We had a booking at the London Eye for 10am so everyone had to get up early to meet at Earl's Court for 8:15am (at Gavin's suggestion, which turned out to be far too early... and he wasn't even going with us). The hotel charges an extortionate £9.95 for an English breakfast (self-serve). Arriving at Westminster Bridge around 8:45am - the weather was awful, overcast sky and constant rain showers - we waited around for the ticket office to open.
The weather started to improve from 9am onwards and we soon had clear skies and sunshine - which lasted all day! Just before 10am we got on the second London Eye capsule of the day and had the whole capsule to ourselves. We then walked around London visiting St. James's Park, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, and stumbled across the changing of the guard around 11am - and then again at Buckingham Palace, without even trying. Lunch was at The Shipwrights Arms (Scampi & Chips).
Some of us visited the Tower of London (the rest didn't want to pay to get in) for an hour, and then we went to the Apple store in Regent Street via Bank - which has far too many tube lines and stairs, we must have walked at least a mile. After that we split up (going back to the hotel to rest) until 6pm when we went to Preem for dinner, an Indian restaurant in Brick Lane where Andrew and Marek joined us for a bit - the food was great and very good value. We then wandered around London for the rest of the night on and off the tube trying to find a bar that was still open.
