05.31.2019 update from London

Tuesday, we met up with Jennifer again and walked from our hotel to Westminster Cathedral where we lit candles again.  This time it was at a statue of St Joan of Arc, the patron saint of Paris.  The proceeds will go to the people of Paris who are suffering from the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral.  

Then we went on to the Albert and Victoria Museum where we saw a ring owned by Beyonce.  It is a butterfly that flutters when it is worn.  Then we split up, Jen went to Herrods, and we started walking home, through Hyde Park, where we had lunch.  By the time we were back to our hotel, our feet were screaming.  We took a short break, then to the Waterloo Train Station a couple of blocks away to buy tickets to Portsmouth for Wednesday.  Jennifer and John had a dinner date at an Italian restaurant, so Colleen did some much needed email work.  We walked over 10 miles, 25,000 steps.  Ouch!

Wednesday, Jennifer headed home and we got onto a train and went to Portsmouth to visit our dear friends Terry and Janet.  We had a nice visit at their home in Gosport and a good lunch in a local pub/restaurant.  We had met Terry and Janet in 2005 on our first cruise in Europe and have stayed in touch since.  We did see them in 2010, so it’s been a long time between visit.

Yesterday, Thursday, we walked to two markets: Borough Market and the Westminster Farmers market on the St Thomas Hospital grounds.  We also took a cab to Camden Market where John mistakenly thought we had been before.  It was a really large market but was more for the young crowd.  The Farmers Market had food vendors but no farmers!

Today we will take a bus to Southampton to board the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner for a seven-day cruise to New York City. 

Note:  So many more smoke and vape here than at home.  Cigarette butts are all over the sidewalks. 

Colleen and John