Lights Out

Eventually we set out for dinner around 7. Nicole picked out a place just a couple blocks away where I had a Shepherds Pie and a pint (naturally). Then we set out to go to Piccadilly Circus. It wasn't quite raining, but it was very misty. It created a nice reflection of the wet pavement and I thought it would be a perfect way to capture the Times Square-esque neon lights at Piccadilly. As I remembered it from years ago, it was just outside the Tube stop, but after doing a quick scan it was nowhere to be found. Nicole and I began to wander aimlessly around the tourist-centric neighborhood.

We walked by the Rainforest Café, the TFI Fridays, the Shake Shack, the Bubba Gump's, and various multi-story tourist shops full of tchotchkes. No big neon lights. We walked through a Chinatown area, but couldn't track down the main area. After circling back toward the tube stop, I looked around and it dawned on me that perhaps the lights were off. The shape of the building looked familiar, as did the fountain across the street, but it was now covered in scaffolding and paper banners. Sad pants.

So, instead of nice shiny reflective neon lights you get to look at photos I took earlier today. Tomorrow we leave London and take the train to Guildford where we'll be renting a car. Initially we were just going to take a train and be done with it, but despite being just 12 miles from Heathrow, it would have been more than two hours on train to do it whereas it would be less than 30 minutes by car. This then evolved into more of a roadtrip, so if all goes according to plan, we will be spending the night in a cottage near Dorcester near England's southern coast. Perhaps we will meet this mythical Brexit voters.