"Jill Moment"

As many of you know, there is such a thing as a "Jill Moment." Many of you are probably shaking your head, rolling your eyes, and chuckling as you remember one of the many stupid/silly/blonde moments I've had. As far as we know, there is no cure...so in being typical me, a "Jill Moment" was bound to happen sooner or later on this trip. This wasn't a big one, but a "moment" none-the-less:
-After dinner with the Drions, Stephen and I decided to go for a walk in an attempt to stay awake. We only had a few hours until 10pm so a short jaunt around the block sounded nice. I grabbed my jacket and my camera and we set off. Only about 10 minutes from the house is St. Paul's Cathedral which we quickly admired and continued on. As we were approaching the Thames River, we happened upon the "Wibbly-Wobbly Bridge" (they really call it that because when it was first built, whenever people walked across the bridge it would Wibble-Wobble! its also really fun to say). As we crossed the bridge, we beheld the sun setting beautifully over the Thames, casting an orange glow off the century old buildings along the river. It was so picturesque that I took out my camera, turned it on, and read this message from my camera: Insert Memory Card. The moment had arrived: I had forgotten to insert a memory card into my camera. Fortunately, I had some...but they were back at the Drion's. I'm also glad that I discovered my mistake so early because the next day we'd be touring all day!
We ended up walking along the Thames to the Tower Bridge (off with his head!) and took the Tube back to the Drions. By this time, Stephen and I were exhausted. Our bodies were more than ready to fall into bed and just sleep! So at 10:30pm, we went to bed.

The first night's sleep was a success for both of us! I slept through the night and didn't wake up until 9:45am! Stephen could have slept longer except that I woke him up to get a start on the day.
Today was mostly touring.
The Drion's had suggested we ride a Tour Bus around the city to become familiar with the different sites and where they are. While riding the double-decker bus, we heard some fascinating facts about London and became familiar with the city. Part way through the tour, we hopped off the bus to find a place to eat. Rather than stay near the harbor where all the expensive tourist shops were, we strayed into the city, down a few random streets, and looked for a pub to eat at. We eventually settled on one and had a relaxing lunch. Revived with new energy, we took the Tube to a Tour Bus stop by the Marble Arch and hopped back on. Unfortunately this bus had no tour guide. A recording played during the Tour, but you needed headphones to hear it and we had both left ours behind. Once we reached the Thames again, we took a boat ride up to the Tower Bridge. Earlier in the day, we had found a book of Walking Tours that takes you away from the usual tourist sites and shows you around the smaller sites of London. I chose a walking tour that started from the Tower Bridge and we read/walked our way through the tour. It was fun to see the different parts of London, but we were also disappointed that the book didn't give many details about those locations. A couple times, it would mention a story, and give a small teaser, but then continued with the walk. For example, one place we went to talked about Captain Bligh. He was the captain of a ship (the Bounty, I believe) until one of his men committed mutiny and took over. Then the tour continued and I wanted to know: Wait! what happened? How did they take over? Tell the story! :) Oh well, I guess I'll have to look it up.
By the time we finished our tour, it was 9:30 and we decided to head home. The sun sets much later here  which throws me off sometimes. I keep thinking its around 6pm till I look at my watch and see that its 8pm!
Today was also much better, as far as jet lag goes. In fact, I really haven't felt it much besides being really tired last night. Stephen was a little more tired this afternoon, but caught a second wind and was find the rest of the night.
Speaking of sleep, I should go get some. Here are a few pictures to sum up the day:

On our Bus Tour:

Parliament/Big Ben

Strange but interesting piece of art :)

During our walk: The Alderman's Stairs- the first of many stone staircases leading down to the Thames shoreline which have been in use for hundreds of years.

St. George-in-the-East: a church built between 1714-1729 whose 160-foot tower was designed to be seen by ships on the Thames.

A graveyard. It didn't explain why all the headstones simply line up along the wall?

Tower Bridge

Captain Kidd (named after the famous pirate) Pubb. It looked (and smelled) really good!