london: day 1

saturday: 28th june, 2008

it was very hard getting up this morning. i woke at 6am to the sound of the city waking, and the brightness. i used my british airways complimentary eye-mask and fell back asleep, til ruth came and got me at 10am. francis could not be wakened. so ruth and i had some lovely girl-time, catching up over coffee and pancakes, with me periodically trying to rouse francis. he could not be moved. finally, by noon, we forced him up; he was delirious. we packed a sack lunch and took off to catch the bus, for the zoo.

we got to ride a double-decker( still around in london, it was the old-fashioned "route-master" with the hop on/off the back, that was taken off the streets, --only to be replaced by what the brits call "bendy-busses" and not with fondness) and francis was so excited. we sat at the top, front row, and it looked like every time we turned, we were going to take a chunk out of a building, or knock over signposts, and every time we stopped, that we'd rear-end whoever was in front of us. it was quite a ride!



we walked thru regents park, to get to the zoo. francis, with his camera, already catching fountains, park benches, british squirrels...you get the picture. at the zoo, it got quite hot, and we were in jeans. after a while i noticed that francis kept sitting down every chance he got, and maybe the zoo wasn't the best first day choice; he was still too jet-lagged to really appreciate it. he did enjoy seeing animals he hasn't seen in our zoo, tho, like the pelicans.



by the end of the afternoon, he was a bit miserable, saying his legs hurt, he was too hot, and he wanted to sit down. poor guy! but we had a whole evening of sitting ahead of us: ruth had got us tickets to regent park's outdoor theatre, to see shakespeare's "twelfth night." we rushed home, packed a picnic supper, and rushed back to regents park, quickly thru the beautiful rose garden, found a patch of sun and green grass, and crashed outside the theatre, where brits were all about, picnicing in the grass too. we had: bread, cheese, proscuitto, wine, olives, sundried tomatoes... yes, wine! in the park! this is england!



8pm we went in for the performance, which was 3 hours long, and frankly, quite fantastic! the theatre had stadium seats, which was nice, and you were allowed to bring in food and wine, etc... but even still, francis had a hard time staying awake...he was still so tired! i tried to explain to him what was going on, and i think he understood most of it, and really enjoyed the jester and laughed outloud. i was thoroughly impressed and entertained-- it was set during the roaring twenties, with suits and long dresses and gangsters. it got chilly when the sun went down, but we had brought our layers.



back at home, tucking him in, i asked if he had fun today. he said it was too busy. i said: tomorrow we're only doing ONE thing: taking the train to windsor castle!

it feels like everything is going too fast, and it is only the first day! how can that be? so i am hoping for a not-rushed day tomorrow, and that francis is rested and enjoys himself fully.

and i would like a cup of tea...we missed ours today..