It was a bit of an accident, really. I'd barely opened my door from a post-class nap when Nikki and Andrew announced they would depart for Prymark in four minutes. Sluggishly I pulled on my shoes, coat, and purse to wait at the bottom of the stairs. As it turned out, a group of girls was headed to Ben's Cookies and Big Ben, leaving the same time. Among the confusion of umbrellas and eager conversation, I entirely lost the Prymark group and ended up in Notting Hill Tube Station instead, with several girls I'd never actually spoken to.
Ben's Cookies proved enormous, warm and soft...I was impressed at the variety everyone ordered. Apparently the coconut ones are to die for, but I was tasting the chocolate orange long afterward. We turned and went right back down the Tube, emerging from the smelly pre-strike stress right underneath the clock tower. The London Eye and Tower Bridge seemed so close, just beyond an obnoxious pancake stand and the impressive Queen Boudicca statue.
The particularly photogenic girls I accompanied sought out a suitable telephone booth from which to position pictures that included Big Ben and a red tour bus. Although every0ne hung out the door, holding the phone and popping up a heel, I couldn't quite stand the smell of urine wafting from the booth and stuck to holding the door. It was a chill, cloudy day that still encouraged umbrellas all around. Thank Bethany to see the site of my very favorite picture so far--she spotted a frilly white dress at another booth. I insisted on strolling over there, nonchalantly of course, and stealing a shot of the beaming bride as she posed beside her own telephone booth. She and her groom presently walked around the corner, passing a group of tourists who immediately broke into applause. Brilliant!
Love that picture of you with Big Ben!
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