brace for re-entry

Mr. Bump and I are back from London-town. I've got a cold, but we had a wonderful time. We walked, we took the tube, we museumed (bet you didn't think that was a verb, did you?), we walked, we had tea, we walked, we ate good food, we walked. Believe it or not, London is not as big a city as you would think. Part of that may be because tube-hopping is so easy, but we found ourselves bleeding from Covent Garden to Charing Cross and back to Leiscester Square on foot without an excessive amount of trekking. I promise pictures soon, but for the time being let me see if I can make a list of what we saw and did:

• Borough Market
• Oxford Street
• Hyde Park
• Covent Garden Market
• Piccadilly Circus
• Leicester Square
  
• Bloomsbury
• The British Museum
• Portobello Road
  
• Notting Hill
• Kensington Palace, Park and Gardens
• Harrods
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• Science Museum
• Cafe Creperie (fabulous authentic french crepes--avoid the asparagus--canned and mushy)
• Fortnum & Mason
• Waterstone's bookstore (5 stories!)
• Books for Cooks (cookbook store-gah)
• Primrose Hill
• Regent's Park
• National Portrait Gallery
• Tate Britain
• Millineum Bridge
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Clockmaker's Museum
• Bond Street
• The Tea Palace
  
• Other stuff I can't remember right now.
  

It felt like a magical time, like our eyes were wide open. I think some couples would suffocate in a 10 day trip with no breaks whatsoever from their spouse. We spent all but about 15 minutes together--when we were wandering different floors in Waterstones. And I still can't wait to meet him for lunch every day.

A few recommendations based on our "learning experiences:"

• Don't be alarmed if your boogers are black after spending any time in the Underground.
• If you don't want to dawdle at your table for an hour after the last of your plates have been cleared, ask for the check when they take your plates.
• If you walk three blocks and don't see the street you're looking for, turn around--you went the wrong direction.
• Every museum in London is free, so it is a good way to spend an afternoon without paying any money (but you must avoid the museum shop for this to work).
• Keep an inventory of how much tea you've bought so you don't end up with 12 bags/tins of tea, like we did.
• Every woman in London owns two things: a pashmina and a funky 60s mod jacket. Got to get me some of that.
  
• And most importantly, always, always ask for the airsick bag at the beginning of a flight, just in case. Trust me, you don't want yours to be missing when you hit severe turbulence. Just ask Mr. Bump.

More to follow soon--promise!