This morning we checked out of our hotel room, stashed our bags with the consierge, and went for a two hour walk after breakfast ranging from our hotel, across Tower Bridge, along the South Bank, into parts unknown to us to catch a new Pokémon we didn’t have that showed up on our nearby sightings, back to the river, past the London Eye and into Trafalgar Square.
We then went looking for Millet paintings at the National Gallery. While we were looking we also saw some paintings by Van Gough, Monet and Renoir. Finally we asked and were told they are not currently on display. A docent informed us he “hadn’t seen those in a long time” and wasn’t sure where they were. “Maybe they’re in storage?”
We were disappointed not to see artwork by the artist we had in mind (especially since the brochures had mentioned him). We took a seat for a bit outside the gift shop to rest and regroup. We decided to spend some time loitering in Trafalgar Square and then head over to Chipotle for some early lunch.
In the square I marveled at the talent of the street artists that use chalk on the slate walkway to make beautiful portraits.
You know, just like Bert did in Mary Poppins. But these drawings were larger and much more detailed.
We got to the Chipotle just moments before 11AM. Only to find it didn’t open until 11:30. We sat outside and occasionally got up to look in a shop or two until we were able to go in and order. The food was really good. Then we hopped on the Tube back to our hotel to collect our backpacks.
There was some question at this point as to the balance of the Oyster cards and whether they would have enough funds on them to get us through to the railway station. I tried to load them through the app, but the second charge was declined by my card (it most likely appeared like an error since it was identical to the charge I had just made a moment before). Also, the app informed me that it would be 30 minutes before my funds were available. We didn’t have 30 minutes. So we were just hoping they would work, at this point.
Next, when it was time to change subway trains, the amouncement did not list “change here for...” as we were accustomed to.
Not feeling we had time to get off on the wrong stop if we couldn’t change there, we stayed on the train for another stop. But this ended up costing us time. And time was a thing we were running out of. We did the math. We were going to have about five minutes to go from subway to seated on our train at the correct platform (which we did not yet know what that was). Purposeful walking speed? Engaged!
We made it. Thank you, Lord. But then the announcement came over the intercom. “To those travelers riding in carriage C” (that’s us) “we are having some technical difficulties with our air con. Please help yourself to a bottle of water. We apologize for any inconvenience.” It was hot in the train car. Upwards of 85 degrees, I have no doubt. The train attendant came around moving the eldery and young to open seats in other cars. When she got back to us, she had a single seat to offer. Bryan encouraged me to take it, earning all the husband points. I gratefully took him up on it.
2025-02-07