Tourists, Bloody Tourists

My mom and I have been doing the tourist thing. Her time here is limited so we want to do and see as much as possible. So we've been on the run, lots of walking to bus to subway to boat, trying to see it all. And we've seen a lot, let me tell you!
Today we went on one of the bus tours that hits all the hot spots in town. We had a great seat on top of the double-decker and a well-informed guide who tossed out trivia like breadcrumbs to hungry pigeons. What was missing? A working camera! I had some memory malfunction so I can tell you about the tour but I can't show you. A bloody shame it is!
We started our tour off just off Picadilly Circus. From there it was Trafalgar Square (where I spent New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2000) to Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace, with lots of scenery in between. Our guide told us that there is a pet cemetery in Hyde Park with a grave for a beloved Lab that reads, "More faithful than my husband." Ouch!
The palace has 660 rooms. It's hard to wrap your mind around that, isn't it? Thr Queen even has an fully equipped underground operating room should she require emergency surgery. Hundreds of staff work at the palace - and the Royals rarely stay there. They spend most of their time in Windsor or Balmoral in Scotland. But if they need to be in London, it's nice to have a little place in town, right?
Our guide told us Prince Charles has his own staff, including a person whose duty it is to squeeze his toothpaste tube. Talk about a niche job!
Just down from the palace, we saw a storefront for Justerini & Brooks, said to be a great favorite of Prince Charles. That's where his favorite libation, J & B Scotch, is purchased. Did you know that J&B stands for "Justerini & Brooks"? I didn't - until today.
We moved through Belgravia, quite a posh neighborhood. How posh? The average home in that neighborhood costs 18 million pounds - yep, about $33 million. Quite a neighborhood, isn't it? If you can afford it, your neighbors would be Madonna, Roger Moore, Sean Connery (the two former 007s live next door to each other), Joan Collins, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Curtis, among other luminaries. High cotton, as we say back home.
We decided to jump off the bus at Westminster Bridge (not off the bridge), where we hopped onto a Thames River Cruise. I highly recommend the cruise if you're visiting London. The river is so historic and there's so much to see - it's a little hard to take it all in, but it's a very relaxing way to see a lot. We took the boat all the way to Greenwich, home of the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. It was a fun and different way to see London.
Back on land, we hit other hot spots, including one of my personal favorites - Monument, an area which runs along the Thames. There are beautiful old trees and wide sidewalks - it's the loveliest place in the world to walk and just take in all that is beautiful here.
Our last stop of the day was Covent Garden, a must-see while in London. Touristy? Probably - but it's an area that transports you to another time. I especially like visiting there around dusk. Covent Garden takes on a jazzy energy at night.
So now we're back at the flat, resting from a day of nonstop go. This weekend we'll be in Northern Ireland.
I keep seeing travel posters in the underground stations - weekends in Norway, Spain, Turkey, Iceland ... they're calling my name. I wish they would call my bank and drop in a few pounds. Travel is a beautiful thing.