Day 7

April 29, 2011

Excitement was in the air this morning! I jumped right up with the alarm ready to attack the day! I was up and ready to go before Pam even cracked an eye! We then had breakfast, stopped at The Hummingbird Bakery for celebratory cupcakes, then Pret for sandwiches to take with us to Hyde Park!

We walked up Brompton Road, past the window displays at Harrods (Video to be posted separately) and into Hyde Park. We followed the crowd carrying Union Jack flags and found a place to sit on the grass. We could see the large video screens that were showing everything going on at Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. The crowd was amazing. At one point the sound cut out and everybody groaned in unison, but it was quickly restored and the merriment of the occasion resumed! All in all it was a fabulous time, what an experience, bucket list moment, not soon to be forgotten, and all that jazz.



I hope that my DVR did it's job and I can watch it all again when I get home. I would love to see what all the guests were wearing and the commentary that the US press added to it! I am so picking up tomorrow's papers to read all about it!

We left the celebration when the Queen returned to Buckingham Palace, we had more items to cross off our original must do on this trip list! We then walked to the Peter Pan monument, via the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, walked along the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, past a few more monuments, back to the Albert Memorial, around the Royal Albert Hall, past the Imperial College of Science and Technology, the Science Museum, and into the Victoria and Albert Museum. Just writing that makes me tired, training walk anybody?

We spent two hours in the V&A then had the cupcakes we purchased earlier as an afternoon pick me up before we headed to Harrods. Can I just tell you my feet felt inadequate in my walking shoes as I was salivating over all the pretty shoes.


I took notes, not to worry I will be purchasing some of these in the future, just not at London prices. Heals, pretty colors, gem encrusted artwork for the feet. It took a lot of to get me out of that department. Then it was off to the book section, and there both Pam and I needed to be mindful of the clock, otherwise we might still be there. A quick run though the antique section, the fine art is to die for, there was one piece I liked, downside it cost as much as our B&B is for the week we are here. This is the problem with being a responsible adult. Then finally a run though the gift/souvenir section and we really needed to head back and drop off our purchases so we could make it to the theater!


Now, we are sitting at Wicked during intermission. This is now one of Pam's favorite productions! One more day, and I think we have a lot to squeeze in to the next 36 hours!

Ok, Wicked is over, and it is most positively Pam's favorite EVER. She can't stop smiling!


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Location:London

Harrods window display

Here is what we walked past this morning on our way to Hyde Park for the royal wedding.

It is a little jumpy, and just over 5 minutes long.



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Day 6

April 28, 2011

Today we took a coach tour to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath. There are pros and cons to every coach tour. We could tell from the start that is was going to have some cons. We had not even left Victoria Coach Station before the woman in front of us was getting off the bus to use the facilities. Were we not waiting for 30+ minutes before they called our tour to take care of things!!!

We were then about 20 minutes late in leaving London! But we were off to Windsor! When we arrived the Union Jack was flying over the castle, so we knew that the Queen was not there. She was probably in London for everything that leads up to tomorrow's wedding. I wonder if there is a rehearsal dinner tonight?

We quickly toured the Castle, State Apartments, Queen Mary's Dollhouse and saw the changing of the Guard. Then we had to hurry back to our bus for departure. (Another con you need to speed walk through attractions.)

We only left a few minutes after we were scheduled to, but it was off to our "traditional pub lunch". Fish and chips, with a soda and no dessert because I was not willing to pay an addition 4£ for something I should not eat! What was not clear was that the soda was also an additional charge! We then got to wait while our tour guide had to explain this more than once to everybody so that the pub would be paid so we could leave. (Pam heard this before she came back to the bus so we were not the individuals holding up the group!)


Then it was off to Stonehenge. It was amazing to see this in person! It really is just a bunch of stones up on their edges in the middle of a field, with a road right next it. I was still awed by the experience!


Finally we were off to Bath. Our tour was just to the city, so Pam and I decided to tour the Roman Baths and the Bath Abbey in the hour and forty minutes we had there. The Roman Baths have me yearning for a Spa day! I might just have to go try Banya 5 when I get home!



Then we had just enough time for a quick coffee/ice cream stop before it was back on the bus and back to London. Where the tour bus dropped us off right at the South Kensington tube stop. Our quickest return home yet!

