Dreams, Memories & Keys

Chapter 32 - Adjusting to the Time

Jessie returned to the Abernathys' table in the restaurant at the hotel in London with her plate filled mostly with breakfast rolls and fruit.

"I was looking for that!" she remarked upon spotting the tour book for London lying on their table.

"I thought we could use the time while we're all eating to decide what we want to do today," Susan told her.

"Okay," Jessie replied.

"I think that is a very good idea," Greg agreed. "Do you have some ideas since you have been here for more than a week?"

"I do have a few ideas for things we could do. My thought is that for today, since your brains are tired and it's going to be difficult just to stay awake, is to go someplace where we could be outside and walk," Susan suggested.

Greg glanced at Jessie, seeing the tiredness in her eyes. "I think that might be a good idea. Do you have an idea where?"

"Yes. I thought we could take the Underground to the station closest to Tower Bridge. Walk across that, then walk along the Queen's Walk beside the Thames for as long as we want to walk. There is a lot to explore along that route," Susan told them.

Jessie thought about that. "What's the Queen's Walk?" she asked.

Susan picked up the tour book and looked for the walk in the index. "Here," she told her, looking up the page then turning the book around to show it to Jessie.

"The Tower Bridge is the really tall one," Jessie remarked as she looked at the pictures.

"It is. The subway station is very close to the Tower of London," Susan told her, pointing at that place on the page.

Greg leaned towards Jessie so he could see the book too. "This walk goes by the HMS Belfast, the Globe Theater, a number of public buildings and museums, and the London Bridge," Greg observed. "How much farther would we have to go to reach the London Eye?"

Susan consulted the guide and the map. "We could reach it if we follow the walk far enough. Or if we find we aren't up to doing that, we can cross back over the river in various places and take the Underground back to the hotel." She pointed out the route with her finger.

"It looks like a number of the sights we want to see are located very close to there," Greg observed.

"They are, so if you prefer, we could visit one or more of the museums. Or I know we all wanted to visit the British Museum. I hear that is an all-day thing. We would still be walking around, but it would be inside," Susan offered.

They discussed a number of other options and decided the Queen's Walk sounded like the best idea for their first day.

"I think we should do that," Jessie remarked as she made her way through the sweet rolls on her plate. "These are good," she remarked as she ate her last one. "But it's weird having sweet rolls for lunch."

"That's because this is breakfast. It's a late breakfast as these things go, but it is breakfast," Susan assured her.

"Are we finished here?" Greg asked his family when everyone's plates were empty.

They decided they were. With their plan for the day decided on, the Abernathys returned to Susan's hotel room. Greg and Jessie showered and put on clean clothes to refresh themselves, and they set out for some sightseeing around noon.

^^^

A day outside, mostly in the sun, walking along the river taking in the sights they could see just by walking was just about perfect for Greg and Jessie. Some things they remembered seeing from their bus tour during their previous visit two years ago, just before they moved to New York. Other things were new but were sights one or more of them had heard about before.