The first European installment

Okay, folkies, I have been in London since 7 AM. I arrived after an uneventful flight, and lost 6 hours, consequently losing 6 hours of sleep. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I didn't sleep last night. I got on the London Underground, the Picadilly Line to be precise, and that was fine. I just sat there and watched people come and go until my stop. Then I wandered around with two big bags looking for the Royal National Hotel, and finally found it. I dropped off my bags with the porter since I couldn't check in until 2 PM. I wandered down to the American Express and traded a traveller's check for some pounds. I ate breakfast in Russell Square, a quaint, well, square, down from the hotel. Then I hopped onto a tour bus and toured the sights of London for a couple of hours. Here's what I saw, most of which I have pictures of until my batteries ran out... Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Thames, 10 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, the Royal Exchange, Monumen to the London fire, London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, the HMS Belfast, a navy cruiser used in WWII, now a museum, the Tower of London, where tons of people have been killed over time, Cleopatra's Needle (it's on obelisk), Fleet Street, the London Aquarium, the Marble Arch, the London (a nifty ferris wheel type observatory), Houses of Parliament, the theatre where Woman in White is playing, St. Thomas Hospital, where Florence Nightengale started her school of nursing, Lambeth Palace, Buckingham Palace, Victoria, and Wellington's Arch. Whew! Then I checked in and here I am. Oh, and I forgot - I lost my ticket so when they did a ticket check on the bus, I couldn't find it and had to get off and walk back to the hotel. My shoulders are soooo sore from my backpack. Anyway, that's it, more later.