I thank God that I knew nobody on that trip.

Pulled alongside an aircraft carrier (I know. It was in THE THAMES, very surreal) and then the masts of the Cutty Sark were in jangling discord behind the gun turret. We debarked, I ran for a muffin from the local shop, and we toured the Cutty Sark (had dry-rot, needs money and a new paint job, fastest ship of her time, I forgot it was a *maritime* tour) and then skirted the obvious 'Do not enter, nothing to see here, not like we're shooting a movie/tv show here, move along' tape and wandered the Naval Hospital greens like docile sheep following the bellwether. Beautiful architecture, beautiful groundskeeping, beautiful everything, and a poor old man who couldn't hear a thing due to the wind. I wanted to give him a running commentary since his daughter didn't seem to care much and he probably had paid for the thing, but it was a bit pushy so I didn't.

We ranged on the manicured lawn between the Queen's house and the Astronomer's House on the hill, saw the ball drop at 1p (the signal goes out at 1p daily) and then invaded Greenwich's downtown. Some went to stand on the Prime Meridian with one foot in each hemisphere--as fun as that sounded, I'm not that kind of person. Instead, I hit the alleys to find the elusive market where I ended up buying a bunch of hand-made cards and some baked goods that were toolicious. I stopped into a UK-Barbara's Bookstore and bought some books and more cards (shut up. I like them) and then figured out the Dockland Rail System. Headed back to the city thru the Docklands and then stopped home to refresh with a cuppa. Not a big cup, mind you, since I was on my way to the Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum. A charming little place but the museum part...well, not much there. However, they *did* serve afternoon tea and I stuffed myself silly while watching 2 families with 5 kids come in and order cocoa all around. The entire time was spent arguing which cuisine for dinner--Thai or Indian. Half the group was American, so it was fun to watch the cultural differences shine in the under-10s.

I left the Bramah and headed to Westminster Abbey, where there's a pre-Vespers organ recital every Sunday. I saw some famous Swede play, and he definately put his own spin on things. The entire experience reminded me of when I was younger at my home church and the organist, who played for a living and had a broad repetoire, would play newer composers and variations on obscure themes for the prelude and offertory. It was the same kind of thing...at least he literally pulled out all the stops and blasted the Abbey with huge notes. He also played a twisted 'London Bridges Falling Down' but I secretly admit that I was glad when it was over.

I headed home to relax after that, full of tea and cucumber sandwiches and lemon-ginger cake and big fat chords to prepare for Monday's interviews. I realized that the V-E Day celebration was kicking off at 8p and I could join them at Trafalgar Square if I wanted to...but when I saw the telecast and the audience, I decided that watching from my bed was a much more satisfying experience.