We began our touring with the incredible St. Paul’s including the many stepped hike to the top of the dome and the incredible views. We had a picnic lunch on the steps of the cathedral and Ira ‘fed the birds’ for less than two tuppence and without a bag. Hopping back on the No. 8, we rode through the city to Hyde Park corner and walked around Buckingham Palace, up to Picadilly Circus and through Chinatown, where we grabbed a mediocre meal. Nightfall was no reason to hang up the tourist shoes, as we hit the Tate Modern for one of its open-late evenings, which was good timing, as the museum was sparsely populated. We appropriately ended our evening enjoying the spectacular nighttime views across the river of St. Paul’s from the café on the top floor of the museum.

--- Tate Modern from the top of St. Paul's ---

--- looking down to the cathedral floor from the hole in the floor at the top of the dome ---

--- looking upriver from the top of St. Paul's dome ---

--- Picadilly Circus - can you find Ira? ---

--- St Paul's from the top of Tate Modern ---

Sunday morning, there is only one thing to do in the East End in my opinion; peruse the local markets. We made our way down Cheshire Street, Brick Lane and over to Spitalfields, stopping along the way at anything that looked interesting. I helped Ira barter one street vendor for a slick black leather “Donnie Brasco” coat. We had lunch at Patisserie Valerie in Spitalfields before heading back to the flat for a quick change and out again on the bikes to ride to Chorleywood. The canal trail ride proved to be no shorter this time around, as there seemed to be even more people taking a Sunday stroll on this side of Regent’s Park. We hit the gas one the trail was clear and met Ray at almost the same point as the last time I did this ride. I was properly knackered by the time we hit Green Street for a late afternoon tea once again, as well! The five of us – Ray, Margaret, Jean, Ira, and I – had a nice dinner at Jean’s before retiring for the night.

Ray, Ira and I had a great ride around the Chiltern Hills beginning with an eery fog which gave way to a sunny afternoon. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, which was very unfortunate, as it the English countryside was enchanting. Ray was great in pointing out various historical sites and mixed the ride with some trails and some roads. We especially enjoyed a quick detour through the very quaint Old Amersham and a stop in front of one of the filming locations from Four Weddings and a Funeral. We finished the ride, appropriately hungry, at the Red Lion pub where Jean, Margaret, and Kate had already secured a table. The “world’s best, internationally recognized, etc. etc.” lamb pie did not disappoint! The late lunch left us just enough time for a quick rinse of the bikes at Ray’s and some tea before catching the train back to London.

--- Ira and Ray before our goodbyes at the train station // Jean and Jilayne for a quick photo while chatting with Peter on the phone
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And the day is not over! After a quick rest and a shower, we got ourselves dolled up for the theatre. We grabbed discount tickets at Leicester Square for Glengarry Glen Ross starring Jonathan Price – 6th row seats to boot! We had a late night snack at the Pizza Express chain restaurant on Holborn which seemed to be the only place serving past 10pm.

--- all cleaned up for the theatre (and the wonder of photoshop...) ---