Last Day/Along the Thames

Monday, July 30:
What a quick week! On the last full day, we breakfasted, caught the express train back to London all the way to Heathrow, then a taxi to the Sheraton where we'd be staying the night (a completely shitty hotel!! thankfully only 79 pounds through hotwire), got settled in, then had to take a bus BACK to Heathrow to catch the Tube into town. We had not had high tea and scones yet while in England, so that was a must-do. I decided the Orangery on the grounds of Kensington Palace (http://www.frommers.com/destinations/london/D51519.html) was just the place.
Nice walk through Kensington Gardens, passing the palace here:
Day before Diana's birthday. Actually surprised there's not more:

Walkway to the Orangery:

We had tea, cucumber sandwiches, scones/cream/jam, and the best orange cake I've ever tasted!

Loved the menus! I was hoping they had tshirts.....I wouldn've totally snatched one up!

Views of the palace gardens:

Next, we took the tube to the Embankment station and jumped on a Thames cruise. This gave the best feel I'd ever had for the absolute immensity of the city. We rode and rode and rode, and still London was on the banks. Actually, this wasn't the sort of tour we thought. No one was over a loudspeaker pointing out sights. The boat stopped at several places (a hop on/hop off deal) and it became apparent that locals were using it for regular transportation. The boat was really crowded for a while, but once we stopped at the O2 center (where Michael Jackson was set to play), almost everyone got off for some sports event or concert maybe.

I present a few scenes from this ride:

The Aquarium and London Eye:

Tower Bridge:

a city view:

these devices are used for flood control of the Thames:

a godawful mountain of garbage. And by the way, the Thames REALLY REALLY stunk!

flood control:

I dunno. I just liked these apartments. Hopefully you can enlarge by clicking.

London smoke, London smog. You can really see it from this view.

The Greenwich Observatory. Does anyone really know what time it is?

Yeah. They do.

Greenwich Observatory. Place was huge. Zero degree longitude. The Prime Meridian of the World.

Sun droops, snags on building, unravels in water.

Sunset on the Thames:

Mr. Button in the wake

Back toward Point A.

Tower Bridge tower:

Tower of London:

Silhouetting St. Paul's

Not sure of this building but I liked its arc:

Turrets under suspension:

After disembarking, we found ourselves famished. I wanted Indian BAD. All the recommended places were at quite a distance, but on this narrow street (below) that ran between Embankment and Charing Cross tube stations, we found a small narrow hole-in-the-wall Indian place, Grand India, I think, that was very good.

Now here's a sight you don't see often: lute buskers!

This way out............