August 20 - London, UK

18 degrees, cloudy and rain off and on – sometimes the rain was quite hard, especially when we wanted to be out!

London Eye, Big Ben and WIND

Thames and London skyline

We actually set an alarm this morning as we had museum tickets booked for a specific time. It was not raining when we looked out the window before we left our hotel room, but by the time we got to the street it was raining – a little mist turned to a full on pour with rain, so that we went down into a Tube station and considered taking it to the museum. The walk wasn’t really that far, and we planned to pick up our tickets to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that we’re seeing tonight on the way. We persevered, but got pretty drenched. It was quite windy (especially as we crossed the river), so the umbrella I had wasn’t all that useful – Chris had a hat which served him pretty well.

Many of the museums in London (maybe other parts of the UK too, I don’t know) are free to enter. However, special exhibitions which we were seeing

outside Tate Modern, St. Paul's and the Millennium Bridge

today at the Tate Modern (Georgia O’Keeffe) had a cost. We really enjoyed ourselves and were glad we spent the 70.00 for the tickets and audio guide. By the time we were finished with the special exhibit we decided against seeing the rest of the museum as we had seen it before and were a bit thirsty!

A coffee at the museum and a pint along the Thames near the museum helped us regain our strength.

Next was a bit of a wander through a few interesting areas, a cross of the river (without the rain, but still wind) and then another museum. This one was called the Courtauld Institute of Art, it was small, not crowded and fantastic – photography was also allowed.

Lunch was pizza and wine at an outside table – by now it was nice enough to sit outside.

lunch

Chris and Vincent

In the evening we went to the musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was good, but I think I preferred last night’s Matilda more.

Dinner was at a ‘supper club’ kind of place. There was a DJ playing music, the place was loud and happening, until it died and most people went to the disco downstairs – we didn’t.

Courtauld Institute of Art

We did decide to make one last stop at the disco in our hotel. The second floor reception area turns into a disco at night, we walked through last night, but tonight decided to

stop for a drink – fun place, but by the time we got back to the room it was way past blogging time. I had to finish this in the morning.