I stepped on dead people

Whew! What a ride!

London is non-stop (except on holidays--then it's a grinding halt), mad rush, swarmed historic blob of amazement. We just realized we only have three days left and we have no idea how to fit it all in. So much for a day trip to Bath. I suppose we'll have to come back.

It took us quite some time to find our little apartment. The roads here greatly resemble Rome--on minute you're walking on Smith Street. The next it's a different name and you're lost. But it keeps us on our toes.

The first full day we had in London seemed to be a day of accidental tourism. We purposefully found Big Ben (not the clock or the tower, but the bell that tolls the hour), Parliment, Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms (fantastic! It's where CHurchill and his eight best friends ran WWII), Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral (think Mary Poppins--"and each day, to the steps of St. Paul's the little old bird woman comes") and climbed the dome (huff and puff), Twining's Tea Company. Then everything was closing because of New Year's Eve, so we made dinner at the apartment and headed out into the madness.

NYE in London was an experience. We went to Big Ben again, because there was a huge fireworks display, but realized if we didn't get out of the area, we would be shut in with all the mad Brits partying like it's 1999 (they were fascinated with whistles--FWEET, FWEET! So, we took the longest walk in history--from Big Ben back to our place in Chelsea because the Tube and all the buses stopped running. We thought we'd stop at a pub and drink in the New Year, but oddly enough, the pubs all closed at the ungodly hour of 9 p.m. I guess bartenders need to let their hair down, too.

We didn't end up getting back to the apartment until about 11:30 and found a bunch of 14-year-olds laying around in the lobby listening to loud music and generally thinking they look cool. Not sure why they thought that.

This morning brought Westminster Abby. What a place! I've never seen so many famous dead people in one place. Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Henry VII, Charles Dickens, Geoffry Chaucer, Handel (think: Messiah), Edward the Confessor (the same chap from Braveheart who was the evil king). Not to mention the beauty of the place. We brought our lunch along with us and sat near the cloisters and ate it. Can you imagine? We had a picnic inside Westminster Abbey. As we were leaving, there was a parade for New Year's just outside. In celebration, special bell ringers were in the abbey, making the most beautiful music from the towers that I've ever heard. It was like a movie.

The bells could be heard through St. James's Park as we made our way to Buckingham Palace. In the park, we saw the saddest thing. There's birds in the lake--pelicans, which are HUGE (at least up to my shoulder). One pelican made his way to the pedestrian bridge and was immediately surrounded by picture-happy tourists. Poor fella couldn't get out of the paparazzi.

After that, we scratched my Harry Potter itch and found Platform 9 3/4 as well as the place where Hagrid tells Harry, "Stick to your ticket, Harry." We went to find the Magna Carta, but apparently, it needs a holiday. We'll try again soon.

So, tomorrow we go to the British Museum, Temple Church (from the DaVinci Code), and to a concert at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.

Keep watching. We're loving the comments!

P.S. Sorry about no photos. This was an impromptu stop. We were lucky to find this place. Internet cafes are hard to come by around here.