The weather has been WONDERFUL!! -- Saturday June 1, 2013

Who said it rains all the time in England!?  Well, actually, our friend Jane told us the spring this year in England has been really cool and rainy.  I'm glad the weather system seems to have run it's course before we got here!  The weather for us is perfect for sightseeing! Mid 60's, part sun and part clouds---my kind of weather!

We seem to have settled upon a daily 'routine'--up about 8 am, breakfast till 10 am then head to the Underground between 10 and 11 am.  That gets us into London in time to walk around a bit and stop for lunch (notice how we focus on food a lot?). 



Trafalgar Square

On Saturday we first headed to the ticket office to check out the possible half price tickets for a matinee today.  Between being an OAP (Old Age Pensioner!) and the availability of half price unsold tickets sometimes, we were able to get a good deal.  We are now scheduled to see the Harold Pinter play, The Hot House.  With our tickets secured, we headed to Trafalgar Square to people watch and then it was time for Lunch.

After walking around, we settled on a little French place called La Roche Patisserie on St. Martin's Street.  What a find!  Only seating about 20 people it was perfect.  A light lunch and then dessert!  We were seated directly next to a three shelf case filled with all their elegant cakes and pastries---no way to resist!  We each chose a favorite and along with a Cappuccino, it was a delightful lunch.



We had some time before the theatre so we went to the National Portrait Gallery on a recommendation of my friend Joan. Large and small portraits of all the famous people of the world:  Royalty, actors and American Indians!  Some of paintings were HUGE.  There was even a photograph of a 20th century actor that was 20 ft wide by 10 feet high!




After the theatre performance we walked thru St. James Park. St. James's Park is a 23 hectares (57 acres)^[1] park in the City of Westminster, central London - the oldest of the Royal Parks of London.^[2] The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less.

St. James's Park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, The Mall and St. James's Palace to the North, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south. The park has a small lake, St. James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island, and Duck Island, which is named for the lake's collection of waterfowl. This includes a resident colony of pelicans, which has been a feature of the park since the first gift of the birds from a Russian ambassador in 1664. The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a view west towards Buckingham Palace framed by trees. Looking east the view includes the Swan fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds known Horse Guards Parade, with the Horse Guards building, the Old War Office building and Whitehall Court progressively behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany fountain situated on Pelican Rock and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower and The Shard progressively behind.



For dinner we settled on an outdoor Italian restaurant named Il Padrino Restaurant in Leicester Square where I had my first Fish and Chips in London and a nice cold Carling!

By the time we waddled home on the Underground, it was a very satisfying 12 hour day!