October 21--Hallelujah, Headed Home!!!

It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.  --Albert Einstein

    WOW, I don't think we could have had a better ending day on our trip. It started very early, with a 6:43am train departure from Liverpool. Our mission was to get to Heathrow and get a cab to our nearby hotel to drop off our luggage and then go do more tourist stuff. Once the first train dropped us at the end of its line, it was a rat race with our luggage on two different Underground trains to get to Heathrow, where we took a cab to our hotel so that we could drop off our luggage. That was around 11:00 am, and they actually had a room ready for us. 

    We turned right around and took a cab back to Heathrow to catch the Underground to Westminster. We made sure we could find the Churchill War Rooms Museum. Miraculously, given the huge morning of covering ground, we had enough time to have a half-pint and light lunch at a nearby pub. We returned to the Museum at our appointed time and enjoyed a lovely tour using the audio guide. This was all underground. The guide indicated that the support staff spent weeks without seeing the sun. They used sunlamps on a regular schedule. 

    We walked across the Thames to the London Eye, hoping to get on well before our ticket time, and we were successful. I do not care for heights, and I stayed on the bench in the middle of the "pod." It was a fabulous sky-high tour of London. I must note that the weather forecast for this day was non-stop rain in London, and the weatherperson was wrong. We did not get a single drop on us after leaving Liverpool, and by the time we got on the Eye, it was sunny. 

From the Eye

You can see one of the Eye "pods"
behind me. The wheel is 443 feet high.

    By this point we were pretty worn, and decided to find another pub and beers. We asked a helpful official-looking gentleman for a pub recommendation, and he said, "It's too early to start drinking." This was around 3:30. We said we had already started and this was continuation. He pointed us to the Red Lion Pub. It was packed, so we got our pints and took them outside. We were going to sit on some steps near where two men were drinking at a table. They asked if we were visiting from America, and when we said yes, they said, "We should be nice Londoners and let you sit here." So they sat on the steps and gave us their chairs, and we had a delightful conversation and much laughter. We learned about their business, travels, cricket, families, home-buying in London, on and on. It was the "triple cream cheese frosting" on a perfect day.

Sam and George

    After our last pint in London, we took the Underground-cab combo back to our hotel, had a light supper and turned in early. 

    Yesterday was the perfect example of "I lead a charmed life especially when traveling." Here's the list:

• It did not rain, and all-day rain was predicted.
• We asked for directions several times and each one was spot on.
• We never got on the wrong train.
• The hotel had a room ready for us at 11am.
• We never had to tote our suitcases upstairs in the Underground--we always had elevators handy.
• We had enough time for a pub lunch and beers before our appointed time at the Churchill Museum.
• We were able to get on the London Eye well before our ticketed time and it was sunny. 
• We had the total joy of talking with two wonderful young Londoners over our final pint of beer.

    Today---HOME!!!!  YIPPEE!!!!

        Leta