oh, English Accents.

Today turned out to be much better than yesterday. Whew. And I bet that is most likely because Mom and I slept to our hearts' content this morning. We got up in time for lunch and then rode a boat cruise down the Thames. It was beautiful weather for cruising, and our tour guide was very entertaining - can't beat that.

view of Tower from the river.

We cruised to the Tower of London, site of many tortures and executions. Let's just say that viewing the outside was enough for us.

closer view of the Tower.

On our way to the next stop, the Tate Modern, we crossed Tower Bridge and found a great view of St. Paul's cathedral.

St. Paul's from a walking bridge.

But something else notable got caught in front of my lens.

How funny. Throughout today and yesterday I have noticed many men with their shirts off - it was unusually hot yesterday - but this is a little much.

On to Tate Modern. The museum/gallery holds works of international modern and contemporary art from 1900, including post-war work by Claude Monet, a few pieces by Pablo Picasso, and a room devoted to Andy Warhol. All of this was interesting, but I am hoping to see some impressionist work before leaving London.

Tower Bridge.

After walking around the Tate, we went in search of a spot to have afternoon tea! We have to act at least a little British while being here. On our way back across the Tower Bridge, we got tickled thinking about the shirtless man from earlier- not uncommon for the two of us. Here is a pic to demonstrate.

we laugh.

We finally had tea and scones (basically biscuits) with clotted cream (butter) and jam. It was a nice refresher for the middle of the afternoon.


From there we went to Leicester Square to check out the cheap tickets booth for available shows. We lucked out and got tickets to see Avenue Q. Next, we decided to rest in Leicester park for a bit. And I got shat on. By a pigeon. Hahahahah. It only got me on my pants leg, thank goodness. And thus began more laughing.

Once recovered from this little episode, we noticed a big group standing around the northern part of the square. A movie called 4.3.2.1. had its world premier tonight on the square. I got a small (and crooked) shot of the red carpet.

After pizza and beer, we headed to Avenue Q. Funny to watch a show about New York in London, but that's okay. It was still a very funny show. The characters are muppets controlled by actors. It may seem silly, but the little people's personalities developed quite well. We laughed very hard. Maybe not as hard as earlier on the Tower Bridge, though.

Now, back at the hotel, we are finishing the plans for our day tomorrow. We are going to see Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theater, St. Paul's Cathedral up close and possibly another museum.