20130514 Tuesday Pictures Link
Dolores couldn't sleep but I got a couple of hours. We've had our breakfast in the air, quite good, with fruit and juice and coffe and a “bacon roll”.
We're at 20,000 feet and descending over Cardiff, so I'd best put this away for later.
Now it's 1600. Lightly raining and overcast. Nothing new there – this is London, after all.
We landed at 0610, a half-hour ahead of schedule. We found our bags and took the Heathrow Express (damn the expense) to Paddington Station, a huge old dungeon. Then we did one of the black taxis to our Morgan Hotel.
The room wasn't ready, of course, so we walked down to “Pret a Manger”, a fast-food emporium but with extras, and found a banana for D and juice for both of us. We people-watched for a while, then decided we'd take a bus to the end of the line and back.
#14 appeared and away we went to Putney Heath off to the west and south. The front upper deck gave us a good view of the neighborhoods we passed through. By the time we got back to our neighborhood the room was ready.
Unfortunately, the room is about 15 stories up with no “lift”. The hotelman brought our bags up. Oh, well, it will be good exercise. We've stayed here before and the location is superb, so we'll play mountain goat for the week (actually it's only on our third story).
We threw our stuff in the corner and took a nap, waking up just before 1600. Then we put our things into cabinets and crannies for the week, and began to consider what we'll do with the rest of this day. More later.
Later. I went out to case the neighborhood and to get cash. My cash card was rejected at two different “cash points”. A while later, I got a call on the cell phone about fraudulent charges, but returning the call (to 866....) would cost $$ so I skipped it. I bought a mouse for my laptop and returned to get Dolores.
We walked three blocks to Giotto, an Italian restaurant we've tried before. D had grilled haddock with potato and vegetables, I had a caprese and then spaghetti ala carbonara. She had a glass of pinot grigio & I had a half-bottle of chianti. The food was top-notch and the wine was very good. The bill came with a 10% tip included for the equivalent of $78.
We returned to the room, where I started an on-line chat conversation with my credit union. It turns out that I had told them of our travel plans, but they didn't open the account to the charges coming in from those places. I was assured nothing had come out of our account and that the debit card is now enabled as it should have been. Many apologies, etc.
D was trying to make sense of British TV, so I went out to the local pub we've used before. Called the Museum Tavern, it's directly across from the main entry to the British Museum. Good pub food, many beers on tap. I had two pints and conversed a little with those around me. Most of them are still in shock at the spring weather to date, especially the snow a few weeks ago. Everyone, in several different groupings, was having a nice time.
Then I hiked back to the hotel in a rain that had become a little more serious. Perhaps I could call it a continuous light rain.
Off to bed, more tomorrow.
20130515 Wednesday Cloudy, cool (39*F at 0800) Picture Link
Slept well and long. Woke up to a gray morning, but it's not raining.
We dressed and went to breakfast in the basement dining room, which is very nicely laid out. The brown toast & jelly is especially good, and the egg & sausage were as we wished.
We discussed plans and options, then decided we'd stay close to home today. The British Museum is around the corner and we're not yet into full Tourist Season, so we'll do that. The last time there was in July and the place was mobbed.
We went immediately to the Rosetta Stone once inside, since it gets a lot of attention. We were able to get our pictures without problem. Then we did a quick run through the Greek and Roman side of the place. D took some pictures, I took a few.
The bookstore and shop came last. We picked up a few little things. Dolores was feeling the place was stuffy, so we got out in the fresh (40*) air. We wanted to be seated (walking slowly, as in a museum, can be hard on the back); we elected to take another bus ride somewhere.
The #29 bus took us north and east to Wood Green. Went through several distinct neighborhoods, mideast (Turkish/Green) and Eastern European (Polish), and past several housing developments that were clearly assisted. Wood Green is at a huge shopping mall, but we avoided that when we turned around and rode #29 back to the other end of the line at Trafalgar Square.
There, we hopped out and into the National Picture Gallery. There's no way to do it all, so we concentrated on the 17th century but saw a few before and after that. Neither of us is a great appreciator of painting, but they were interesting including a couple of partial (unfinished) paintings by Michaelangelo.
Once out of the NPG we crossed the Square and found the Sherlock Holmes Pub and Dining in Northumberland St. D had rack of lamb and shared some of the potato and leek soup I had before my fish and chips (much over-breaded but the fish was ok underneath it).
Of all things, the sun came out while we were inside. The temperature seemed a lot warmer with the sun on us, so we walked down to the Embankment and walked upriver. We took a few pictures of boats on the Thames and of Parliament & Big Ben upstream. Then we went back to Trafalgar and caught the bus for home.
I put D into the room, then went for a pint at the Museum Tavern. They had London Pride on tap tonight, so I had two. I picked up a bottle of coke for D on the way to the room. Then we settled in for the night. D is watching iTV3 murder mysteries and I'm doing this tome and then will add the pictures.
All in all, a fine day.