Friday late afternoon

After my late and lazy morning yesterday I made up for it with a long walk. I circumnavigated Buckingham Palace, saw a changing of the guard and then just wandered. I found a little something for my sister and that's about it. I headed back to the hotel to get my bags a little early and to a nice surprise - no waiting needed. Since our tickets for the Leonardo exhibit weren't until 4 we had pleny of time for tea. The first place we tried was too busy, having recently become popular by a visit from Kate Middleton, so we went to a most beautiful club. I do believe that part of the tea ritual is food - little sandwiches and scones and such, but I wasn't hungry so we just had the tea and plenty of jabbering. I I seem to have been trying make up for a few years of silence. Kind of embarrassing really. Next we headed off to the National Gallery for the Leonardo exhibit. Even though there is a limit of 150 people per half hour it was packed. I am glad we saw it but wish it had been either a little less crowded or in larger rooms. The drawings were incredible. And then off we went to Windsor. Traffic was bad but we made good time and got checked into the most wonderful hotel before 7, then headed off to dinner in a beautiful old place on the river. It was the best Thanksgiving EVER. Today was another beautiful day, no clouds and mild temperatures. I woke up with a smile on my face. We toured the castle which is right across the street from the hotel. Silly me, I didn't bring my camera but snapped a few shots with my iPhone. It is quite spectacular. I am so glad we saw it. Lunch and then back to the hotel to regroup. It is getting dark now but I have spent the last 1 1/2 hours wandering the shops trying to get used to being on my own again. When Emma and I were in Paris I saw a scarf at the Sunday market. It was only 10 euros but I loved it, unfortunately I couldn't decide which color so I figured since it was at the market they would be all over the place. So I wentin to every women's shop looking for that scarf to no avail. It was something to do to keep myself busy until the worst was over. Now the big chore -- I have to get my bags organized. I need to be at Heathrow at 11 am tomorrow and I want to be ready to go tonight. You can't have the high highs without some lows thrown for balance.