Will Arrives

Yesterday was an "interesting day"--not totally in the Chinese curse "may you have an interesting life" way, but getting there.

I am really liking my flat with a few small complaints, including that the three keys I need are always falling off the "keyring" they were on when they were handed to me. One fell off as I was closing my door yesterday morning, except I didn't know that and thought it was still in the flat. So I had locked my self out at 10AM. I called the landlady and she said the cleaner could come by at 6:30PM to let me in. That didn't really bother me because I expected to be out all day anyway.

But by 4PM, I was feeling residual jet lag and sat in one pub and then another for an hour each waiting for the time to meet the cleaner. I went to the flat at 6PM, just in case she might be early, but she eventually showed up at 7:45. I was freezing and annoyed but all I could do was thank her for coming. She let me in and I immediately searched for the key and found it nowhere. Then I opened the door and there it was on the outside threshold, where I could have reached it hours before. So disgusted with myself and so tired and chilled I could not even get the energy to complain about it here on my blog!

Anyway, the day was actually wonderful. I walked all the way down to the Thames through the City (the financial district).

Turn any corner here and you are likely to find a castle. This one is about five blocks from my flat and is the armory for the Honourable Artillery Company. And it is right next to a cemetery where some famous people have been buried including Daniel Defoe and William Blake.

The City itself is full of contradictions. Old and stately buildings sit right next to modern, almost whimsical ones. For example:

The Thames was extremely low on Tuesday, perhaps part of a flood preparedness test they were doing. Some of the boats docked on the side of the river were in about two feet of water.

Notice the London Eye ferris wheel in the background.

It's a lot more like spring here than it Upstate NY. I can tell you that. Look at the roses in bloom at the Embankment Gardens.

Got tickets for Les Miserables in April when Mary is here (26th), and rode back to my neighborhood to see Hoxton Square which is about a block away from my flat. I think it was too early for activity, or maybe it happens on the weekend. Anyway, it was pretty but deserted when I was there.

So once I got back in my flat, I pretty much collapsed. I was concerned I might not get up in time to go to the airport to pick up my nephew Will, but I got up at six, plenty of time to meet his 7:5oAM flight. Except I checked the status and it was an hour early! I rushed out of the flat and down to the tube, really worried that we would miss each other. But we connected straight away.

I told Will he should probably take a nap but he wanted to "power through" so we wnt down to the Tower of London.

Where our guide was Yeoman Warder Mark. He was very funny. Then we had lunch in a pub called Wheterstone and walked home. By that time Will was ready to take that nap. Which he did, giving me time to write this.