We managed a good sleep, not contiguous, but in decent chunks, until about 5.30am. We needed to be up by 6.30am anyway as we were meeting Heather at 8:15 for breakfast. We set off before 7.30 and wandered our way across London Bridge and up Gracechurch St to meet Heather at the Duck and Waffle. It's a very pleasant time of day to be out, the city is quiet (relatively speaking) and there are hardly any people about.
Duck and Waffle is, as the name suggests, a specialty waffle restaurant, and it has a fantastic view over the city, as well as the food being top notch. I had the 'Elvis Does Xmas' special, buttermilk waffle with caramalised chestnuts, candied clementines and pumpkin ice-cream. Delicious !! All washed down with a very good flat white.
Heather had to go to work, so we caught the tube with her and we got off at Tottenham Court road in search of Foyles, a bookshop, and she continued on to work. The afternoon was spent walking, walking and then a bit more walking. I went the length of Oxford St to Marble Arch and back again as far as Bond St to meet up with Joe. Everywhere has a sale on, with mostly a 50% discount, but it was all a bit average, and there was nothing to tempt me to part with my dosh. Joe was much more successful, he to Foyles, Forbidden Planet, and then HMV, and has already amassed a few kilos worth of books kits and DVD's. I met up with him, and we caught the tube home from Bond St station. Had a rest for a bit and then went out again, this time looking for Waterstones - another bookstore, which we found, but it happens to be closed on the weekend. Then we wandered back via St Katherines Dock, a place we used to like to wander through when we lived here before. It's a rather fancy marina for pleasure yachts, that feels like London is a world away. It would be a lovely place to live, if you had a few million pounds to spend.
We were feeling a bit shattered by this point, so we hoofed it back home, fighting the masses on the Thames walk and had a quick sit down to gather some energy for the next foray. We couldn't dally too long else we would have fallen asleep, so we went out and grabbed something to eat, and now we are propping eyelids open and trying to stay up until 8pm at least tonight, though that may be a struggle.
My watch tells me I've done 36,495 steps, or 25.3 kms walking today, and my feet and knees would agree with that assessment !
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