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Location:Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath

Day 5

April 27, 2011

Dates might be a good thing, as I have used all my international data for this month and am now trying to be REALLY good about using the WiFi!

Morning came really early today, I was ready for a nap when I woke up! We started our day on the London Eye, followed by a stroll along the Embankment on the Thames. When we reached Cleopatras Needle we took a little break to admire it.



Then we had lunch a the Ye Old Cheshire Cheese. What a historic literary location! Traditional pub fare was consumed.

After lunch we made it to our destination for the day St. Paul's Catherdral. What an amazing house of worship. Our entrance fee covered the audio guide, what a beautiful Catherdral. After touring the main area I walked the 253 up to the Whispering Gallery, where if you whisper something the person a crossed the Gallery can here what you said! Then I went up the next set of stairs, 152 this time to see the sights from outside of the Dome!


What a view, by now I was running short on time to meet up with Pam so I headed down. I met up with Pam as she was headed up to the whispering gallery, so we extended our meeting time so we could finish seeing what we wanted to see! Then it was off to the Crypt, I saw Christopher Wren, Wellington, and Nelson's tombs. Churchill's gate and saw the timeline of the Cathedral before I met up with Pam for a tour through the gift store. We then decided to have Afternoon Tea at the Restaurant at St Paul's.

After tea we crossed the Millennium Bridge towards the Tate Modern, where the classic line of the day happened:

P - What time does the Tate close?
M - It's only four, I am sure it does not close until five.
P - It's five oh five.
M - It's only five, I'm sure it doesn't close until six.

Luckily I was right, it does not close until six. We were heading back so I could look for a Postcard of the Sunflower Seeds by Ai WeiWei. There were none, so now I am trying to figure out how to get a poster home.

We then headed down to the New Globe Theater, hoping to tour the museum before our performance, but that museum does close at five! We then found a table in the cafe so we could write in our journals, write postcards, and read a little before seeing Alls Well That Ends Well. It was a great Elizabethan performance!


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Location:London

Day 4

My feet hurt....the end.


Pam says I can't leave it at that. Maybe I can ask the following question.

"Are we there yet?"

Pam says "No rest for the wicked."

--------------------------------------

So as we sit at dinner on Day 4, and I have Pam double check my english and grammar, I am reminded how old I am getting. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, my shoulder is loving me toting my huge daybag around and adding trinkets to it as we go. Who knew 35 was going to be this way. And technically I am not 35 until July!

So again today we were up and out by 9:30am. We said goodbye to the people who are leaving the Aster House today, we are hoping that the people who replace them are just as willing to share their information about the city. Then we headed back to TKTS to get tickets for tonight, we wanted Wicked tickets, but they are not being sold at TKTS. Tonight we picked something called Betty Blue Eyes, it is about a pig and a royal wedding.

Then we were going to walk over to the theater where Wicked was playing to get tickets -

"I interrupt this post to say Pam had received her second wind ... I might kick her, if only my legs would work."

- only to find out that the Apollo Victoria is no where near Leister Square. So we got back on the Tube, headed toward Tower Hill for the London Walks Wednesday tour of the London Tower. So I might admit at this point that I was navigating, and so we checked the schedule again and Pam reminded me that today is Tuesday. Oops!

We headed to the Tower of London anyway and arrived just in time for the Yeoman's tour. As we were entering we were warned that an American television program was recording there this afternoon. It was Hanna Anderson(?) With the CBS Morning Show.

The Yeoman's tour was engaging and entertaining. After seeing the Chapel where Anne Boleyn is entombed we moved on to view the crown jewels! After a visit to the gift store we headed to the River Clipper for a ride to Greenwich. We lunched at the Old Greenwich Brewery, toured the painted room, and chapel at the Old Royal Navel College before heading up the hill to the Greenwich Observatory. Where we stood on the Prime Meridian. Then we headed down the hill for a tour around the Fan Museum. Now it was time to get on the DLR and head back into the city. At this point I was tired and grumpy, and it was about 5pm so the Tube was packed with people heading home, we decided to go to Victoria Station and find the Apollo Victoria to see about getting tickets for Wicked, since it had been on our minds all day. It was our lucky day, we were able to secure pretty good seats for Friday evening. Fighting the crowds again we headed back to Leicester Square (haven't we been here before?!?) to find a quick bite before the Theater.

We decided that we needed to stop at the first place we saw, and ended up at an Italian place called Bella Italia, good food, quick service, and I started to compose this post.

