They have a different word for everything!

The night before our departure from our London hotel, Jackie had a challenge with an unusually high bathtub...hurdling it to get out proved more than her short legs could clear..... she took a fall and badly bruised her leg and one heal.  In a lot of pain we had to baby her to the train station by cab, for a two hour trek via the high speed train to Paris.  

I knew the minute we arrived at the train station in Paris, that we really had taken "English" for granted. Trying to figure out how to catch a cab with a hobbling family member was our first communication issue.  There was a long taxi line, but a man approached us from out of no where with a promise that he could get us on a cab without a wait...we blindly followed him as we weaved in and out of the crowd until in fact he boarded us on a hotel bound taxi.....although he was not too happy with our 4 USD tip.  US money in Europe is not held in high regard.  

First on our agenda was lunch.  After finding a nearby restaurant we knew it might be a problem when a tuxido attired matre d sat us and offered a menu of rabbit, duck and other animals we had no appitite for.  Exit stage left.  

Down the street our next choice happily had a good ole HAMBURGER.  Perfect!

Jackie was in enough pain that she was not interested in much more than rest in the room.   Ben and I headed out on foot to see what we could find.  Included in our self guided tour....Arch de Triumph, Champs Eelseey, and yet the Eiffel Tower.  Pretty good for a couple of rambling rookies.  

 

Making the most of the last day

Suddenly realizing this would be our last day in Great Britain we were hell bent on jamming it with the last items on our vacation bucket list.  Stressful,  knowing that we may not be able to fit it all in.  Up early and off to the half price theatre ticket booth (by the way, there was nothing really half price)  to find a show for the last night.  Settled on a classic, non sensical British comedy called Jeeves and Wooster.  More on that coming.  Then to breakfast near by and jockeying the bus schedule to get us back to Buckingham Palace for a palace tour.   The Queen is on vacation in Scotland in August and September and they open up the joint to thousands of tourists to stomp through her house for 60 days.  I'm sure a quick visit from Abby Carpet Cleaners and scraping off some stray gum balls from the picture frames and she'll never know the difference on her return home.

A quick visit to the awesome Westminster Cathedral, a lighting of a votive candle and a few minutes of Saturday mass and we were once again off by bus to the retail shopping district where Ben was on the prowl for some English fashion before we moved on.  Score.  Got a cool jacket.  Roamed Harrods five floors of high end goodies and dashed back to the hotel to get ready to head to the West End Theatre district.  Another of the awesomely cool small old theatres and a play that had only three actors.  At first I was concerned since our last play, Wicked was such an extravagant event, that a simple play with three actors might be a let down.  It wasn't.  A hilarious spoof centered on a story line that involved the "pinching" (stealing) of a silver cow creamer. Two of the actors played mulitple roles as the story unfolds.  It involved family, romance, blackmail, and deception.   All laugh-out-loud funny. British comedy at its finest.  

The final full day in London comes to a close, with chocolate crunch McFlurries in the room.

Which witch is wicked?

We are staying at the Marriott on the Thames adjacent to the Westminster Bridge.  We can see the river from our room. Great spot. A few steps and we are on the walkway that follows the waterway.  Before the daily crowds arrive it's a great spot to run.  That's how I started my day.  No better way to see this city. On a cool, freshly rained on morning ended up at Trafalgar Square for a venti and watching the London work day come alive out the window.  

We did a cruise on the river after breakfast then back on the Big Bus "red" tour with a live narrator. The day seemed to slip by too fast.  Made it back in time to get changed, go to dinner at a cool little Asian noodle restuarant in the same building as the Hotel then off to our second show: Wicked!  A spectacular musical that's amazing in every way.  Special effects, music with a live orchestra, great acting....and for a guy that didn't know the story, a refreshing spin on the Wizard of OZ.  Still trying to figure out what they were thinking when they built a 1300 person theatre with one itsy bitsey bathroom and a narrow window of opportunity to take care of business.  Long lines and chaos ensue.  

