to get close.

Well it may be a lazy day all day today. Raining very hard this day. It quits for a little bit and then starts up again. Maybe a day for reading and lounging around.

We did finally get out. On the way into the city center we stopped and bought bellies to ensure that the rain would stop. It did! We trooped over to the V & A (Victoria and Alfred) Museum. It is really overwhelming. We spent about 3 hours there and didn't even scratch the surface. We then went over to the Museum of Natural History but did not go in. Just looked at the huge crowds and the folks wandering around outside.

From here we walked to Hyde Park. It's a really nice park. There's a memorial fountain to Princess Diana and a memorial walkway as well. We saw lots of waterfowl and some more beautiful gardens. One the way out we spent a little time at Wellington's Arch.

We decided to go to Trafalgar Square to see if we could get anywhere near the Daigon Alley set up. Alas, it was not to be so. Seems we would have had to camp out a couple of nights before to get in there. There was a huge crowd though. Took a couples of pics of the crowd and then moved on. But I did get a pic of a couple of guys who were especially excited about the big crowds.

We met Mel at a pub near Charing Cross Station and then went for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The food at the restaurant was quite good though unlike any Mexican food I have had before. The margaritas were pretty tasty too. Went for ice cream for desert at another specialty store. The cream was pretty good as well.

From here Melanie wanted to go look at iPads. So we went to the largest Apple store in the world. It was really impressive. There were three floors. Each floor a areas of concentration one one product or a specific use of the product. All the floors were connected with a glass stairway. It was pretty amazing and the salesperson we talked with was really nice and well informed about the products. Mel did buy one.

Wandered around for a little longer then got on the tube to return home. Had a great day even if it started out pretty yukky.