Big smoke

Set off mid morning to get the train to London and a smooth journey to our home for the week in Pimlico (a home swap but she won’t be coming back to mine til later). Gorgeous flat, and we had an explore and then did some planning of places to go etc over coffee and tasty flapjacks. Booked up some exhibitions to go and see and got theatre tickets for Tuesday evening. Unfortunately no opera or ballet on (that we could afford!).
Faffed about a bit with what to wear and carry….always tricky on the first day of a holiday…then set off for a walk around to immerse ourselves a bit in the city. We’re so close to everything here! Walked over to Westminster past Westminster Abbey and Parliament, then up past the cenotaph (where there was a large Jewish gathering and a service going on) to Trafalgar Sq, then along to Covent Garden which was looking very Christmassy Onward via Chinatown (where we bought a version of emperor’s puffs to remind ourselves of Sydney) to Piccadilly and Fortnum and Mason’s where they’ve turned the windows of the store into a giant advent calendar. By now it was getting dark and the street illuminations were coming on, with huge angels stretched across the roads.
Walked through Green Park and passed Buckingham Palace back home…7 miles in total. Pretty tired legs by the time we got back, and had a sit down and a drink before nipping round the corner to Grumbles restaurant for dinner. Had the set menu…mushroom soup/fish terrine, chicken pie with peas and orange and caramel cake.
Staggered back to the flat and collapsed in the drawing room. Great sightseeing day!