Angry Feet

Justin and I had an amazing night sleep last night. Got up early for the free breakfast downstairs in the kitchen: cornflakes, banana, and toast with peanut butter. We discovered a brochure for a free walking tour of the city and decided to go for it. We had about 2 hours until it started, so we went to the grocery market down a block away and bought turkey, cheese, french bread, yogurt and cottage cheese for our lunch later. At 9:45 we left the hostel and walked through Kensington Gardens and Hyde park to the meeting spot of the tour. Our guide was great; she was actually Irish but knew a lot about the city. The tour was about 2 hours long and led us through the city to all the highlights, including my future residence, Buckingham Palace. I just have to meet my Prince Charming first ;-) We also saw Big Ben, Westminster Abby and the House of Parliament. By then, however, we found ourselves on the opposite side of the city from our hostel with incredibly full bladders, empty stomachs and angry feet. Using a very basic city map, we managed to navigate our way back to home sweet hostel. Over all we estimated that we walked over 15 miles in 5 hours. We could have kissed the hostel steps when we arrived!! We immediately exchanged our hiking shoes for flip flops and limped to the kitchen for sandwiches. As Justin described it, it was "nirvana". A 2 hour nap was definitely in order, so we passed out for awhile.

Next item on the agenda was laundry in the bathroom sink. We are now professional washwomen!! We even rigged a clothes line and everything. Then it was dinner time. Walked to the market again for olive tomato hummus, french bread, olives and feta cheese, and a bottle of wine. I think we will learn very quickly that one bottle of wine will never be enough. The food was amazing and we met a group of girls from South Africa who also enjoyed our passion for Vino Tinto. Needless to say we had to take another wine walk to the market. We have enjoyed a bottle of Bordeaux and a Rioja, and lots of great conversation. And hey.....our feet, along with everything else are feeling pretty darn good at this point!

-Michelle