Greetings from the Capitol!

We're in London! Ben and I are stopping at this little internet cafe to take a break from roaming the neighborhoods of the city and to look for tips on a good little place to eat some Indian food. We also were checking into some special fun during our trip to Cambridge on Friday. I'm very excited about that.

So far the best thing about the trip has been...... the weather!! It's amazingly beautiful, especially for London, and everyone is out and in a great mood. We walked around all day yesterday, after barely sleeping on the plane. We had the day to kill until we met up with Isabel at 10pm to head home. Luckily we were able to leave our bags with her, but we spent much of the day in a jet-lagged stupor, roaming around taking it all in. The very first thing we did was have some take-away sandwiches on a bench in Hyde Park-- gorgeous. Then we saw the Albert memorial near Royal Albert hall, walked around Kensington, headed up to Isabel's school and briefly walked down Portobello Road, dropped her off and took the tube down to a stop where we came out right next to Big Ben, meandered around the city center, Trafalgar Square, had fish and chips in a pub, walked some more. We were nodding off over our pints at the end of the night and were very grateful to make it back to Isabel's and go to sleep. This morning we woke feeling fine and dandy and capable of being excited to be here again. Rode the London Eye, had shephard's pie and peas and mash at a tiny cafe for lunch, went to the Tate Modern where there are these fabulous slides to ride down as part of an installation exhibit, went to St. Paul's but didn't stay as they're closing down for the day. Ben just found the city's nicest WC, located inside the National Portrait Gallery. We're hoping to go there later to see more than just the loo, but even if not, Ben gives it a thankful thumbs up.

It is fun to be here. It's neat to see all the Londoners, fashions, architecture. Lots more to do: gonna see a play for sure, maybe sold-out Faust if Isabel's hook-up pulls through, or the Tempest with Patrick Stewart, or Equus with naked Harry Potter. Gonna see a rock or punk show, also organ recital at Westminster. Plus St. Patrick's day is coming!

We'll try to post again soon. Love across the ocean!