May 31 -- The Tower of London

Slept in 'til just before 9 this morning. I was the last one up. Yeah for me. The day was pretty much layer out when I got downstairs. Going to the Tower of London. Got the tickets online and saved £1.10  on each ticket. Also there are discounts for seniors at most of the venues in London. If you are over 60 you should check on it. Save £4 on each ticket for the four seniors.

We did the one hour tour with one of the Beef Eaters, the queen's guard. Got some lunch. The ladies went in to see the crown jewels, they are really impressive, and Ed and I went into the White Tower. The White Tower was the first structure erected on the site by William I (Conqueror) begun in 1078. This structure and the rest of the buildings and fortifications were the home of the King and Queen of England for almost 500 years. It is no longer a Royal Residence but it is still on the list though no longer maintained as one. The White Tower is now a museum of armor and weaponry from the 11th to 19th centuries. Very interesting exhibits but very crowded. The Crown Jewels are still used for special occasions and coronations so sometimes they are not in the Tower of London. (Also see March 9, 2009 post)

From the Tower we walked along the Thames taking pictures and finally arriving at the Tower Bridge. This bridge is quite famous and is often thought to be London Bridge. London Bridge is the next bridge up river and is pretty nondescript as bridges go.

After we crossed the Tower Bridge we stopped at Draft House for a cool one and some appetizers. Probably spent about 1.5 hours in there and enjoyed ourselves. From there we walked by to the London Bridge Underground station to go back to Mel's. Bonnie, Kay, and Melanie stopped at the market on the way home to pick up stuff for dinner. Melanie prepared a lovely dinner and we all sat and watched her clean up the kitchen at her behest.

Had a great time today. The weather was wonderful. The company was spectacular. The venues we visited we magnificent. Enough superlatives for this day. Pictures will follow.

May 30 -- First Full Day in London

The morning started early for me. I woke up and wasn't sure what time it was. I layer in bed for sometime and finally decided I should get up. The time was 0445, yuk. Oh well I felt good so I stay up. Made some tea and turned on the computer. While everyone else continued to slumber I play bridge at BridgeBaseOnline.com. Played in three robot tourneys. Average in two and 60% in the third. Bonnie was the next to arise. We got breakfast started and waited for Ed and Kay to get up. The sausages were done and as everyone arrived in the kitchen eggs were cooked. It was a leisurely and enjoyable breakfast.

The agenda for the day was to top off two Oyster cards and purchase to more. That's for riding the local trains and the tube. Then we had to top off a phone and get a SIMM and money put on another we had brought along. The new SIMM should be active during the next 24 hours some time. Then we went off to the Borough Market. Food vendors galore as well a cooking demos and other things. We walked around for some time looking at all the goodies. We had a few samples and then we went to walk over London Bridge. Most people think the Tower Bridge is London Bridge but that's not the case. London Bridge is a nondescript bridge over the Thames River. The Tower Bridge is the next one down stream from the London Bridge.

We went back to the market and had lunch. The food was really good. We walked around some more and purchased cheese, veggies, and meat for dinner. On the way back to Mel's we did some other shopping along the way. Got it all carried back to the house and put away. A couple of us took a short rest. I've been working on this. We now are in the process of preparing dinner. It will be a delicious beef stir-fry.

All-in-all it was a pretty quiet day. Though we did walk probably 3-4 miles in all. I'm sure it will be an early to bed evening. Though we probably will go down to the pub a nightcap.

May 29 -- Arrive in London

We landed a few minutes early in London. Bonnie and I didn't sleep on the plane at all. Ed and Kay caught a few z's but not very many. We were all very tired on our arrival. Since we were at the back of the plane we were the last off, the last in line at port of entry and nearly the last to pick up our bags. But then we didn't have to wait for our bags to arrive. Melanie had arranged for a car so we found the driver got loaded up and we were off to Melanie's place.