I continued this post as we were walking to the theater, which meant we got a little off course, hence the interruption above, sort of like texting and driving, posting and walking can be a challenge. While we were making our way back to the google maps appropriate walking directions, we found an outdoor store. My dear friend Pam suggested that we stop to see if they had my beloved toe socks, alas they did not, but they did have a blister care kit and smart wool running socks in pink.

Finally we made it to the theater and enjoyed a fabulous production! A must see. This is its first run and I think it will last!

Location:London, Greenwich

Socks

But I digress from the travel updates, day 4 is causing some distress because of my lack of focus.

So I live and die by my toe socks, anybody who has walked on the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for a Cure knows I preach about the toe socks. As I was getting ready to leave yesterday, day 3 of Pam and Meri's 35th Birthday Adventure in London, I went to put on my blue and white striped toe socks only to discover that I brought two left toe socks.



Now since we discovered in the post about Shoes that I did not pack well for this trip, two left socks should not surprise any of the followers of this blog.

So this afternoon as I was leading Pammy down the primrose path of "I know where we are going, so why follow the map" we found an outdoor wear store. Being the resourceful women we are, we went into see if they carried the Injinji brand of toe socks, they do not.

They do carry the smartwool socks, and I am now the proud owner of a pair of pink smartwool running socks. Which claim to have a blister free fit. We will see if this claim is true.



I'll keep you posted.

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Day 3

Up bright and early again today, since we are three days into this adventure I think I can safely say that Pam and I did a great job adjusting to the time change. We had breakfast at the B&B again this morning and had lovely conversations with a couple from Cleveland and another couple from San Francisco. It started with somebody asking which day it had rained and I piped up with Saturday, we remembered it well from our seats on the upper level of an open tour bus. Great conversation ensued, and we traded tips and tricks for traveling around London.

Pam and I then made reservations for our coach tour on Thursday to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath, before heading down to Westminster to take a London Walks (www.walks.com) tour of Westminster Abbey. This is a great company, no reservations needed, just show up at the designated tube stop and find the people with the fliers!

Westminster is showing signs of the impending nuptials, there are scaffoldings with TV shows already broadcasting from London. We kept seeing cameras and interviews happening on every street corner. There was quite a crowed of tv reporters and video cameras around the Actors who played Will and Kate in the Lifetime movie.



Entering the Abby was quiet in comparison to all the commotion going on outside. It was also extremely full of tourists trying to view the Abbey before it closes for the wedding. When our tour was complete we headed towards White Hall and the Mall. It was a bright and sunny day for a leisurely stroll. We lunched at the Crypt at St Martins in the Field, the went up to TKTS and got tickets to see Momma Mia, Pam had never seen it on the stage.

We then journeyed back to Trafalger Square and to the National Gallery, where we viewed the entire works currently on display. Pam's mother, Penny, was recently in London and provided her insight into the exhibits, so we reviewed her recommendations and now we have some observations and recommendations to share with her. One of my observations Is that you are not allowed to take pictures in the gallery. I did sneak one, can you name the painting this dog is from? It is one of my favorites!


After we closed down the museum we had a pre-theater dinner at Wagamama. Needless to say there was a little sake involved, some really good dumplings and fabulous ramen, and two large bottles of water.

And finally we were off to see Momma Mia!


As we entered we were told that our seats were through the bar, is that an invitation or what!


The performance was fantastic, we sang and danced our way through it, I was amazed that a gentleman one person away from me snored his way through the performance!

Location:London

Shoes

Let me fill you in on the shoe issue, I came to London with three pairs of shoes. My 3day walking shoes, a new pair of Merrell hiking shoes, and a pair of my favorite Vera Wang flats. I wore the Merrell's on the plane and they sort of rubbed my right little toe the wrong way, causing a hot spot, so as soon as we got to our room I changed to my 3day shoes (a new pair of Brooks that I broke in just before leaving home) and we went off on our Day 1 adventures.

It is now Day 2 and I am getting dressed in a dressy casual outfit appropriate for touring around London and then off to dinner. I pull out my flats and head to breakfast, while sitting at breakfast I notice that I have on two DIFFERENT Vera Wang flats. Yes, that is right, same shoe different color and size! One was olive and a size 9.5 and one is iridescent size 10. So, I change back into my 3day shoes.

