We are staying in a Premier Inn right on the River Thames! Literally you can see the London Eye (a giant Ferris wheel) right outside our window! After a delicious breakfast we bundled up and headed out to explore London. It was partly to mostly cloudy all day and not too cold.

We walked along the Queen’s Walk and then across the Waterloo footbridge into the heart of London. A few blocks down the street we were in Trafalgar Square. The statue of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson was directly in front of us. Funny to think that just yesterday we were on his ship the HMS Victory! We briefly popped into Waterstones, which is the largest bookstore in Europe. It’s also a bookstore chain found throughout the UK. Across Trafalgar Square was the beautiful church, St. Martin in the Fields. There has been a church on the site since the Middle Ages, but the current building was completed in 1726. The church building is used not only for religious services, but also for classical music concerts. Many famous classical recordings have been made in the sanctuary. In fact, as we sat in the pews admiring the architecture, the grand piano was being tuned for a concert that evening.

Rounding the corner we walked a further three blocks until coming upon a little engraving in the side of a building. The engraving said that in 1662 the first Punch and Judy Show took place on the spot. Across from the sign a pedestrian walkway took us to the entrance to Covent Garden. There were not only established stores in the old Victorian shopping arcade, but several shop stalls… however we didn’t see any ill-speaking flower girls or professors of speech!  😉

Not too far from Covent Gardens is the Royal Opera House. We were able to step into the lavish red carpeted, mahogany trimmed foyer and have a quick look around. Since I’m a trained opera singer, it was a delight to visit one of the world’s most famous opera houses. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed into the main performance hall. We left the opera house and walked past the Royal Ballet and right out into Leister Square and then a few blocks onto Piccadilly Circus, London’s Times Square!

Along Piccadilly Road we came to Fortnum and Mason. This high-end grocery and shop has been in existence since 1707. It was a lovely 4-story shop beautifully decorated with white marble, chandeliers, and staircases with mahogany trim and red velvet carpets.

I was looking around at the tea accessories when Robert took me by the hand and said I needed to come see something that he WOULD be buying for me. Of course, I was quite intrigued at this point. We rounded the corner and he showed me the most beautiful turquoise tea set with little blue jays, delicate green twigs, and little white flowers. I gasped to see that the flowers were Camellias! It was a tea set designed especially for Fortnum and Mason that had little delicate Camellia Sinensis plants on the tea service. The Camellia Sinensis is the tea plant itself. The little delicate white Camellia flowers bloom just as the leaves begin to sprout. I’ve known about the plant and it’s connection to my name for years, but never have been able to find an actual tea service with a Camellia pattern. David, the clerk, was just as excited to meet someone by the name of Camellia and actually introduced me to some of his colleagues in the china department. Robert kept true to his word and purchased a box set of two cups/saucers, the teapot, creamer, and the sugar bowl in the pattern. I grabbed a couple of coordinating tea towels and a tea cozy. We had the lot shipped to America. I’ll have to wait 6 months, but that’s okay, I’m patient!!!

While at Fortnum and Mason Liam had a traditional shoeshine on his leather boots and we all had a light refreshment. Liam and Robert had coffee and scones, Seamus and Faywen shared a gigantic banana split, and once again Robert surprised me. This time he secretly told the waitress to bring me a real London Coronation Chicken on toast! I LOVE Coronation Chicken! He’s such a sweetie!

Meandering through the West End, London’s Broadway district, we came to the famous British Museum. Free to the public the museum houses some of the world’s greatest antiquities. These include artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Rome, Japan, Greece, Babylon, and Europe. Some family favorites were Egyptian cats and mummies, temple stone statues from the Parthenon, the ancient Mesopotamian Royal Game of Ur (which we play at home on a version Robert made by hand, so seeing the original was a family treat), the Lewis Chessmen, the clock room, Easter Island Head, and the Rosetta Stone.

After a long day of walking we had dinner and returned to the hotel for a nice cup of warming tea and some yummy local cookies and candies we bought along the way.