I GOT UP to a wet and dreary morning. I'd stayed in bed a bit then we ate breakfast. I just went through my things then Uncle Frank drove us to the train station.

I bought my ticket and headed to London. When I got there, I found that my ticket also includes access to anywhere in London on the underground or the buses. I wish I'd have known this last week! I went right to the Charing Cross station and came up at Trafalgar Square. I came around the statue in the rain and Sharon came around the other side. Since it was raining, we went right into the national Gallery.

In some seats in the lobby we compared our tours. They'd done an awful lot in the time they had. I got my stuff back then we went over to a travel bureau to find out about getting a standby ticket on Austria [?] but they were not knowledgeable. I gave up then Sharon had to leave as part of her work. I went to another bureau - I couldn't get a ticket. I confirmed my flight home then I returned to the national Gallery.

On the way to the gallery, I'd looked for a used bookstore. I couldn't find one so I gave up to go to the gallery. What a place! Van Dyck. Rubens. Constable. Rembrandt. Picasso. And others I can't think of at the moment. There were 46 galleries, six of which were closed. Even still, I spent hours inside and all I could do was glance at each painting. I generally like portraits from the 17th and 18th Centuries.

By the time I got out, it was relatively late so I went to catch the underground to Fenchurch Street. I tried to find the black and white sketches of London (six for L1) and an 'England' scarf, but I couldn't find a thing. I'll wait 'til I'm back to London on Thursday.

I looked through my notes while I sat on the train but I soon fell asleep. I called Uncle Frank when I arrived in Leigh then we got supper ready. I find these days that I'm not as hungry as I used to be. No more cycling, plus, I found that I've put on 3 kg since I've been here, so I shall have to do something about it.

After supper we saw the trooping of the colours presented in front of the Queen in the square in London behind the arch where we'd seen the mounted guards last week. There were pipe and drum bands. I was impressed. Once it was over we cleaned up then came into the lounge to watch Kane & Abel. I can't believe how good it is. Last year I know they were making a movie using one of U of T's buildings on College Street. The Richland Hotel in this movie was that old building in Toronto. I thought it looked familiar when a streetcar went by. It was a TTC streetcar that looked so familiar.

We watched a bit of the England-Portugal soccer game but I started to fall asleep so I went to bed and listened to my Walkman. I also tried to think of how I'm going to get home from Toronto on Friday. I'm really worried that I won't be able to fly and they won't allow the cycle onto the train.

When I was in London in the afternoon, I'd wanted to find a place where I'd find some used books but by the time I was out of the National Gallery, I was quite tired. Rather than another late day I came home and made it for shortly after 5 pm. I'll look for old books when I get back to Canada - either in Toronto or London. I have a funny feeling I wouldn't find what I want in Cochrane!