The important thing when your are training for the 3day is foot care, and letting your feet tell you when they need a break and being able to change shoes when needed. Hence the trip to Harrod's yesterday, where if I get shoes I know I am going to be paying DOUBLE what I would pay at home for a pair of replacement shoes! And to make things worse Harrod's was closed for the holiday.

At the moment I have one pair of shoes to wear around London, and they totally make me look like an American tourist, and I try really hard not to look like an American tourist when I travel! Then as we were getting on the train to Pinner yesterday I didn't notice where I was stepping and stepped in something gross and disgusting, in my only pair of shoes. Needless to say I am sure this is not going to be my last post about shoes this week.

And if you were wondering, yes the hot spot turned into a lovely blister. It popped today, Day 3, as we were out walking....











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Location:London

Day 2

We started the day with a lovely breakfast at our B&B and planned our day, Knightsbridge, Harrod's, the British Museum, and the Easter dinner with the Remick's in Pinner.

We decided that a 3day training walk was in order so we walked to the Brompton Oratory, we arrived just in time for the 10 am family mass and where able to cross two things off our list for the day, seeing the Oratory and making it to Easter mass. After mass we walked down to Harrod's to see if it was open, it was closed for the day. We then jumped on the Original Bus Tour, making use of the tickets from yesterday to the British Museum. We elbowed our way up to see the Rosetta Stone then explored the rest of the museum! We enjoyed lunch in the cafe and then continued in the museum seeing the living and dying exhibit and then the Asia exhibit.



We then got back on the Original Bus Tour bus (when you buy a ticket that is good for 24 hours you want to get you money's worth) and listened to more information about sites in London before we started our two transfer journey out to Pinner! We even got to see an amazing bunny on roller skates parade!

When we arrived in Pinner Tina picked us up at the station and we returned to her lovely house where we talked and eat and drank the night away. It was great to see her and her family. It was a very late evening, Pam hadn't seen Tina since the summer of 1995, and it has been about three years since I had seen her last! We closed down the metro, and ended up in a taxi from Piccadilly Circus back to the Aster House. All in all it was a very full day!


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London 2011 Day 1

Day 1 of the Pam and Meri 35th Birthday Extravaganza in London.

We arrived at Heathrow airport bright and EARLY, it was a bumpy flight, but the bumps allowed us to arrive 45 minutes early that scheduled. We cleared customs in no time, and we were on the Tube headed to South Kensington before we knew it! While on the Tube I looked for my camera to snap a picture and realized that it was still on the plane.

After a quick stop at Starbucks to caffeinate we headed to the Aster House, planning on dropping our bags and coming back later to check in, luck was with us and our room was available so we were able to check in and collect our bearings before we headed out for the day.

We started by exploring Portobello Road, from antiques to fresh fruits and veggies it was a site to see. Then we continued on to the Tate British where we grabbed lunch and then took the tour of the exhibits.

We then jumped on the river clipper to go visit the Tate Modern. We were entertained by the young child who did NOT want to come for the ride, as his father carried him onto the boat he grabbed onto the gangway handles and then the door jam expressing his displeasure about coming aboard, and then we were off. It was a lively cruise down the Thames.

We landed right in front of the Globe theater, and being William Shakespeare's birthday we went in and tried to get tickets to the evening performance of Hamlet, sadly it was sold out. We were able to get tickets for All's Well That Ends Well for Wednesday evening. Then we tried to take a tour of the theater, but there were no tours as they are in rehearsal.

After a quick ice cream stop, the temperature was in the 70's, we headed to the Tate Modern. The exhibit in the Turbine Gallery was by Ai WeiWei, a Chinese Artist, who was arrested by the Chinese government as he was boarding a plane in Hong Kong in April, he has not been heard from since. The exhibit was millions of porcelain sunflower seeds, each one was hand painted lying one the ground. We explored the rest of the museum.


We continued our journey around London by heading to Leicester Square to the TKTS booth to check out what was available, but our tired bodies told us we would not make it through a performance tonight. We decided that a Bus tour would let us rest and keep us awake for the next few hours. We took the Original Tour and bought a 24 Hour pass. We started at Leicester Square, saw Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Parliament, Buckingham
Palace, Green Park, and a variety of other sites before it started to down pour, we took this as a sign to get something to eat and then go to bed. Tomorrow will be another day of exploring!


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Location:London