Rome to London Chapter 5

Fri Oct 2
Paris to London
Packed and ready to head for Calais where we said Good Bye to Tomo our coach driver in Europe and board the P&O Ferry to Dover. A nice sunny day and a smooth sailing, about 1 1/2 hour ferry ride gives everyone time to look around and have lunch. As we come into shore there are lovely views of the White Cliffs of Dover. We board our coach and head on the motorway into London, where we check in to the Jury's Inn Hotel and then say farewell to Graig, our magnificient Trafalgar Tour Director.
This evening our group ventured out by underground to the first original Hard Rock Cafe at Hyde Park Corner and then walked about Piccadilly Circus seeing the lights at night and many Londoners out on the town on a friday night.
Sat Oct 3
Up this morning and our group of 13 ventured out taking the tub to Westminster where we prebooked the London Eye and had a pod to ourselves taking lots of great photos.
We then walked back across the bridge taking great photos of Big Ben, the parliament building, and Westminster Abbey.
On our way to Buckingham Palace we make a enjoyable stop at a local pub called the Albert where we have a time to sit for a lovely cup of coffee and chatted with some very interesting locals. We then arrive at Buckingham Palace and manage to catch an informal changing of the guards, then walked along the riverside through the Admirality Arch to Trafalgar Square a famous memorial square to Lord Nelson and the Battle of Waterloo.
A pub lunch with traditional English style food, steak and cottage pies. Off for some shopping to the different squares including Leister square, the theatre district.
Everyone eventually made their way back to the hotel as some had ventured off to see the Tower of London. Most of our group opted for a quiet early evening, eating at locally at the hotel. Michele and I decided to take the tub to Victoria Station and we got last minute tickets at the Apollo Theatre for a musical "Wicked" which was absolutely phenominal and well worth doing to end our London experience.