Once again, I seem to wake-up everyday between 4:30 and 5 a.m., though I set my alarm for this trip for 6 a.m. I try to lie there and fall asleep again, but it never works...so I get-up!

I would like to comment again on what a great group of people this trip has been. We are all so close for the entire day, and everyone has been so incredibly nice and support of everyone else in the group!

London, England

There were about 4-5 of us who were traveling alone, one from the U.S. (a college professor) and one from Australia. Regarding the U.S., there were approximately 8, people from Tennessee, Texas, Florida! They were all such wonderful people! There were a couple couples from New Zealand, and the rest were from Australia. All were perfect people. One thing to mention is that Aussies tend to have longer travel excursions since they are so far from everywhere. Most on this trip had taken or were planning trips in addition to this 20-day one. One person on her own was traveling for 3 months! One couple from America knew the South Bay. The man had grown-up here and new about Hawthorne, Lawndale, Alondra Park, Catherine LaBoure, etc. One of the teams of 3-4 were seniors, but only by time...you could tell they were the rambunctious wild kids when they were tean agers...it was so enjoyable! One group of 5 were from Australia...a married couple with the mother of the woman also on the trip and their two boys, one finishing high school this year and wants to go on to become a police officer, the other in 10 th grade. And there is more info about the others. What a fantastic group of people that made this trip to enjoyable!

I always like to book a day or two early and a day or two the end of the trip, so I had planned the same for this year. I had already spent 2 days in London before the excursion began, and I have one more day--today--extra. I have planned several places to visit today. One is the London Key Observation Wheel...I supposed to get on to ride this in two previous visits to London, but on both days it was closed because it was so hot, you would bake on the wheel. With this new technology, I got a ticket on line for a set time for today. We'll see how it is today. I also would like to stop at the Sherlock Holmes Pub...I was there a couple times in the 1980s and would like to visit again. I also got a ticket online for another event I can't wait to see..."Les Miserables". I have seen the play over 15 times, several times in London, several times in New York and many times in Los Angeles. I can't wait to see it again! Other than that, I plan just to people watch in different spots in London!

In my planning to ride the London Underground today (a.k.a. the "Tube"), I walked from the hotel to the very close Shepherd's Bush station. I went to a machine to buy a pass for the day. It said it would cost $15.90 pounds and pence. Right when I was going to punch the button and put in my credit card, one of the gate employees came up to me and said that if I wanted, I need merely scan my credit card at the gate...if I use the same credit card all day, it would only charge me $8 pounds and 60 pence. Wow! And this is an employee telling me how it works! So I did that for the rest of the day! That saved me about $7 or a couple double-scoops of ice cream!

This shows how well their transit system works  in London. We can't even get our system to work, yet look at how well the system works in London!

Another important point is their name/color system to name the lines. It reminds me of the opposite in Los Angeles. We opened our system calling the lines by the color. How, we were told there weren't enough simple colors, so we could change it to names...which no one seems to know. Why not use both as does London?

Look at the names and colors. MANY shades of one

color, but they are in differrent shades. It makes it so much

easier to look at a map and follow the line when it is in

one color! Yet, each line also has a name! Why does

Los Angeles not do this same thing?

To Trafalgar Square

On the "Tube" in London

I took the Tube to Trafalgar Square. When we passed by this by our coach, it was all closed for a special event, but now it was all open. This is an important site of historical states and events! I just sat and people-watched for a while.

To Sherlock Holmes Pub

Next, I wanted to visit a place where I had been 30 years ago with my trip with the high school students...the Sherlock Holmes Pub. I still remember where it was located...just a couple blocks from Trafalgar Square. However, of course I saw an ice cream place on this street, so I stopped. While Trafalgar Square was hot in the sun, this street I was walking down had many trees, so it was in the shade with a great breeze!

While I was sitting there, I saw 3 "Karts of London" stop at a traffic light! Look how small they are!

