Sightseeing in London

Saturday
We had a very smooth and speedy flight from Detroit to Heathrow, as we had the benefit of a strong tailwind, so we arrived at about 6.30 am. The flip side was that since that was only 1.30 am according to our body clocks, and “breakfast” had been served at least an hour previous, we’d had barely any sleep! We picked up our rental car and found our way to our hotel to drop off our cases, but being so early of course our rooms weren’t ready yet! The heat wave was still continuing in London, so it was a hot day for sightseeing, and particularly unbearable on the Underground. We headed to the area around Saint Paul’s, my original idea being to visit a couple of nearby less visited churches, however, I had overlooked the fact that they were closed on Saturday, so instead we decided to do the full tour of Saint Pauls. Whilst we knew we have been inside before, and relatively recently, we weren’t sure if we had been up inside the dome, and were pretty sure we hadn’t been to the galleries around the outside of the dome, and since it was a fine sunny day, it was a good day for it! We decided to take one of the guided tours, which proved to be a mistake, as we were OK as long as we kept moving, but when we sat down trying to listen to the guide, the jet lag began to overtake us and the eyelids started to become heavy! Having completed the tour, we treated ourselves to some tea and cake in the cafe, hoping the sugar would give us a bit of a boost! From Saint Paul’s we rode the underground again, to the Regents Canal, following a walking tour in our Eyewitness guide, following the canal to Camden Locks, with a detour at one point up to Primrose Hill, which affords a good view over the city. The park was full of people sunbathing, having picnics, enjoying the views etc. We ended our day in Covent Garden area for an early dinner before returning to the hotel to crash!