London calling: Hey, it's expensive over here!

Hi, I'm Star-Telegram Travel Editor Judy Wiley, blogging today from London, where I'm exploring budget travel options for you with my daughter, Sara.

Um: There are none. OK, a few. The dollar ($2 to 1 pound) is killing us over here. The big attractions (Tower of London, sundry palaces, etc.) will cost you $30. But then again, there are more than 120 free museums in this amazing city.

Today we're off to see the Tower, in fact ($30 or not, who can miss the Crown Jewels and the place where Anne Boleyn lost her head?). I'll keep you posted on what kinds of savings and fun we run across while we're here.

A quick note: Don't come here expecting your international roaming set up in advance to work -- mine didn't, and according to phone vendors here that's apparently a common situation with my particular American provider. Fixing that gets complicated. My understanding is that if international roaming wasn't turned on before I left it won't be happening now that I'm here. But I've purchased an international calling card for 5 pounds (how many minutes? "Depends where you call.") and plan to call AT&T today to see if I can get international roaming turned on or at least not pay for not having it.

More on that later.

P.S.: The extraneous child in the photo belongs to the nice family who took our photo for us at Trafalagar Square.