Being a tourist is a marathon...not a sprint

This morning started bright and early (about 6am). As I am playing hostess on this trip, I thought it would be nice if I met my family at the airport. Since their flight was to arrive at 7:40 and the tube from the hotel was about an hour, it made for an early morning. As it turns out, I was very early as it took them nearly an hour to clear customs.

We headed to the Tube for our first adventure...finding our way to the hotel. After a first misstart - buying Oyster cards (which did not work for the tube, for some reason...only busses and trams), we acquired a 3-day pass and set off to our hotel. While it was no fun carrying their bags up and down the stairs at the various tube stations, we made it to the hotel with no mishaps and nothing or noone left behind.

Our hotel is the Copthorne Tara near the High Street Kensington tube station. One of our two adjoining rooms was ready when we arrived so we checked in. They had a quick wash up and we set off for more adventures. First stop, Westminster Abbey. The queue was not so bad but the price was highway robbery - gbp14. Then, as you walk in, they give you a "free" audio player for an audio tour. The audio tour was great. Walked you through high points of all the burials and some of the fighting that went on in the various periods. The place is beautiful but so much feuding and death surround it as well.

After breaking our feet in to the marathon that is tourism, we made our way to the London Eye for our 3:30 flight. We arrived to find the queue going well beyond the cattle chutes. There did not seem to be any way that we would be making a 3:30 flight. (Seems kind of silly to buy tickets for a certain time, when it seems that everyone, whether they have a ticket for a time or not, just shows up and stands in the queue.) As we were tired (from our early morning and from trodding around Westminster Abbey), we decided to pay the extra gbp 10 and upgrade to the Fast Track (which shortened our wait to about 15 minutes). The trip was great (if a bit stuffy). The view of the city, especially the House of Parliament and the Thames, was magnificent. Lots of photos were taken. (Of course, we all were shooting away so have many photos of the same things.)

Next stop, dinner with my coworker and her mother. We had a great time sharing stories and hearing of each other's adventures. (Turns out, they were at the Abbey just after us. Small town.) Phil had his first fish and chips. After Barb and her mom set off for their show, we decided we had a bit more energy and decided to go to our own show. The only tickets left for this evening was for a comedy called 39 Steps. We had no idea about this play at all...but, hey, we are in London. All shows in London have to be good, right?

This was a British farce put on by 4 Actors playing 100+ parts. At one point, one of the Actors has his jacket half on and he turns 180 degrees back and forth (putting on two different hats) and has a converstaion with himself. It was very funny. A great way to end a long first day.