London & Downe

This morning's side dish was baked beans. John opted to stay in bed a little longer and grab breakfast at Starbucks. (Starbucks seems to be almost as ubiquitous here as it is at home.)

Our first destination today was Down House, Charles Darwin's home. At Victoria Rail Station, we bought our train tickets from a machine, then settled in for the sixteen-minute trip to Bromley South. There, we caught a bus to Downe. The other two people going to Downe were psychologists from London--apparently Darwin is also known for his work on behavior.

The bus was a few minutes late, but eventually it arrived and took us to Downe, a cute little village. The last part of the trip was a walk down a country lane.



Down House has been restored to look as it did when the Darwins lived there.



This is Charles Darwin's study:



and one small part of the extensive gardens:



After catching the bus and train back to London, we headed to Regent Street. We had lunch at a Pret a Manger (another chain that seems to be everywhere). John had a chicken club sandwich, and I had tuna with cucumber on a baguette. I had forgotten to fill my water bottle this morning, so the Diet Coke tasted extra good. (Why do they have Diet Coke in England instead of Coke Light?)

Regent Street is full of expensive shops.



We eventually ended up at Waterstone's book store, where we had a snack in the cafe. John had chocolate ice cream, and I had an Eton mess: chunks of meringue with fruit purée and chunks of fruit.

We looked around at St James' Church (designed by Christopher Wren),



Fortnum and Masons department store, Christies, and St. James' Palace, before going to Baker Street to check out a pub recommended to us. We arrived at The Duke of Wellington Pub about an hour before they started serving dinner, so we sat down with our drinks and relaxed for a bit.

Once they started serving, John had sirloin steak with bearnaise sauce and chips,



and I had grilled lamb chop with anchovy & potato gratin, greens, and baked tomato.