BLOG #12

23 August 2008
Happy, happy birthday to Dottie………….
Hello to all from the U.K. headed to South Hampton and our new home onboard the NCL Jade.
Our whirlwind stay in London is over and we’re checked out and entrained on our way to meet our next cruise. Wouldn’t you know, we woke up to a clear blue sky and bright sunshine this morning; the first in two weeks. Our cab driver this morning told us that you can have all four seasons of the year in one day in London on any day. We knew exactly what he was talking about yesterday when we awoke to overcast skies, walked to a nearby museum a little chilled, left the museum a few hours later in sunshine so bright and hot that we changed the side of the street we were walking on to find some shade and walked home under our “brelly” after doing s little shopping in the “local” near our hotel. We carried our umbrella every day for two weeks but only donned our pocket panchos three times. Summer in London is interesting.
One can spend a whole day seeing the sights around Parliament Square. We did and enjoyed every minute of it. We began with a ride on the “London Eye”; a ferris wheel that claims to be the largest rotating observation platform in the world. We aren’t sure if it’s the biggest but at over 450 feet high we weren’t going to argue. For a dollar a minute they lift your enclosed gondola to the peak and down in twenty-five minutes. A couple of dozen pics later and we were sure we’d seen more roof tops in twenty-five minutes that the two of us collectively had seen in our life times.
`A stroll back across Westminster Bridge past Big Ben and the House of Parliament and we were inside Westminster Abbey. Several hours later we decided that the Abbey is “hands down” the nicest if not largest grave yard we had seen. There is no question that the Westminster Abbey is beautiful and loaded with history.
Parliament must have been in session on the day of our visit because the usual tours had been suspended for the day. We made our way through the few blocks that separate Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square, the home of the famous obelisk topped with a full size statue of the famous British admiral Lord Nelson. I read once that the mounting for the statue was made as high as possible so as not to allow Lord Nelson’s diminutive height detract from his glorious record of successes on the high seas. Trafalgar square which for generations has been a focal point for dissension disappointed us with the substance of the crowds during our visit. Rather than being allowed to become part of some kind of demonstration we joined the ever youthful square crowd in watching yet another British victory at the Olympics shown on the biggest TV screen we have ever seen.
The Trafalgar Square Olympic view matched the experience we have had in trying to keep up with the goings on in Bird Nest land. We saw about 10
minutes devoted to Michael Phelps doing his grand thing and the rest of the U.K. coverage of the Olympics was devoted to Biking, Sailing and Sculling. We all like to see our country win so we watched little known U.K. athletes get medals that the Brits never dreamed they could win. Apparently the National Olympic Lottery, launched ten years ago to provide financial support to athletes training for the Olympics, has paid off handsomely. Now the Brits are anguishing over how they are going to pay their host’s costs of the 2012 Games. One cabby commented that it was nice to see his country win the gold but no one had ever heard about the gold winning athletes until they stood on the stand. Footballers they know……but scullers?
Our day was complete as we managed to keep up with our goal of at least one pub meal a day during our two week stay. This time we lunched at the Sherlock Holmes Pub with all of the food items in the menu named for one of the great detective’s sleuthing triumphs.
Friday, August 15, marked a two pub day and visits to Hyde Park, next door Green Park and it’s entrance marked by the massive Wellington Arch, Piccadilly Circus and the Piccadilly Trocadero. The Trocadero is a city block of multi-storied buildings that have been joined and renovated to provide hundreds of small booths selling stuff of all kinds and a multi screen theater. We wondered through the Trocadero amidst thousands of teenagers foraging through the variety of goods designed primarily to attract their allowances. We looked a lot but found nothing to our liking which kind of puts the lie to our “acting like teenagers”.
Our plan for the day had included a short underground ride to Leicester Square where generations of theater goers have bought “same day” reduced priced theater tickets. We found such a seller at Piccadilly Circus and bought premium, rather than reduced priced, tickets for the current theatrical rage in London, “Billy Elliott”. We figured we were lucky to get tickets at all since most shows are sold out days in advance.
