First day in London

On Sunday June asked us what time we would want breakfast and what we wanted cooked. We asked for scrambled eggs, bacon and beans at 8:30 a.m. which became our standard. The table was laid out with fruit juices, and on the side bar was fruit, baked pancakes, scones and a variety of breads with a toaster. Coffee was served in a French press. The first morning we came down for breakfast and met the other houseguests who it turned out were from Michigan! Not only that but they were a mother and daughter pair and noticed my 4-H sweat shirt because they were a 4-H leader and member!! What a small world it is indeed. They were returning from a week in Paris but already had a few days of London under their belt so we asked them what they suggested. On their recommendation we decided to sign up for a Big Bus Tour which is a double decker bus that tours London. You can sit on the open air top and enjoy the sights as a guide narrates. But before getting our tickets, June advised us to stop and see her memorial. Seems she was instrumental in getting a war memorial to animals built near the Marble Arch just a block from our house. Her name is on the base. It depicts the many animals who served in our wars who "had no choice". It was very moving. Later we got our tickets which were good for 48 hours of touring the city.
That first day we saw Big Ben, the House of parliament, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, dozens of monuments and crossed over the Thames several times. It was an excellent way to get a feel for the city and to learn our way around. We ended our touring that day at Harrod's department store which was quite a treat. Believe it or not at Harrod's which is quite possibly the largest store in the world we ran into our housemates from Michigan! I'll post more on Harrod's later. That evening we went down to Cork Street to have dinner at Mulligan's Irish Pub. We had the downstairs to ourselves. I ate Irish Stew and Mike tried a beef dish and beer. When he asked what kind of beer they had on tap they looked at him like he was crazy. "Guinness, of course!" They had dozens of types of Irish whiskey but only ONE kind of beer.