Wandering around London-town

It was a late start to the day as jet leg started to kick in.  Around 1:30, Jenna and I hit the tube to meet up with a long time hometown friend, Brittany, at the Tate Museum of Modern Art.  First we grabbed a much needed coffee and sandwich from Pret and walked around St. Paul’s Church.  Brittany and her friend flew in early that afternoon and was to meet us at the front entrance around 3.  Life without a cell phone is tough – I don’t know how they did it in the old days!  While we waited for our friend, we were entertained by two little girls outside of the museum – one was a year old and helped herself to our knees to help her stand while the other was frolicking through the pidgeons.

Jenna and I gave up hope around 4:40 and headed into the museum.  The Tate has an incredible collection of modern and contemporary art.  I swear, if you haven’t taken an art history course yet, you should.  Art museums are so much more enjoyable if you know what is going on /what the purpose is/ etc.

As we were leaving the museum, we luckily we ran into Britt and her friend at the bottom of the escalator 10 minutes before closing time!  Turns out someone had told them to get off at a tube station halfway across town and walk (near Parliament, a good 40 minute walk).  They did get to see the city, but Jenna and I got to some intense people watching outside the museum.  Every 5 minutes we thought we had spotted Brittany, but it wouldn’t be her – she has 40 European twins.

After the Tate, we walked downstream to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.

All of the walking we’d done at this point made us very, very hungry.  We caught the tube to Covent Garden, where we had our first “pasty.”  We each had the spring special of chicken and asparagus – it’s basically a pot pie on the go.  Delicious!

After we said our goodbyes and they headed to their hostel, Jenna and I came back to Erin’s flat and met up for a drink at the Prince of Whales pub.  Off to bed for another long day of exploring – fish market in Notting Hill, lunch with Jenna in her office’s area, the British Museum, a run in Hyde Park and past Buckingham Palace, and then at the end of the day – we’re grilling the fish I pick out!  Brilliant! =)