Here we are soon after landing at Gatwick Airport in London, on the train to Victoria Station, which is a short walk from our hotel, the Belgrave.  After our ordeal in New York, the trip went smoothly--nice flight on Norse Air.  And, for once, I actually slept on the plane!

When we arrived at the hotel our dear friend Lisa Emerson greeted us in the lobby. Lisa and I met at a conference at the University of Michigan years ago--until her recent retirement she was an English professor at Massey University in New Zealand--and became fast friends. Lisa has been on a pilgrimage with friends from her church, traveling in France and Italy. She flies home to NZ tomorrow.

Today we're going to do the "Westminster Walk" starting on that bridge and ending at Trafalgar Square. Later in the afternoon we have tickets to visit St. Paul's Cathedral, and we'll attend Evensong at the end of the day.


The Belgrave


We took advantage of a gorgeous day to walk all over and visit all the famous tourist spots like Big Ben.




We took a boat ride on the Thames--there's Lisa.




And just enjoyed seeing the sights on a sparkling day. We ended up touring St. Paul's Cathedral and attending the daily Evensong service at 5 pm.




Now we're just exhausted, after a day of walking all over the place and without much sleep the past couple days. So I'll sign off and get back with more news tomorrow.

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