London

We arrived London yesterday along with rain. Lots of rain. We're told it's been beautiful weather all summer and this is the first day of 3 days of rain.  Once checked into the Rubens Hotel, we decided to  venture out and walk while it was just a mist of rain.  Of course the skies opened up so Jeff bought a big umbrella for two.  Just like NY I thought.  Seemed every time I was in the city it would start to rain and I have a collection of street-bought umbrellas. Now it's becoming an international collection.  Our hotel is centrally located just a few blocks from Victoria Station.  We bought a day pass to use on all public transportation for 9£ each.  Found bus 11 and enjoyed our ride on the upper deck through the city to Trafalgar Square.   Changed to bus 15 and continued to the Tower of London.  20 minutes later we reversed our trip.  This time we boarded an older more traditional bus with just an open staircase in the back.  On a crowded day you'll see folks hanging on from this platform.  Getting on or off the bus requires speed and agility.  You must hop on and run up the stairs and sit before being jilted back as the driver takes off to his next stop. To get off the bus one begins the reverse sequence just before the designated stop thus avoiding being pushed back into the bus by the new comers.  Jeff and I got  up from our seats and worked our way down the steps.  We were the only ones getting off and no one got on so the conductor gave us 15 extra seconds for a photo op.  we thanked him and he sped off to the next stop.  Hmmm something's missing.   Oh. Dear.   I left the umbrella.  The big beautiful umbrellas for 2 is now on its own tour of London.  Onto Chester this afternoon for 3 nights. Maybe it's not raining there.