London - Day 5 - 1st September 2023

Ever since Bob has passed away, Jen has woken up at 4.30 am. My body clock is still not right either and we got up at 5 am to see the sun rise over the Thames. We got some nice pics near the Egyptian Obelisk and sphinx statues before hitting Pret at 6.30 on the dot for breaky. After our usual fruit, pastry, and coffee, we jumped on the bus for the short ride to St Paul’s Cathedral. This was the last of the “big” cathedrals for us and when we arrived at 8 am we were one of the first groups. We then spent the next few hours listening to the audio guide and checking out this incredible masterpiece by Christopher Wren. My favourite frescoes were the ones in the dome that celebrated the life of St. Paul - including one from Ephesus, where we went in Turkey a few years ago. Jen even went right up the top of the 529 steps and back down again, but Grandude don’t do heights, so he stayed firmly on the marble floor. we then checked out The Crypt before leaving for a Pret fix.

The next few hours saw us walking - albeit slowly - as my injured foot had flared up again all over Londonia. We walked over the Millenium Bridge in the light rain - we knew the summer had to end soon - along Southbank and Jen-Jen grabbed a cheeky burger - meat patty, cheese, bacon, fig jam, crispy fried onions, and truffle mayo. It was ok, but we both aren’t the biggest fans of fried onion - too bitter. we used the toilets in the huge National Theatre before finishing the walk at Westminster Bridge. A quick selfie ensued before we got the bus out to my old stomping ground of, She Bu (Shepherd’s Bush.) A quick check of Belushi’s and the decor is now all green and there are many more beers on tap that we used to sell - but the grunge vibe was still present. We then walked over to the supermarket next door to do what we had come for: The Sherlock Holmes Escape Room.

We walked around for ages looking at the black walls that all said, “This is not the entrance” before we finally asked someone and he told us that the optometrist shop was a front and that’s how you entered, through “Doyle’s Optometry.” Ahh, now I see. (pun intended)

We buzzed the front door and asked if this was the Sherlock room but were told: “No, are you here for your eye exam.” Still not getting it, we replied no, to which “Stamford replied (they were all named Stamford) “I think that you’re here for your eye examination. At this point the penny dropped, and we replied yes we were.

We were ushered into the “Mind Palace” bar to wait for the game to begin. We were placed in a team with two German couples and over the next hour we - the rookie agents - solved four main rooms - Sherlock’s apartment, Molly’s lab, Mycroft’s office, and Moriarty’s virus room - and ended up thwarting Moriarty’s evil plan to unleash a killer virus on the world. We finished just within the hour - 58 minutes - and it was one of the best experiences that we’ve ever had.

We loved it!

To celebrate, Grandude did something that he hadn’t done for years - he got a haircut! Yep, a Ragnar Lothbrook undercut - number 2 - under the top knot. It looks much neater and should be sound for the wedding in Scotland.

We then had a Greek dinner - lamb kebab, Greek salad, chicken kebab Aegean salad, and bulgur wheat bowl. Yum.

After our 17000 steps today, we crashed out like lions!