The British Museum and Joining Our Travel Buddies

It was Saturday, April 1st and we'd be joining our travel buddies onboard the Viking Cruise ship in the afternoon. However, of course, Art wanted to make the most of our last day in London on our own.

Was I tired? Of course. But I think I must have had a lot of adrenalin coursing through my confused veins.

We woke at 6:00 and had our included Continental breakfast. Notice the stairs to the ground floor? This is why I'm thinking that gift of a “free upgrade” to a triple room had some negative aspects.

It's OK, we were careful and the breakfast made up for it.

At 9:17 AM we'd packed up our room so it was almost as nice as when we first entered the door, dropped off our suitcases at the front desk and headed out again to the nearby Gloucester tube stop.

Now you see why their subway line is called  the "Tube"?

We took the Piccadilly Line to the British Museum where there was a LONG queue to go in but it moved rather quickly. 

I loved these street signs because I imagine a lot of people from other countries look the wrong way before crossing the street.

Being at the British Museum reminded me of that first overseas trip  we took the kids. We’d chosen England because… well… they speak English there. 😁

And now here we (Art and me) were again. 

Like before, there was just too much to see.

When we were here in 1990, the Rosetta Stone was out in the open with no protection. I was shocked and asked the guard if you really could touch it. He laughed and said to go ahead.

This time, it was safely displayed behind a very secure case.

Everything looked very new and different from what we saw so many decades ago.

I wanted to get something special for our daughter, Tiffany. She and our son keep telling us not to worry about travel gifts (Japanese term is omiyage). However, when I asked Tif what she'd like, she mentioned English breakfast tea.

Sooo... we made a stop at Harrods and picked up their breakfast tea and some other treats for my brother and family.

At 2:30, our driver from Twelve Transfers arrived to bring us to Tilbury Dock where we were to board the Viking cruise ship. Well read and full of very interesting opinions, Vasile was from Romania and regaled us with his opinion of the world's economic and political climate.

We arrived at the port around 4:00, went to our state room and unpacked.

We met our travel buddies at 7:00 for dinner and shared all our adventures. They apparently ran into some trouble when they discovered their train back to Paris from Normandy to catch the flight to London was impacted by the protests.

Luckily, their Airbnb driver drove them the long distance from Normandy to the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and they were able to catch their flight to Heathrow. They left France with a lot of fun and happy memories.

And now our Viking adventure was about to begin.