London 2/10/18

The flight Perth to London on the Dreamliner was as good as they promised and we wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The seats and surroundings were improved even to having a footrest/net arrangement to lift your feet off the floor while you were resting. We both slept a bit thanks to my happy pills and the staff were very good. It helped that Bob and I had chosen aisle seats ajacent to each other and the plane wasn't full so we both had an empty seat beside us and didn't feel crowded.
We landed at Heathrow at 5am and by the time we had been processed, bought train tickets and arrived at Victoria Sation it was just before 7am. The left luggage office didn't  open till 7am so we had a cup of coffee. The food on the plane was good and plentiful and the staff came around before we landed handing out the surplus cheese and biscuit packs which would have gone in the bin otherwise. Hence we were far from hungry and had extra snacks for the road.
Once our luggage was stowed we set off for a walk around Westminster noting all the modern additions to the architecture since our last visit some years ago. We also went into the Catholic Cathedral which we hadn't visited before. Designed in the 1890's in the Byzantine style it was decorated with many different coloured marbles and very impressive. I tried taking some photos to highlight the contrast between the old and the new but the light was still a bit weak to light the buildings properly. I will post them separately.
We walked on down to Westminster Abbey but weren't allowed in becase there was to be a special service that morning. So we ventured on around Parliament Square and then back up Birdcage Walk. We decided not to visit the Palace having seen it on previous visits and meandered our way back to Victoria. By then it was 10am and we headed for our Air B&B. Our hostesses directions were good and we navigated overground train and bus which took us almost to our door. The unit is small but thoughtfully designed and best of all had tea and fresh milk stocked for us. After a nap we walked the 2 kms to the Crystal Palace shopping area and explored the possibilities for meals at night. We then did some food shopping at Sainsbury's including a prepared meal because we were a bit pooped and in need of an early night. However this morning we are ready to go and explore. So more later.