Care for a Cuppa & a Bickie?

Sadly, this is our last day in England. I will post a full write-up of our trip when I get back but thought on a lazy Saturday morning before heading out to the Camden Lock Market, I would check-in.

We have truly been living as Londoners for a week which has been fantastic. We've been staying in a flat for free (much to tell about the flat later...) the entire week and taking trips into the city and surrounding areas during the day. I love it here. The underground is perfection and we have no problems getting anywhere we want to go. I love the seas of people speeding through the endless maze of tunnels heading to work. I love all the walking. We're staying in a beautiful area of Camden called Primrose Hill and walking back to the flat one night, passing one of several pubs & restaurants on the way, I thought "man, wouldn't it be great to have this stuff so close by?" We totally do! We have three bars, six restaurants, a salon, a cleaners and a coffee shop all within a half mile of our house in Atlanta but we always drive! Why do we do that? Walking a half mile here is nothing.

Quickly, a list of places/people/food/things:
Rochester (again) - home of the Grandma, an adorable city in Kent a 45 min. train ride southeast of London. Beautiful cathedral & the only Norman castle with 4 walls still standing. Trying to absorb the history in a Norman castle is impossible, beyond comprehension really.

Grandma - I love her like I love my own grandmothers. She has an adorable little flat that's perfectly grandma-sized and still makes the best cup of tea I've ever had. I wish we could see her more often.

Westminster Abbey - as with many, many, many other places throughout this country, I'm in awe of the history, the architecture, the grand scale. Here I saw and touched things that Kings & Queens have seen and touched for almost a thousand years. The Coronation Chair was particularly fascinating to me....I had no idea of its history.

Bath - picturesque and actually a fairly large city...who knew? Seeing Roman coins blew my mind for some reason. Best food we've had on the trip. If you're ever there, visit Yak Yeti Yak for some delicious Nepalese and the Rummer for truly fantastic pub food (we have yet to find delicious pub food in London).

National Portrait Gallery - in the 2007 Portrait Award room, I saw the most incredible portrait paintings I've ever seen....several looked so much like photographs even nose to nose with the canvas you could barely tell it was a painting; the tiniest of creases in the lips, the faint fuzz of hair on a woman's cheek.

On tap for today is the market, hopefully finally making it to the top of Primrose Hill where we hear has the best view of the city, and taking a stop at Kings Cross Station to see.......wait for it............PLATFORM 9 AND FREAKING 3/4!!!!! If you don't know the significance of the fact that there is a platform 9 and 3/4 and that I will get to visit it, then you just aren't as cool as I thought you were.

More to come including pics when I get back.

Cheers!