Today is our eleventh wedding anniversary! We let ourselves sleep in a little this morning to help recover from jetlag and then headed toward Westminster to explore before our Coronation Afternoon Tea reservation at Westminster Abbey.

And then it happened…

For the second time in our relationship, my husband left me stranded on a metro rail platform, watching him mouth instructions to me through windows on train doors that closed behind him despite me being literally one step behind. There is no holding those doors open when they’re ready to close. And I do not read lips.

• Did I know that we were ultimately headed to Trafalgar Square to start our tour? Yes, I did know that.
• Was I counting on blindly following my husband, despite past experience to indicate that this man will sprint to get on a train when the doors are already closing (because YES, Chuck… those doors were already closing)? Yes, that absolutely was my plan.
• Am I a grown woman who can figure out how to navigate a public transportation system, especially one as easy as the London Underground? Also, yes.
• Were any of the stops on the route diagram named in a way to indicate they were near my destination? They were not.
• Did I have any cell reception in the tunnel to look up the appropriate stop? Well, shit.

The next train was due to arrive in under 2 minutes, so there was no time to go back upstairs where I could get cell reception and I knew Chuck would worry if he didn’t see me on the next train when it pulled into the station… whichever station that might be. I opted to get on the next train and was soooo relieved when I saw Chuck waiting on the platform at the next stop. He had hopped off his train, knowing from the confused look on my face that I had not understood the instructions. He hopped on my train and we rode together to CHARING CROSS, which was the name of the stop he had been mouthing through the window.

We grabbed a quick, light breakfast and a cup of coffee between the station and Trafalgar Square and then started our Rick Steves audio tour, which was intended to take you from Westminster Abbey to Trafalgar Square. But since we were hoping to end up at the abbey for our tea reservation, we decided to work through the tour backwards. This was challenging because you’re meant to listen as you walk, so while there are separate tracks for each section, you’re meant to be walking the opposite direction, so some of the sight-seeing prompts were a bit confusing. Nevertheless, Big Ben/Parliament, the River Thames, and the London eye were impossible to miss. As were the crowds…

The afternoon tea was a nice, quiet contrast from the crowds outside. My jetlagged body was confused about why we were eating carrot cake at what felt like 6am, but it was otherwise a very nice meal in a charming environment. After tea, we were hoping to make a loop through the abbey itself, but tickets were sold out for the day – which was not particularly surprising since we had seen the line wrapping around the building when we walked past. Fortunately, we had already toured the abbey on a past trip, so we decided to try the War Museum instead – until we saw the line there as well. So we spent a couple of hours in the National Gallery instead, which made for a perfect afternoon before picking up our luggage at the hotel and catching our train to Liverpool.

Today’s Highlights:

• Seeing Chuck waiting for me on the platform so that I didn’t have to get back off the train to actually figure out where I needed to go
• The precision of the London Underground, such that each train stops in precisely the same spot, allowing us to find each other again easily
• A hot cup of Earl Grey
• Two young women peering into a room of Renaissance paintings in a European art gallery, wrinkling their noses, and declaring the art to be “too Christian”
• A piping hot potato and onion pie eaten on a cozy train to Liverpool
• Watching two urchins terrorize the reception staff at our hotel via the lobby revolving door
• A nice walk around the Liverpool dock and a Beatles portrait made of jelly beans
• Reworking the lyrics of Beatles tunes to tell the story of my morning plight on the London Underground. HELP!
• Fish and chips with mushy peas and curry, washed down with a cold beer

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventure(s):

• A tour of Anfield Stadium, home of Liverpool Football Club
• Liverpool FC soccer match
• Using the phrases “See that ludicrous display last night?” and “Thing about Arsenal is they always try and walk it in” to bluff my way through conversation with British soccer fans