Maria is waking up slowly after her afternoon nap. The day from here promises to be a bit special ... Maria's cousin Mali (flower girl in our wedding) used to be the assistant manager at a restaurant rated in the top 3 in London. She has booked a table for us so we are going posh tonight, although I hope they waive the jackets policy 'cause I wasn't going to cart one half way around the world for one night.
Today we left the tourist monuments alone and put on our walking shoes. We actually left the hotel to head up to Cambridge, but when we walked out into drizzle we decided to leave it until tomorrow. From our hotel in Earls Court we walked along Glouster Road past the 'castle-like' museums, along the edge of Hyde Park, taking in the shops, cares and general londoner activity.
Feeling very much like we were playing a giant board game, we warned along Park Lane, through Mayfair enroute to where we were aiming to end up ... a slow stroll along the Paris-like Oxford Street. Really enjoyable.
When we got to Regent Street, we had expected to check out Soho, until we discovered what it is known for :/ Nonetheless, as we wandered through the pokey little cafes, restaurants and wine bars looked totally cool. We ventured future to Covent Gardens which where we wandered around the web of lane ways of trendy little shops. We stooped in at Neals courtyard, where we pulled up some chairs looking out into the colorful surroundings. Half way through our bowl of chorizzo and bean soup with nutmeg and parmesan muffin a couple of blokes came in, one pulled out his saxophone, the other started playing the piano beside me and we finished our lunch with some live jazz in our ears.
Some more wandering back down through Leicester Square to The Strand, we stuck our heads into Charing Cross station before we flopped into seats on the tube to head back here for a rest. Don't know how far we walked but it was more kilometers than we'd anticipated when we left with our sprightly steps this morning.
Hope you are all well. I'm only slowly letting go my working mind, still managing some stuff in the wake of the Do Lectures, but hopefully will be able to switch off properly soon.
