London Leaving
(there just aren’t enough ways to mimic London Calling)
Kate and I have returned from four/five fun filled day in old Londonium. We began on Thursday morning (GMT) by dropping stuff off at the hotel before we could check in and running around for five hours. We began with Westminster Abbey, and looking at Big Ben (I nearly went crazy hearing Clark Grizwald tell his family “Look kids! Parliament, Big Ben!”). Poet’s corner was cool, but the problem I had with the abbey was understanding how many people were actually buried there, and how many were buried somewhere else. It was interesting seeing a building that is slowly become more bones than brick. It also got me into Monarchy mode. I finally, after 25 years, finally see the interesting thing about having a royal family.
From there we walked. We saw Downing Street (which is cordoned off since IRA threats against Thatcher in the 80s), got some excellent Fish and Chips and Shepherd’s Pie at the Red Lion, saw Green Park (it was green), Buckingham Palace, a WWI memorial, and Hyde Park Corner. From there we went to Harrod’s (big expensive shopping), and got some wine, cheese, and bread for dinner. Then went to the hotel and took a little 2 hour nap. Then woke up and got a cork screw from the nearby grocery and sat around for the night. Lovely.
Day 2 began with an early morning wake up with croissant and a underground trip to The Tower of London. Luckily Kate and I avoided the masses, and managed to have the tower mostly to ourselves for about an hour or so. It was interesting, but most of it was rebuilt in the Victorian age, so it was tough to get into the idea of how old the place was. (This brings up the major difference I noticed between
Day 3 started off with Benjy’s English breakfast. D-Lish-Us. Then to Piccadilly circus, a quick walk through Soho, and several hours at the British Museum, another walk through Soho (Like New York City but English)… and I’m blanking on what else happened there. AH ha. We went to the Troubadour, a neat little pub where Dylan and Lennon both apparently played back in the day. Neat but there was a private party with a band downstairs that caused a lot of disharmonious music, which, sadly, cleared the upper level out pretty well. Then back home for a somewhat early night.
Day 4 started late, with another English breakfast at the Patisserie near Gloucester Road Underground Station. From there we went to
Day 5 We came home. 1130 GMT departure from Heathrow, then a 1230 GMT or so landing an Heathrow as we lost an engine on our accent, and needed it fixed. We finally took off again at 1030 EST, and landed several hours late. Welcome to the
Twas a great trip, massive fun, but I think I’m just not city folk. I liked
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