Vacation Part 3--London

While meeting up with Dive and Mum was a big highlight of the London leg of our trip, we did do other things.

We stayed at a Marriott in the Mayfair district. Mayfair is a snooty part of the city where the aristocracy used to hang out back in the day, as did Handel when he was working for the king or queen or whoever. It was a lovely place to stroll--oops, I mean amble. I have to say, though, the chocolates lefts behind by the maid service every evening were not nearly as good as those left behind at the Hilton in Paris, but any chocolate is welcome. Our room was actually an apartment with a small kitchen, so one of our first stops was a small grocery store for bread and butter and milk and cereal and coffee. It was nice to relax with breakfast and eat at our own pace. Because I am an early riser, and everyone else in the family sleeps late (and I mean LATE), I had a quiet breakfast every morning and knitted practically an entire sweater. The TV was often on very quietly--are you aware that the UK has dart throwing championships?

As we did in Paris, while in London we hit the usual tourist locations. We toured the Tower of London, which is essential because it includes some important British history as told by a Yeoman with a sense of humor. I won't go into detail about the entire place, but one of the my fondest memories of that spot is a visit to the prison. There is a cell up a set of narrow winding stairs where prisoners carved elaborate statements and significant symbols. In some cases, they actually hired stone carvers to help them leave their marks. Here is one.


Afterwards, we stood by the Thames and admired the Tower Bridge. Just below us was a giant seagull munching on a drowned rat. It was such a captivating sight, so disgusting we could not look away.


That evening we had a quick dinner and saw Les Miserables. Lovely and powerful and a fond memory.

The next day was our visit to the Abbey, of course, and our meeting with Dive and Mum. Later that night we saw Mousetrap, a London institution. It's a performance of Agatha Christie's mystery novel--pretty typical and somewhat predictable but very fun.

Because the forecast called for rain on Thursday, we chose that day to tour the British Museum. I had been there before, twice I think, but it's always fascinating and always full of something you missed the first time around. I can't name a favorite sight in the museum because it really is quite large and full of magnificent things to see. Fond memory: in the Asian wing, there is a room at the very end sectioned off with glass walls. Inside is a display of element of an Indian temple. Because it is in it's own glass room, it is very quiet, and in the corner sits a girl who shushes those who forget they are gazing at sacred stone.

That night, after dinner, we saw a performance of Gaslight, taken from the old Ingrid Bergman movie. It was a small production in a small theater, but it was delightful, and with seats near the stage, we were able to connect with the performance. I was mainly interested in the final speech delivered by the heroine/victim character, concerned it might be altered. I was not disappointed when it was delivered flawlessly.

On Friday, the weather was lovely, and we took that day to amble. And boy, did we amble. We ambled all the way from Mayfair down to Trafalgar Square and back. We had a simple lunch. We stopped by the National Gallery. We stood among the pigeons and their filthy feet. And we hunted for a quaint chocolate shop, a mission No. 2 adopted as if it meant the world. We finally found one.

Saturday was a lovely, so we took a taxi up to Madam Tussuad's. The place was mobbed, and the line was down the street, so we changed plans and had lunch at a pub down the block. It was our only pub, and it was our only serving of fish and chips. Don't you have to order that once? Oddly, our server was a college kid from Chicago who is studying at a school in Ohio, about 4 hours from our home. His family was spending the summer in London, he thought it would be cool to work in a pub.

Afterwards, we ambled over to Regent's Park, where I had never been. I knew it from One Hundred One Dalmatians, though--and yes, we actually saw one there. While ambling through the many gardens and cafes on our way to the zoo, we discovered the open air theater, and we were just in time for a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a lot of fun, and since I never did make it over to see The Globe, I did at least get to see a Shakespeare play.

So, that's London. There is so much to see and do, and I could never begin to tell you all about it in a single post. I'll spit out stories here and there over time, I suppose.