July 12 - The London Finale and Blisters Can Be Painful

(John) Today was a full and eventful day. As mentioned in the previous post, we did tour London Tower, and I spent 90 minutes in St. Paul's while Gene relaxed in a coffee shop on the plaza. I climbed nearly to the top of St. Paul's huge dome.

In the late afternoon, we spent about two hours in the British Museum. Our time was dedicated to the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Assyrian exhibits - definetely a place to which we will return. We only saw a quarter of the museum.

By 17:30, we were having a great conversation with an Aussie couple at the Victoria, a pub just two blocks from our hotel on the northeast edge of Hyde Park. Lamb stew and a beer made a tasty evening meal. Finally, we rushed off to see the British cast of Mama Mia. We very much enjoyed the performance, and later we spent some time looking at the bright lights of Picadilly Circus.

Our trip is half over now, and things should start to slow down. Tomorrow morning we we will make our way to Waterloo Station and climb aboard the Eurostar train that whisks passengers under several miles of the English channel. I'm looking forward to pomme frites with mayonaise and mussels in Brussels.



(Gene) I don't understand why, but I've developed a bad case of blisters over the last couple of weeks. Actually I've had them since the very first day of the trip;

I brought my my well broken in Ecco shoes and some Bite sandals. I've custom orthotics too - and still I have blisters on both feet. They're painful and they're slowing me down.

I wasn't going to write about such a personal thing, but they are having an impact on our trip and they're effecting my enjoyment of the journey.

I had talked to my podiatrist before the trip, so I don't know why taking his advice has not helped. I'll definetely be talking to him when I get back.