Mel worked from home on Wednesday so she was there to greet us when we arrived. It was just wonderful to be able to give her a hug once again. Our bags were all over the sidewalk so we hustled to bring them into the house. Gave more hugs. Hauled the bags to our assigned rooms. Checked on the stuff that we brought, honey, maple syrup, bourbon, etc. Everything came in good shape. Slowly but surely each of us succumbed to taking a nap. While I took a nap, Bonnie showed Ed and Kay around neighborhood.

When they arrived "home" and Mel was done with work we went to the neighborhood pub for dinner. We had sandwiches and chips or salad for dinner. The food was excellent. For dessert we had bourbon on the rocks. Mel had her's straight up. Walked back home and tried to stay up. Slowly each of us again succumbed to the rest we all needed. All in all a pleasant but tired first day in London.

May 28 -- The Journey Begins

So today was a day of final preparation and flying away. We finished up packing and pick up Ed's coolers at the pharmacy. They weighed in at about 45 pounds each. We were concerned about checking them and possibly being over on the baggage. But there wasn't much we could do about that. Waiting for the bus we looked like we were moving to O'hare instead of just flying out of there. We had I think you would say 13 pieces of luggage including "carry-on".

Waiting for the Bus to O'Hare

The bus trip was uneventful. Got to terminal three, unloaded all of the bags and lo and behold there was a baggage cart right there for us to use, lucky. Good thing too, we had to push them all the way to the other end of terminal for international departures. My suitcase and Kay's weighed in at 49 lbs each, right on the edge. The agent at American Airlines said we would be able to take Ed's meds through security so we didn't check the two coolers. Ed showed the prescription forms and TSA inspected the coolers and off we went.

The plane left on time and we were away to London.

Preparation seems to take forever!

In our prior travels to other parts of the world we have never rented a car. This summer's trip to Europe will include driving in Northern Europe for about 10 days or so. Research on car rentals seemed to take more time than it should. We will spend a week in London with our daughter, Melanie. We will then take the Eurostar to Lille, France. The car was rented here. The cost is almost 100 € less to rent in Lille than in Brussels, Belgium. It is also cheaper to rent in areas away from airports and train stations. However, this rental was not worth the savings to rent away from the train depot. The savings was minimal. Don't over look trying to use discounts like an AARP membership. This affiliation saved 10% on the rental, about 30€, $50. That's quite a bit of savings.

Insurance on cars in Europe is very interesting. Liability insurance is covered. If you damage someone else's property the liability insurance is purchased as part of the rental charges. However, collision damage and theft are not covered. The cost of this insurance may cost as much as the rental of the vehicle itself. Maybe an example would help. Renting from Auto Europe gets you a small car from about $285, include theft and collision insurance and the cost rises to $482. There are alternatives.

In the USA the collision and theft from your own vehicle at home will usually extend to your rental car. Be sure to check with your insurance company. The coverage does not usually extend outside of the country, again you should check on this. I went with an insurance offered by American Express. If you have an AMEX card you can enroll in a service that gives you up to $100,000 collision insurance as well as theft of the vehicle and contents. The contents theft limits are less than the collision but still included. Also included are medical payment and AD&D insurance. The cost of this package is $25 per rental. Charge the car on your AMEX and the insurance is automatically charged to your card and you are covered. I'm sure there are other options available but from my research this seemed the most comprehensive for the cost.

Another tip when you are shopping for a car rental, be sure when you compare costs that the currencies are the same. I was searching and used a site from the UK once and the costs were in £ and obviously looked less than one quoted in € and much less than one quoted in $. Be sure you pay attention to currency units.

While talking about currency, generally you are better off to pay cash. Get you cash at ATMs. Be sure to contact your bank and let them know you will be using your ATM card in Europe. Be careful at the ATMs. There are unscrupulous people all over the world who will try to steal you ATM card and make extraordinary efforts to get you pin as well. Be careful, pay attention to your surroundings and you will be just fine. My credit union charges 1% exchange fee on the transaction. Generally the credit card companies charge 3%. If you are spending a lot of money that 2% difference can really add up. You can get US credit cards with the smart chips in them to use in Europe. Be sure to get a pin number from your credit card company.