Refreshed? Rested? Off we go again.
The next part of our route takes us through Exchange Square, amongst the busy office workers to Liverpool Street Station, from where we could catch a bus and save our feet for another day.
I'm not sure if station buildings have always been so fascinating or whether the refurbished St Pancras has simply raised my awareness, but I thought Liverpool Street Station was looking particularly good this afternoon. What do you think?
We were headed for the National Portrait Gallery, to see art we knew and loved and perhaps encounter one or two new people?
Sure enough, there was an interesting photographic portrait competition on show, with images to admire and to provoke conversation. We also rather enjoyed the Twiggy portraits, admiring how beautiful she remains!
Feeling a little weary, we settled into the Portraits cafe on the top floor of the gallery, for a restorative cup of tea and watched the sun go down over the city. There, far in the distance, we could see Westminster, where, we hoped, Edward would be gathering his things together in preparation to meet us for dinner.
Down in the Square, we stood and listened for a short time to a somewhat dishevelled group sing a few carols by the Christmas tree, then set off, past the Bear in the Square to walk and build up our appetite for dinner.
Window shopping around Jermyn Street and Bond Street wasn't quite in the same league as Fifth Avenue but we enjoyed the visual feast nevertheless.
We particularly liked the Christmas lights in the streets around here this year, all on a similar theme of white shapes. Here in Albemarle Street, the icicles are fun in a drippy sort of way, whilst over in Oxford Street, there are umbrellas to deal with that.
Dinner at The Albemarle was terrific. The food and the company were so good that we totally forgot to look at the artwork! We'll just have to go again...
