Up early after our early night- turns out that Jacqui can actually function in the morning, despite all previous evidence. She'd washed up, made hot drinks and made breakfast before 6.30am. Have never witnesssed such a thing. I was very glad to be the beneficiary of her industry, as still not feeling well and still an invalid with my sore shoulder.
Made phone calls home and chatted to everyone which was lovely, though Miss Alice broke my heart when I asked her if she was being good for Daddy and the Grandparents and she told me: 'I just want you, Mummy.' So lovely but so heart aching in equal measure.
With Wendy and Andy off to work, we prepared to set off on the first leg of our self guided tour of Harry Potter's London. Luckily Wendy's friend Courtney was still here to show us the way to the station- very helpful. We got off at Leicester Square ready to launch, and immediately retired to a delightful patisserie so we could fortify ourselves with coffee, juice and scones (breakfast had been before 6.30 after all).
Ok now we were really ready to go and thus began a delightful time wandering in and around Leicester Square's alleys and laneways, all around the theatre district and finally out to Trafalgar Square. We found all the bits we were looking for and picked up our Harry Potter lollybag in the sweets shop, and another surprise themed item. I really restrained myself when we found a bunting shop......let the reader understand that I was sorely tempted at every item.
Walked all through Westminster in the next part of our own personal tour- accidentally happening upon the Royal Horse Guards and Number 10 Downing Street. Possibly the best thing we happened on was a protest march going towards parliament. On closer inspection it was a protest march of librarians- Jacqui was beside herself with solidarity for the cause ('Libraries for Literacy') and could hardly restrain herself from shouting out dewy decimal numbers to support the troops.
Over the bridge and walked all the way up to Lambeth, where we found ourselves in the Garden cafe and museum of the church of St Mary at Lambeth. Delicious vegetarian meals prepared with the garden's bounty was perfect for lunch, especially since it was drizzly outside by now- soup and tartlets and a variety of salads gave us energy for the walk ahead. A quick look round the garden and then over Lambeth Bridge (this is where the Knight Bus squeezes between 2 buses- I made Jacqui re enact the scene for a photo- a bit hard to grasp the exact nuances of the scene however).
Back down the other side of the embankment, and the cold and flu tablets really starting to wear off by now. A quick look at the slavery abolishment monument with a questionable link to the tour and then back on the underground at Westminster to journey home to Ealing.
A quick stop at Sainsbury's to pick up some fruit and more eggs so Jacqui could make me breakfast again in the morning and then began what we like to call 'the trudge' home.
Tea and fruit went some way to restoring us, and dinner an even better job when Wendy and Andy got home. The laptop cord Jacqui had brought was successsfully united with Wendy's laptop- all the technology was exhausting me and so I retired to bed, hoping to fell more energetic for the remainder of our tour in the morning.
