Our departure from Florida was made a little more exciting by a last minute change in plans. I checked the US Air website at about 11 to find out about our 5:15 pm flight, only to discover it was delayed so that we would miss our connection to London. We through everything in the car and raced to Orlando to get on an earlier flight. After more than an hour at the US Air counter we made it and our connection. Phew! The joys of travel.
We rented a Victorian cottage for our stay in London. It is in Ealing, considered “greater London”, which means it is on the tube (subway) route but not quite as pricey as downtown. The cottage is two stories, but tiny. The bedrooms have space for little more than a bed and there is a washing machine but no dryer. The floors are a beautiful, ancient parquet, like individual bricks put together so that they clatter together when you walk. The stairway is incredibly steep and the individual steps very narrow – when you stand on one your toes hang over the edge. They are also carpeted, so it is easy to slip as you walk. The house is also cold, even with the heat on.
The town is very cute, with little butcher shops, a bakery and little stores. We had things like fresh sausages and homemade bread for breakfast.
One of the first things we did was buy Oyster cards for the subway. Kids under 11 are free, and Mackenzie just needed a ride-along pass. The girls became experts at figuring out which line we needed and riding like city kids.
We went to Buckingham palace and the flag was flying so the Queen was in. she didn’t invite us to tea. There is a funny little shop on the premises that sells all kids o f things with the Queen’s picture on it and a series of t-shirts and things that say “Pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been?”. There was also quite a collection of clothing for small dogs. Odd.
We walked through the park to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Big Ben is actually the name of the bell, not the clock tower. Who knew? Across the bridge is the London Eye – a large wheel with glass capsules that rotate. It moves pretty slowly to give you a view of all of London. I imagine in summer it takes hours to get in, but we were able to pretty much walk right in. I guess that is the joy of January in London.
We had dinner at the Sherlock Holmes Pub – a typical British pub with good beer and bad food. We had fish and chips, bangers and mash and steak pie. And Sherlock Holmes Ale. We did some more touring the next few days, including St. James Palace and Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. It is new but built with the same technology as existed hundreds of years ago, including mortar made with lye and goats hair. Apparently, the goat hair allows it to expand and contract. The roof is like moss, apparently like the old days, but equipped with fire sprinklers. The theater is the same size as it was, but now is permitted ti have only 1600 people (700 have to stand during a 3 hour play) compared to the 3000 that would have been admitted. Those pesky fire codes! The tour was very good – the guide was also an actor and demonstrated the conventions needed for plays at the time – repeating things in different ways for an audience the ran from illiterate peasants to nobles who spoke greek and latin.
We also took the double decker bus tour, which was rather cold, and went to see the play “Wicked”, which was wonderful.
A few observations about England:
The sidewalks everywhere are different – never solid concrete but always brick or squares. Veronica was thrilled with this for her healys. There were also spots from gum everywhere – can’t figure out if the British are big gum chewers or if it is just hundreds of years of gum deposits.
I have been thirsty since I left home. Cokes cost $3-5 and you don’t get water in the restaurants without paying $2 or so for it.
A big shocker to me was at the theater when I saw all the people walking in to the seating area with huge beer glasses and popcorn. Eating in the theater? Then at intermission they offered ice cream in tiny cups. I can’t imagine that in New York, or even Tallahassee1
On to Paris
On Tuesday we got on the Eurostar chunnel train to Paris. The train was nice, fast and had more room than an airplane. I slept through the chunnel part. The train arrives to a station that is also the metro, as the Paris subway is known. We goto ur passes and headed for the Eiffel ower. Got off at the nearby stop and started walking down the street then – bam – you turn a corner and there is the tower. It really was impressive – even if it was to overcast to see the top. We decided to have lunch and girls were able to get their escargot.
Our hotel was dowtown and quite small, but nice. Yllen Eiffel and we had a suite on the top floor. It was small, but with two rooms. The main room was on a corner and had floor to ceiling windows and a small balcony overlooking the city. There is a metro stop and a small grocery across the street. A large chunk of brie was 1.9 euros and an orange juice was 3.9 and wine was 6. So we had wine and cheese and bagged the juice.
We walked down the Champs Elysee in the evening. The Arc de Triumphe was lit and beautiful and the whole street was lit up with blue lights. It was very crowded in spite of it being a cold weeknight.
In the morning we went up the Eiffel Tower and saw the city on a clear day. Walked through an open air market in the center or town. We could have bought rabbit or eel or beef tongue, along with the more usual cuts of meat and fish. Had a lovely lunch including onion soup and incredible sandwiches with great cheese and ham. We did a quick tour at the Louvre and made the obligatory visit to the Mona Lisa. Then it was back to the train, back to England to pack for China.
A few observations on France:
The worst meal in France was better than the best meal in England.
Too many people in France smoke and do not clean up after their dogs.
The French bread and croissants are ubiquitous and that is a good thing.
Even in January, there are beautiful fresh flowers on sale everywhere and it is very tempting to buy them because they are so lovely, even if you haven’t a place to put them.
We left England on Thursday evening and are now in Beijing. More details to follow when time, and internet access, permits. 