Two Harry's in one day

My morning routine (before everyone else gets up) has become the walk down the Golden Julilee Greenway, to the Golden Jubilee Footbridge to the Trafalger square Starbucks.  The British equivalents to Starbucks are Nero's and Costa...you'll find them all on about every busy street corner, but can't break away from my "venti bold"...besides I have Starbucks app and don't have to figure things out in pounds.

Got a late start on the day.  Ben slept til 10.  On the tip from the bus tour guide, we learned that on odd days at Buckingham Palace you could watch the changing of the guard.  We raced to the palace gates to be there I by 11and apparently we weren't the only ones who had gotten the tip.  The entire area was jammed and bobbies on horse back were policing the mob. As it turned out our best view of the guard change was seeing it on a guys ipad ahead of us in the crowd, that was holding it extended high in the air.  A smidge disappointing.  But, none the less our first brush with a Harry.  Prince Harry lives here.

Off to see the other Harry.  

Potter.  

An hour bus ride to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour outside of London.  A good chance to see the English countryside and towns along the way.  Our only real chance to explore a little out of the metropolitan area.  Then, three hours in the imaginary world of Harry and friends.  VERY IMPRESSIVE.  A combination of live hosted commentary, some video clips and all of the original props, sets and costumes.  It all meant most to Ben who has followed the series since it started.  (he was 2 when the first book was published, 1997,)  A couple of HP souvenirs and we were on our way back to the city.

The best way to top off a perfect day for Ben was to dine at Subway, with a footlong tuna on Italian Herb and Cheese.  Nirvana!

8 hours can mess you up

Jet lag.  I guess ya Gotta plan for one day for your body to say "what the hell" and scramble to figure out what's what. Somehow I think we missed a night of sleep along the way. Thanks to the ever presence of Starbucks In the Heart of London I've been able to stay awake artificially.

First day we figured hopping on the "hop on-hop off" double decker bus would give us a good overview.  The only "hop. Off" was Harrod, the most amazing department store in the world. Everything from fresh fruit to fish market to fashion purses.   And everything else you can imagine to buy.  After miandering through the fine watches section and glancing at a £55,000 beauty we knew we weren't in Gig Harbor Costco anymore.

That night we were off to our first live show in London's West end theatre district.    The Agatha Christie murder mystery "Mousetrap" was fun and entertaining and at an amazing old, small theatre. 

Earthquakes, Volcanos, and words we can't pronounce

 Bárðarbunga.  Sounds like something the Ninja Turtles might say.  But no, it's the name of a volcano that might erupt in Iceland.  Which adds an element of drama to our trip to Europe that starts today.    The volcano alert went from orange to red then back to orange.  No problems though.

We arrived in London to the headlines reading..."coolest Bank Holiday in history"  Coolest, meaning temperatures 20 degrees below normal. 60s and rain.  London seems more realistic gray and damp anyway.  Took the "Underground" from Heathrow to the hotel.  Dragging bags made it a little challenging especially when my 44 pound suitcase got caught in the escalator and almost took me for a tumble.  A brave Londonite, caught me on my way down and saved the day. Escalators, segways....very dangerous. 

Signing off

It´s Saturday…we have a busy day planned, getting set for an early morning departure home tomorrow. I decided I needed to start the day by getting caught up on my blog….as Ben´s been saying…we´re going to need to blog our brains out to get caught up. We need to make a last minute trip to some shopping place or another to buy a new suitcase…cause Ben´s gave out on us….and other little items…then hopefully see Harry Potter today, get packed and get set for another 23 hour travel day.

I hope you have enjoyed our rambling, those of you who stuck with us. It was great for us to sit down and think about the things we did each day to lock them in our memory, and then we´ll be able to go back and read our own journal when the memory starts to fade. Two weeks was a nice long time…but I must say, thing we are looking forward to getting back home to our normal lives and seeing our familyh and friends, and the familiar surroundings of home.

Adios.