Wednesday afternoon wasn’t quite as successful as the morning trip to Kew Gardens, but it wasn’t a disaster either and it could be a bit of poor planning on my part. But that’s where good travel stories come from, right?

After returning to London, I bought a ticket for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. I always think these are a good idea to give you an idea of the geography of a place. I bought a 24 hour ticket, planning to go on the main circular route that day, and using the ticket for other routes the next day until it ran out. I hopped on at Victoria station, which is near my hotel, expecting to return there via the bus. Instead, 5 o’clock came and the bus stopped at Piccadilly Circus, the guide said thank you all, see you tomorrow and proceeded to kick us off. Ack! 

In case you don’t know, Piccadilly is crazy-town – very crowded, lots of tourists, lots of cheesy souvenir shops, lots of traffic. Not anywhere near my comfort zone! The tour guide knidly pointed out the nearest Tube stop (just a block away) and was able to get home easily (I’m rather proud of the fact that I mastered the Tube quickly)

Of course, my ticket was still good for most of the following day, but I ended up not using it, choosing to visit other things on my list instead. Not the greatest outcome, but not a disaster either.  And I did get s good look at several iconic London sights on a beautiful, sunny day. 

(These photos haven’t been edited – some could use a bit of straightening!)