Just a few more...

Thought I'd end my London tale with a few more photos. It's funny, for someone who doesn't like her picture taken, I've realized that I've included more than my usual with me as the subject. To prove I was there?



The amazing Westminster. It is so much more impressive in person... living history.









Me in Trafalgar Square, in front of The National Gallery.















A London bus covered with a Burlington ad, very festive and colorful.











The oh-so-I'm-in-London photo of me with a "bobby" - that's Kristin and Mikela.












Now, the last one warrants a little story. We were walking on a side street that I'd spotted, as I prefer to roam off the beaten trail usually and it was our last few hours in London. I was walking up ahead and saw a charming square, reminding me of Grammercy Park, including the locked garden in the middle for the tenants. A man was relaxing by the door of one townhouse and I approached, asking him if he lived there, telling him how much I liked it, etc. We got to talking, and as Kristin and Mikela approached, horrified, I popped in his door alone to take a peek at the interior garden in back. It was so serene, overgrown with greenery and, in the midst, a Buddha statue. I was only a minute, glimpsing darkish decorated rooms to my right and left. I thanked him on my return, telling him of a similar encounter I'd had in New Orleans with a glorious hidden rear garden and an opportunity to view it due to a chat and another kind stranger, and then moved on. Poor Mikela! Taught to never do exactly what I'd just done - enter the home of a complete stranger, and by myself, no less! She began the "what ifs" and I tried to explain that sometimes as an adult one goes on instinct and seizes the moment. Her mother had seen me enter, he'd remained outdoors, with the door ajar, etc. All's well that ends well.
It does make me think, though. I tend to grab moments like this, scoping out the situation first, of course. Without doing so, so much is missed. The stay with new friends in their Zurich apartment, the houseful of Australians, met the night before, on their way to the airport. The glimpses, talks, dinners, new friends. To me, it's all worth it, with judicious street-sense as my guide.
Cardiff via Megabus, and the making of a new friend from Paris on the coach ride home! See?