Before we left the States, I promised Mr. A that we would take one of the sightseeing bus tours around London the first Sunday after we landed. So that's what we did. M stayed with Mini-Minion while we went. He said they were planning to find a small square with hopefully a bit of playground equipment. More on that later.
How interested was Mr. A in this long-awaited tour? So interested that he spent probably 75% of it carefully poring over the pamphlet he got on the London Dungeon. He even spoke over our live guide several times until I had to tell him, "Would you PLEASE be quiet and just listen?" So. . .he basically got nothing out of the tour. But it was a fun day for him, and he finally got to ride on the top of a double-decker bus, so it wasn't a total loss.
We got off the bus at the Tower of London so we could take our river cruise. Mr. A begged to go to a playground across the street, so I gave him 30 minutes to play. I was taking pictures of him, and it wasn't until I really looked at them on the camera that I realized, this kid is playing on this playground, and the Tower of freaking London is in the background. Just there. No big deal, right?
Before we got on the boat, Mr. A wanted something to eat. So like an idiot, I took him to a hole-in-the-wall place by the Tower. Why? Why? Seriously, why? Then, to add insult to injurious price, I ordered an American hamburger. Made by Eastern Europeans. In London. It tasted startlingly similar to the old ground up hamburgers they used to serve in cafeterias back when parents didn't care what their kids ate. I gave it to Mr. A, because his hot dog wasn't enough for him. He didn't complain about the taste.
Our river guide was hilarious, and I wish Mr. A had actually paid any attention to him. But he did like the cruise, and he picked up a few tidbits on it that I'm sure he's forgotten. As a side note, I explained drawing and quartering to him the other day when we were talking about the Tower, and of course, the guide mentioned it on the cruise, and of course Mr. A didn't forget about that one. I thought his eyes were going to make like a pug's and pop out of his head when the words "drawn and quartered" came out of that guide's mouth.
After our cruise docked, we decided to walk home. It was sprinkling a little, so we made a few stops on the way, which was really nothing short of serendipitous, because as we were approaching a street where we would have turned left to go north-east, who did we see coming exactly toward us (heading west -- that's important)? M and Mini-Minion! No joke. All of London, and we're a good 15 minutes away from the hotel, and we run into those two. M told us his sad tale of getting mixed up in London, and how he headed north until he realized the river was south, and blah, blah, blah. He had been walking for about 2-3 hours at that point.
"But it's ok," he said. "Because now I've finally figured out which way is which."
"So where are you going?" I asked.
"We were on our way back to the hotel," he said.
"So, why are you headed west when our hotel is north-east of here?" I asked.
He turned around, looked at some of the buildings, and said: "D'oh!" Poor M.
We all set off toward the hotel, stopping on the way on the street I'm obsessed with: Drury Lane. I get the giggles every.single.time we walk down it. Why is there no Muffin Man shop on Drury Lane? Someone is not taking advantage. So that will be my first investment when I'm rich. Then M can be the Muffin Man.
Drury Lane has a small square with a playground, and it has pretty cool equipment. So we hung out there for awhile until we all got too hungry and wanted to go home. It was a really long day.
In case you're wondering (some people do. . .), yes, Mini-Minion wore the same clothes two days in a row. Before Mr. A and I left, I said, "Have fun picking out her clothes!" Well, he didn't. He just picked up dirty clothes and slapped those on her. So I give him a B- for effort. But at least he tried!
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