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Day 15: London

The Family Koog is TIRED! Not just because we are marathon vacationers, but because the beds in our super posh flat are torture devices. I sent a note to the property manager and have not yet gotten a reply. We are not typically complainers, at least not formally, but this is completely untenable. At least we are in London, right!

After cracking our backs and having some significant caffeine to make the day livable, we decided to stick to our plan and get tickets for the hop on/hop off (HoHo) bus to get our bearings and decide what our day was going to look like. We had a lovely walk from our flat to just outside St.Peters, stopping quickly for more coffee and tea and breakfast. Mrs. Koog had purchased our HoHo tickets online and as we were boarding the bus, they were unable to activate our tix due to a wifi issue on their end. This is important because the tix are good for 24 hours from their first activation. We only used the bus that one time so we are saving the actual activation for tomorrow. Once on the HoHo, we drove around London to Westminster Abbey and the Parliament buildings. The amount of people in London right now is absurd. I assume there are towns across the world that look like the rapture has come because every resident is here in groovy London.

Because I got about 90 mins of sleep and was in a horrible mood. I was all peopled out. Nope, we will not be standing in a line around the Abbey to take a look. The family agreed with my growl and we stayed on the HoHo until Piccadilly Circus. My mood was heightened now due to dropping blood sugar and hanger. Mrs. Koog found a steak place and basically threw a steak at me to put the growing Koog away quickly. It worked mostly. The hanger was gone, but I was still peopled out.

Not wanting to get back on the bus, we took the tube to the Tower of London as we had 3pm tickets for entry and a Beefeater tour. That was super cool. I did not know that the Beefeater's were part of the military and actually lived at the Tower. Like, they live there now. Our Beefeater guide, AJ, was a hysterical lady that made all the stories of beheadings and torture and whatnot fun and funny. She was also less animated than the guide at Edinburgh Castle so little risk of a gesticulating hand to the face!

As she was telling us about the Traitor's Gate, I happened to scan the crowd. Guess who was on our tour? My favorite newly single but engaged Sister Wife, Christine Brown! She was there with her fiance (for now), daughters Aspyn, Mykelti, Ysabel and Truely and Aspyn's husband Mitch. Many have been forced to listen to me planning to ask Christine to be Mrs. Koog's sister wife for a while now and she was right there standing a few feet away! It was time to make my move! But...I didn't. I didn't even say hi or in any way communicate with her. I did take some pictures, though. It's strange meeting a reality tv person in the wild. I mean, I've watched every episode and listened to SW podcasts. I know so much about this person who, in reality, is a complete stranger. How strange it must be for her and her kids to encounter fans that know everything about them but don't really know them at all. Anyway, I opted to give her, the fiance (grr) and her kids there anonymity and peace and let them continue on the tour without interruption. Pretty sure she felt our chemistry, though... Mrs. Koog could have a sister wife yet!

Anyway, the Tower of London did not disappoint. We saw the chapel, the queens's house, the torture museum and, of course, the crown jewels. Now, they were interesting. B-Koog and I walked through the Crown Jewel exhibit together. My 12 year old son was both enthralled and repulsed at the opulence. His comment was "there are so many poor people, if they sell some of this stuff they could help them." Out of the mouth of babes, right? He's not wrong, though. It was fascinating to see these priceless items, but why do you need a solid gold salt vessel in the shape of a castle? We have a nice salt mill and I thought we were bougie! It's a lot. I had the pleasure of explaining to him how the Royal British Empire came to get crown jewels from other countries. So, our 12 year old got a crash course in imperialism. He thought it unfair to not only steal jewels from countries that were taken but then, in the present day, display them as a trophy. B-Koog is a smart guy and I'm glad he can see things as they are without the pageantry and pleasantry.

After the tour and many run-ins/bys of my future 2nd wife, we headed back to the tube and our posh flat with horrible beds. Guess what? No response from the management company. Grr. At this point, I was exhausted and hangry and just plain annoyed that we paid so much for this place and it was unsleepable (if that is a word). Anyway, Mrs. Koog again had to feed me just to keep the hangry animal at bay. Meat again, this time at Gordon Ramsay's Street Burger. The boys opted to stay at the flat while we went out to Street Burger, it was right around the corner from the flat, as long as we brought them home cheeseburgers. Done and Done!

We returned home in short order and fed the little koogs. Then it was time for bed. Ugh, bed. We tried changing rooms with the boys, but that was no better. I decided to sleep on the tiny loveseat again with pillows propping up my body for support. Honestly,it wasn't that bad but we aren't paying top dollar for "not that bad." Hopefully, the management company will remedy the situation tomorrow.

Tomorrow...London again!

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