through bus picture windows as we zipped up and down London streets and lanes. Our tour guide, Trudy, spewed names and facts, pointed out castles, parliament buildings, bridges, fortresses, and residences of kings and queens faster than the traffic moved (which is extremely fast in London!). True, we covered a great deal of ground which in doing so certainly made an impression on me how much there is to London. All the architecture: massive, detailed, elegant, Roman influenced, inspired by religion, built by kings and queens—block after block—was indeed mind boggling. The acres of parks and the appearance of statues everywhere intertwined with bright potted flowers in windows and along sidewalks gave London a feeling of romance and intrigue.

I found it easy to be overwhelmed with all the detailed descriptions from knowledgeable Trudy, and in so doing discovered maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night. I was too tired to stay awake to pay attention and soon snoozed off.

The few stops allowed, in spite of gusty winds and liquid sunshine, found us tumbling out of the bus with our cameras to document our London experience as best we could. The photos we took in the rain and mist outside the bus barely compete with the ones we were forced to take from inside the bus. Even taking pictures from inside, we missed many opportunities. Trudy just whisked our tour along too quickly.

Lunch, a disappointment, was provided as part of our tour. We were dropped off several blocks from Prince of Wales, the restaurant of destination, wherein we suffered close to downpour rain and winds strong enough to turn an umbrella or two inside out. Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were herded up a long steep, flight of stairs and sat down at dreary tables with paper napkins in a plain room with dull pictures hanging on the walls.

Our meal of beef and ale stew was more like what one would be served at a community gathering. At least it was substance and woke us up enough to tune in again to Trudy's staggering wealth of information as she continued to point to that building and this building saying, "On your right you will see…and if you look to your left you will notice…" She was hard to keep up with.

On the way back to the ship most of us were overwhelmed. I am sure every single person slept most of the way back. I know I did.

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow. The ship is tossing and turning tonight. Maybe the storm will have blown through by the time we anchor off the shores of St. Peter Port, Guernsey in the morning.