Actually, this is the start, as the previous post explained. Here is the start of our Journey to see Bennett, Carolyn, and Hugh!
Got a ride to the airport from a friend at work - thanks, Mark. Cathy road the Disneyland Express to LAX. At check-in, upgraded to a seat with a little more leg room - or knee space as Virgin Atlantic calls it. What a good call!
Went for a drink at The Endevour Restaurant, that funky structure at LAX that many people think is the control tower. The recent re-do is nice, although after all that time, you would think they could have also done the Lift (sorry, speaking London now).
Has anyone ever heard of
Plane Watchers? Me either. The two blokes we met from Manchester had visited 11 cites in 12 days. Well, actually 11 airports. They liked LA because of the restaurant has great views of the take-off and landing of every flight.
They record the tail registration numbers; then when home they update their database and look for planes they have seen before - and where. Some people collect stamps…
Flight was fine. Slept a little, watched Bridesmaids - good, not great; started out slow for me, but got better. And a dark British Comedy called The Guard, also good.
Landed in London without a problem. Terminal 3 in Heathrow is another story. With local cutbacks, the average wait time at customs is 60 minutes. We were more like 90 minutes. Our ride from the airport had to wait two hours for us. Thankfully he waited! Thank you, Carlos.
We left Friday night, arrived Saturday afternoon (10 hours flying plus 8 hours over PDT) and it is now Tuesday morning. Saturday evening was a quiet evening with the Sanderson’s, a nice local pizza from Princess Di’s favorite place, some wine and cheese and then off to sleep to try and adjust to the time change.
Next day was a full day of walking, taking in the sights and sounds of London. Through Hyde park, past castle’s, through SoHo, Covent Garden, and several other places whose names I now forget (it is already Tuesday morning, local time).
The National Gallery is an amazing museum of paintings - for our OC friends, saw a few
Pageant of The Master’s artworks! Enjoyed the food there for a light lunch. Unlike most museum food, this one is quite good, and reasonably priced. Worth doing.
On this walk, we also experienced our first ride in the double-decker bus. Thankfully, the Brits have come to their senses and are bringing them back. Not only are they cool to ride in, they look great and work perfectly on the narrow streets here. Those long, extended buses just don’t work.
At some point we made it back to the house, had a nice dinner at home, bored the Sanderson’s with our stories some more until Hugh could not take it anymore and he went to bed! Actually not true. Unlike us, he is not on vacation, so he had to say goodnight as Monday morning would be here shortly and he had a job to be ready for.
Around 10 PM, Cathy made a run across the street to
Partridges. They sell Hot Cross buns year-round in the UK. Who knew. Plus, they don’t sell English Muffins here. They are simply muffins.
Monday, up early-ish. Time to take the city tour on the Hop On - Hop Off DD bus. Includes a bonus ride along the Thames, pronounced tems. Once again thankful for the drivers and quite happy I did not foolishly think I could drive here. Wrong side of the road, wrong side of car, other side of The Pond. An
Oyster Card is the 'pay as you go' way to go.
Next up, a ride on the Tube. Will let you know how that goes.
Guided tour around the city is the way to go to see it all. We hopped off for lunch on Fleet Street, at
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub - Thanks, Terry. Nice lunch of a Half w/ Fish and Chips. Very British. The place is old - people were not only shorter then, they had a tiny ‘arse’. Could barely stay on the seat.
Back on the bus for a ride to the Tower of London pier to hop on a boat up to Greenwich. We did not really have the time for a visit to Greenwich - it was getting late - but wanted the full ride along the Thames. Beautiful waterfront these days. Plenty new construction, while pieces of the history left in place, such as the original dock of The Mayflower - yep, THAT Mayflower. Next to the Mayflower pub, no less.
At Greenwich, we did not venture far as we only had thirty minutes - but with our time pieces not having the correct time, we missed the first return boat. How ironic, in Greenwich, of all places! GMT, my ass. Plus, the attendant was a bit of a pill. Killed another 20 minutes and then hopped on the next boat.
Finally, the threatening sky opened up and it rained like the Dickens for about 15 minutes - but we were prepared, so no harm, no foul. Me thinks it might rain often in London.
Back on the 'hop on' bus, we learn that they won’t be taking us back to where we started - off season they shorten the day. Time for a nice walk in the beautiful London evening. We have a torn, soaking wet map, but we shall make our way! This is the home of Churchill after all, so we shall endure.
It was a great walk, with nice assistance from a young lady living here only a year. She confirmed we were going in the right direction. Not sure where she was from, so I will just say North American. Next, a stop at
Nicolas for some wine. Young French clerk was very excited to hear we were from Los Angeles - seems he has this thing for Venice Beach and since I work next door to Venice, he was quite pleased.
Finally made it home, after Cathy walking past
Harrod’s and not going inside. It had been a long day and we needed to get home to change and rest. And what a nice home we returned to - the smell of home cooking in the air! Baked chicken and scalloped potato’s, and wine of course. Time to go, the Queen called and would like to meet us. More later.
