Last Day

Today is our last full day in London, and it was a perfect one, complete with a few snow flurries, long walks in some favorite spots, dinner at the best restaurant in London (in our humble opinion!), a couple of museum stops and some impromptu squirrel feeding.

Both of us had to work this morning so work complete, we set out with purpose around noon. We had a lot to cram into a few hours. First stop: the British Museum, where we checked out two new exhibits, one on clocks and time and the other on money.

Keith loves watches, so he really enjoyed going back in time (pardon the pun) to see how clock-making began. We saw so many different clocks - very ornate ones made by the most painstaking of British clockmakers. At first, only royalty and the very wealthy had clocks in their homes. Many of them were so large they would only fit in a palace!

Across the way, we walked through the history of money, looking at coins that were 2,500 years old all the way up to debit cards and other plastic from the modern era. One Greek coin was bigger than a medallion - try putting that huge piece in a vending machine!

From there, we walked down to Westminster and into St. James's Park, which I wrote about yesterday. It's truly one of the most beautiful spaces in all of London. There's a lake there, and a bridge that gives you a couple of the best views in London. Wildlife abounds in this park - all kinds of waterfowl, birds and squirrels. Both the big ducks and squirrels will come right up and eat from your hand. One of the squirrels ran up my leg to get a tiny piece of peanut. They're not greedy in the least - they're quite happy to take one piece, jump down and chew it. I had so much fun with those sweet tame squirrels.

From St. James's, we walked across the road and down by Clarence House, the smaller palace that's home to Charles and Camilla, then up Queen's Walk through Green Park. It's a smaller park, but very pretty.

Our next stop was the National Gallery, which is a must-see for anyone who comes to London. First, it's free. Second, it has some of greatest art treasures you'll ever see. I love to look at paintings from the 1400 and 1500s - it amazes me that I am seeing something so beautiful that was an artistic vision 500 or 600 years ago. You could spend all day - and then some - at the Gallery. We stayed until closing time. It's hard to leave on your own.

The National Gallery sits on Trafalgar Square, which is one of Keith's favorite places in the world. Mine too - especially during the Christmas season. A huge Christmas tree is placed there - a gift from Norway as a thank you for Britain's help during World War II. At nightfall, choirs gather in front of the tree and sing holiday songs. It's hard for me to keep a dry eye as I watch that incredible sight.

Our night was capped at DaMario's, a restaurant we have come to love here in London. It's in Covent Garden on Endell Street. It is a tiny restaurant where all the pasta is housemade and the service is kind and caring. Our friends, the Drysdales, steered us there, and we love it as much as they do. In fact, last week they told us they'd just returned from Rome and they found no restaurant there as good as DaMario. Tonight, Keith got casarecci with meatballs and I got my usual - ravioli with spinach in brown butter and sage sauce. It was the perfect "last meal" in London.

So our night ended early - we were home by a little after 9 p.m. We got a chance to ride the Tube and bus "one last time" and see twinkling lights on our high street for the last time this festive season.

I'll sign off now - we have suitcases to weigh and lots to do before 7:30 a.m. Wish us happy and safe travels. About 24 hours from now, God willing, our feet are back on North Carolina soil.