Saturday (London)…

Woken two hours (!) early by an erroneous wake up call…but the hotel staff are so polite, who could be upset. After 30 min trying to fall back asleep, decided to wander and take photos instead. The city is quiet on a bank holiday weekend morning. Had to wander until 7am for the coffee shops to open. Sipped my latte in Green Park. After breakfast, hopped the Tube to Waterloo station and caught a train to Windsor. Walked the grounds of Windsor Castle (‘the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world’) and toured the extravagent state rooms. The Queen was out, but this was Jeff’s third visit, so he played tour guide. The castle’s grand medieval chapel–St. George’s–provided a gothic roof over our heads when the rain started to pick up. Fish and chips in town for late lunch and then back to the train station bound for London. After a rest and break from the rain at the hotel, we had drinks and dinner at Bertorelli in Soho. Walked back through Picadilli Circus. Early to bed to pack and catch a train to Paris in the morning.

[Note: The trouble with pounds is that prices in London are just about right if the conversion was 1:1. For example, my grande latte at Starbucks was just under 3 pounds, which is what it costs in dollars in SF. Food, drink, and transportation seem similarly priced. But the exchange is almost 2:1 right now (!), which makes everything here outrageous. Not sure how the average person here lives. On the upside, this will make the Euro seem like a deal.]