Then, I walked down the street and found the Sherlock Holmes Pub. We had pizza here about 30 years ago, so I wanted to have lunch here today. It is like a museum for the fictional character. There is even an office for Sherlock Holmes upstairs.

I want upstairs and basked in the wonder weather day and remember my great time here!

I enjoyed a great meal...when needed to walk over to the London Key Carousel...my prepaid ticket for the carousel was 2:15 p.m. It was just down a few blocks and across the river.

London Key Carousel

Next, I walked down from Sherlock Holmes to cross the Thane River and get to the London key. I had stopped by here in my previous two visits to London, but it was hot on those days that the caousel was closed due to the heat. We ere told that the inside would be like an oven. It was warm today...I would see if the carousel was going to be closed for a 3rd visit!                                

It was hot, so I sat in the shade and people watched for about an hour and a half. Next was the play "Les Miz", but not until 7:30 pm and it was only about 3:30 pm. So after people watching, I decided to walk all the way to the street where the play would be located. It was only about 3 Tube stations away.

"Les Miserables"

I was worried about the walking because the Internet was not working on my cell phone and I did not have a paper map of the city. I was winging it. But I did have an idea by looking at the buildings, etc. of where I was going. What makes it so difficult in London is that their roads are curved, few are part of a straight line. And what makes it worse is that they change the name on many of the old parts of downtown every few blocks, so while I was looking for a particular name, I could still be off. BUT I found the theatre. But I still had 2 1/2 hours before the show! So I found a nice cafe with seats outdoors...it happened to be right next door. I sat to have a snack and some iced coffee and people-watch!

This would be the approx. #16th time I have seen this play...and I could not wait. I still listen to the play often, including the original cast, the 10 year anniversary, the 25 year anniversary, and the movie version.

I was worried about the walking because the Internet was not working on my cell phone and I did not have a paper map of the city. I was winging it. But I did have an idea by looking at the buildings, etc. of where I was going. What makes it so difficult in London is that their roads are curved, few are part of a straight line. And what makes it worse is that they change the name on many of the old parts of downtown every few blocks, so while I was looking for a particular name, I could still be off. BUT I found the theatre. But I still had 2 1/2 hours before the show! So I found a nice cafe with seats outdoors...it happened to be right next door. I sat to have a snack and some iced coffee and people-watch!

This would be the approx. #16th time I have seen this play...and I could not wait. I still listen to the play often, including the original cast, the 10 year anniversary, the 25 year anniversary, and the movie version.

When I went inside 45 minutes before the show started, I wasn't planning on buying anything, yet I still purchased the brochure. Purchasing the ticket online meant the company had my e-mail address, so they also made it available to purchase snacks for the intermission that would be delivered to your seat. I didn't see anything I wanted...what I am used to seeing at the intermission of every show in London is ice cream, but it wasn't on the menu. I thought that maybe their snacks had changed in 30 years.

My seat was perfect....in the 5th row with the end seat of the row so I could stretch my leg out in these cramped seats. There was a couple sitting next to me who had an American accent, so I confirmed they were from the USA. The first question the lady asked is if I loved Les Miz and how many times I had seen it. I asked her why/how she asked such a question, and she replied that she could tell just by looking at me that I adored this show and had seen it many times. The couple was from New York City, and since the husband travelled for work to London, she decided to come with him....she too adores the show. In fact, she told me that they went to Tokyo once to see the show, so she saw it with the entire show in Japanese! How fantastic!

The show was just so incredible!! AND during the intermission...a surprise! They should little ice cream cups...they have been doing so for decades, even though it was not on their menu! And the attendance came right down to my row and stopped there! What do you know?

When the show ended at approx. 11 p.m., I was going to take a London cab back to the hotel. I was getting up early for my flight. But as I walked down the street, there wasn't a single available cab...they were already all taken. I kept walking until I saw Tube station, so I just decided to take the Tube back to the hotel!

What a way to end my time in London and end my 25 day trip abroad! Just more great memories to have!!