First day in London

On our first night in London, we had the opportunity to have our “neighbours”, Debbie and James from nb ‘Lois Jane’ on board for a drink.

Doug, Debbie and James (the other James is behind the camera) having a grand time with wine and nibbles.  The happy evening ended at midnight with Debbie and James having to make the long journey of fifty feet back to their boat.

It will become clear why we didn’t blog yesterday evening but we had a great first day in London.  We had a general wonder around some of our old haunts – the West End, Soho, Chelsea and the Embankment and generally doing some touristy things.

Here’s one of the very few photos we took during the day at Piccadilly Circus.  In the evening we had a meal in the West End and then went on to enjoy a couple of old pubs and then a club.  The reason why we didn’t blog was because we didn’t leave the club until nearly 2 o’ clock in the morning!

On the way “home” we enjoyed a breath of fresh air along the Embankment with this wonderful view of the Millennium wheel all lit up, before getting the night bus back to Paddington.

Walking back though Paddington Station at 2:30 in the morning we couldn’t resist talking a couple of pictures!  This is a rarely seen sight – not a soul to be seen and deathly silence.

Well, the weather has been very kind to us today compared to what we’ve heard other bloggers have experienced.  We had one small shower this afternoon and it’s been unseasonably cold in places.  We’ve noticed a strong, and sometimes armed, police presence around the city.  Every “Help the Heroes” collector has been supported by two policemen. An awfully sad situation at the moment but we look forward to enjoying our second day in the capital.