UK trip 2014: London walkabout 4/4/14

We crammed a lot of sights, shopping, and walking into our first full day. Weather forecasts for sun notwithstanding, we had cloudy skies and cool breezes but no rain. Note to self - always leave a scarf in my coat pocket!

We started with a short bus tour of the major tourist sights. At Buckingham Palace we lucked out to find a crowd dressed in their finest, including frothy hats, to receive their OBEs and other awards from Prince Charles. Note that most of the ladies' hats are simply headbands with tulle or flowers - very clever.

General style notes: London women wear lots of black, leggings, and long hairs styles. If you saw someone with short or dyed hair, she was speaking Italian or American. Everyone wore long draped scarves, which looked nice and deflected the cool breezes. Men didn't sport continental European long hair or baggy American suits, and therefore looked quite smart overall.

No hats on the American touristas

After the bus tour Art and I set out to hunt down shopping venues and his old pubs from the 1990s. I had much more success; his pubs had left, but I found some good bargains after walking down Bond St. and its top designers. The Steve McQueen store had handbags to die for in the windows. Duchess Kate must have gone here for her wedding dress!

This place fit my price range better

Cute stuff at Fortnum & Mason, and many terrific teas

My swag, from The Sting and F&M. I really wanted some things from TopShop but the dressing room line was 20 minutes long, so that wasn't to be. And I need to pace myself - I have many more High Streets to see outside London.

Random photo of a lamp post. The Duke of Westminster, aka the Grosvenor family, still owns the land under much of London. So when you buy a £50 million house in Belgravia Square, you're really leasing it from the Duke! No wonder he's so rich.