Our Dress Circle tickets turned out to be balcony seats in the very last row away from the stage. We could barely see the marvelous acting and dancing on stage and neither of us could make out the dialogue from the stage that was in a northern U.K. accent that much of the audience couldn’t decipher. We later returned to the ticket seller who readily admitted to her mistake but refused to return our $180 purchase price offering us only $80 or nothing. We accepted with a promise to write to the local authorities about how we had been cheated. Before we left, we informed everyone standing in line behind us that the seller was a cheat and to beware. We wrote our letter to the “Town Council” but really don’t expect a response. Billy Elliott will be coming to New York in October and will undoubtedly be a long run hit.
We returned to Piccadilly Circus and its ever present excitement the next day to do some Christmas shopping in some of its unusual shops. Our evening search for something different for dinner brought us to a basement level “Wine Bar” that looked inviting. It turned out to be more than inviting when we found fondue on the menu and a delightful Swiss lady owner who we had great fun with. A glass of the red and some pics with our new friends, the owners, and we promised to return before we left town. We did.
We spent most of a day in the British Museum. When Dottie learned that the museum had the world’s largest and finest collection of Egyptian mummies we were on our way. Most British museums are free of charge and this one is listed as one of the world’s half dozen greatest museums. Literally thousands of people of all ages toured the marvelous displays as we wound our way through the halls. When we left we were amazed at how long we had been inside knowing that we only saw about a fourth of the collections on display.
We decided when we were squashed against the Buckingham Palace fence watching the “Changing of the Guard” that we wanted to see more of the palace. We returned twice to do the tours of the “Royal Mews”, the “Queen’s Treasures” and the “Palace State Rooms”. We were pleased that we did. It is hard for anyone to really imagine how royalty lives. After our visits we had a new understanding of why the Queen has been known as one of the richest ladies in the world. The Royal Mews houses some of the horses and carriages used by the Queen suggesting that Dwight might consider a modest upgrade if he ever acquires a royal horse. The Queen’s treasures focused mainly on the collection of art work by the greatest artists ever while the State Rooms allowed us the privilege of seeing where the Queen entertains dignitaries at a dining table seating about 200 guests served by more than 80 liveried waiters.
We followed our visits to Buckingham Palace with a visit to Kensington Palace; the home of Princess Diane following her separation. We concluded quickly that Diane was being sent to a contemporary “Towers of London”. The gardens were ill kept, the rooms poorly maintained, and the whole of the palace poorly lit and dreary. Even the rooms previously used by Queen Victoria seemed depressing. We left feeling sorry for Diane.
A highlight of our London experience was a day visit to Stratford Upon Avon; the land of Shakespeare. We toured “Anne Hathaway’s Cottage” where the eighteen year old Shakespeare and the twenty-six year old Anne began their married life. The cottage was originally built in the fifteenth century and remains today a well preserved example of how homes were constructed in that era. The well versed docents made our visit interesting as they provided interesting anecdotes about the lives of the Shakespeares and their neighbors. Following a tour bus ride through the area, we met a couple that Bill met during his South Seas tour last December, Paul and Katryna Skitt. Our leisurely lunch with the Kitts gave us a first hand contact with real people in the country we were visiting and a welcomed perspective.
We knew from our first day on Cromwell Road that the Victoria and Albert Museum was just a few blocks away from our hotel. We saved our last day for our visit. Bill had recalled that he had seen a great exhibit of 18th and 19th century inventions at the V & A. We found that the inventions were actually on display at the Museum of Natural History next door. What we found was a marvelous display of silver work from over the centuries and table displays that used the marvelous wares. We spent far more time than we had planned but enjoyed every minute of our visit.
Our last day was a day to celebrate Dottie’s 76th birthday. Our day began with Bloody Marys in our room followed by our first real English Breakfast in the hotel dining room. The breakfast was great but we were a bit overcome to find that the full English Breakfast was more pricey than the marvelous Chateabriand we had enjoyed on two previous evenings. The day concluded with dinner downtown and tickets to a stage presentation of “Wizard of Oz” at London’s newest theater. A happily smiling Dottie was led to the curb and another amazing event. As we approached, a cab appeared out of no where and screeched to a halt right in front of us. We had been told in advance that a cab would be impossible to find when the theater crowd erupted onto the street but there it was. C’mon now! How lucky can you get?
We love you all,
Gram, Grampa Bill, Mom and Dad, Dottie and Bill