First day of London

Oscar wakes up at 5:45am because he is still on Turkey time….so

not ready for it, but we’re starting London early I guess.  Even our little Tesco that we bought groceries at doesn’t have their morning donuts in until 8am, but the manager tells us that there is a Krispy Kreme in Victoria Station.  Of course there is.  But it’s not open either.  When do you eat donuts in England, only in the evening? That winter storm has not arrived yet, but we were planning museums today anyway 

because of the forecast and head off to the British Museum.  Which is not open yet when we get there, but you can enter and hang out in the grand courtyard with their shops and cafes open.  Which  is awesome because they have the best 

  book store that I think that I’ve ever seen for pure concentration of books that interest all 3 of us.  When the museum opens and Oscar starts acting up because we forgot his phone and he wants to take pictures, I bribe him with going back out to the book shop.  It’s that good and he listens because of it.  So, we see some big ticket items, come read some books, see some more big ticket items, read some books, see the rest and have John meet us at the 

book store because we can amuse ourselves forever  there.  After 2 and a half hours, you realize that you would need weeks to see everything in here and see it well.  It’s too big.  Another reason for

 the Parthenon marbles to go back.  The Acropolis museum could use them and the British Museum wouldn’t lose much if they went back.  There’s still too many things in here to see in a day.  We take a bus to Abbey Road and go walk

where the Beatles walked, but the rain has started to come in earnest now and we picked the wrong bus stop for the location that we wanted….so, not much fun, but something off the bucket list.  Bus back toward Piccadilly Circus and

we check on show tickets for this weekend.  We can get tickets to just about any show in town, for various prices, but Hamilton you have to find them at the theater.  We do check on the theater which is by our place and we

could get a ticket for this weekend for 200 pounds….no thanks.  It was just interesting to see that it’s just as popular here as at home.  When you travel, the guide books tell you to eat where the locals eat in order to find good food.  Well, in Piccadilly Circus that

place is Five Guys Burger and Fries.  It’s crazy busy.  CRAZY BUSY.  After watching them do their thing in this two story eating establishment, John asks one of the managers how many burgers they sell in a day.  The manager says that they sold 1600 burgers last Saturday.  Unbelievable and so much busier than any Five Guys I’ve seen in America.  Oscar gets a free milkshake our of our interest in the numbers, what

is it with this kid?  I know he's cute.  At least I think so, but I’m his mother.  Even in London where his coloring is not unique he’s getting free stuff…..doesn’t make sense.  But he’s ecstatic.  There’s all of these candy stores on this street and we have to hit

       the one that is just next door because we have a five year old and a promise was made before the free milkshake happened.  This place has Wonka bars, which John chooses and Oscar finds a pencil box with jelly beans in it that has his name on it.  This is perfect because he likes jelly beans and we have been collecting pens and pencils from every location per his teachers’ instructions so that he can practice his hand writing.  His favorite so far is a pen that’s head is a palace guard with bear skin.  When he likes the pen, the boy will write a lot.  Now, we have something to keep them all in.  We head home to warm up and dry off after this and have dinner in the place.