The River Thames Messed Up My Hair

Today was a cold and cloudy day in London. Proper English weather, I’m told.

Our first stop of the day: the filming location for BBC’s Sherlock. Well…the front door, at least. 😉

Speedy’s was closed. 😦

While we were stopped there, at least 10 people came by to get snaps of their own. The door is there, the knocker is the same, but obviously the address is different, as this is on North Gower St, not Baker Street. Check out Sherlockology for details on locations.

Then it was on to Buckingham Palace.

Wow…this place is huge. Also, the Guards with the fuzzy hats are really far away now. No posing with them, no trying to make them laugh… We’re told it’s a security risk. 😦 I hate bad guys.

The fountain out front was mammoth. And because my boys refused to move from their spots, there are hundreds of tourists headed home with photobombs. Awesome.

And the parks…

And buildings…including Westminster Abbey…

We headed across the Thames to the London Eye. The crowds were insane! There were street performers and “Guess which cup!” guys and “Take your picherrrr?” girls everywhere. The skies were drizzling rain and the wind was almost bitey. My hair was blowing all over the place and the guy trying to crowd behind me complained to his wife. To her everlasting benefit, she said (in a very Hackney accent), “Your problem, ya know, is that you ain’t got no concept o’ personal space.”

We finally made it through the ques for tickets and made it to The Eye. I did my best to not freak out in the pod…but honestly it was scary/amazing/don’t-look-too-closely-at-the-bolts/wow-it’s-really-windy/cool. The view was worth all the terror-filled thoughts about plunging into Thames or worrying about a fellow pod-goer coughing up The Plague.

By the time we had a picnic in the park and crossed the river again, my hair had become a curling mass of frizz. The humidity had conspired with the wind to turn my locks into something between Medusa’s snakes and that guy with the 70’s ‘fro.

Stupid River Thames…no consideration. I used the last of my good conditioner for this trip this morning. ((Sigh))

Here are some sights on the way back to the hotel:

^^^friendly photobomb…^^^

Snails. They’re everywhere.

Tomorrow: The Warner Bros. Harry Potter studio tour.

Now: The Food Network. The British Food Network is very different from what I’m used to in America. It’s cool…and apparently, “brown sauce” is its own food group. 😉