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.

Camels-Snakes-Belly Dancers

One of the side trips we were looking forward to is scheduled for today Friday November 25th. We decide to take an organized tour to Morocco instead of go it on our own. Which turns out to be a great decision. With language changes, custom changes, continent changes, money changes and a short amount of time to try to experience the city of Tangiers on the Northern tip of Africa. We were under the leadership of a very good English speaking local resident who toured us through parts of the city we would have never seen otherwise: The casbah, the medina and the various sections of the city defined by which nationality settled that area. …and she was able to fill us in on the rich history and cultural uniqueness of the area. We had a stop for a Kodak moment (in our case it was an HP moment) where Jackie, Ben and I all had the opportunity to sit on a camel and ride around a bit. The camels didn´t seem to be too amused, but we were.

Then off to the casbah, which was originally a military fortress years ago, but now is a town within a town, a residential community of rows and rows of small bungalows that are divided only by narrow cement pathways…as she described it this is community living like we have never seen. The house are so close you can hear conversations from one to the other, and everyone, knows everyone else's business. It´s like Desperate Housewives without the landscaping. Then the snake charmer….the poor old fellow blew his picallo trying to get that snake to surface…but finally they just grabbed the back he was in and yanked him out for the tourists to take pictures with. We all declined that one. Finally, they dumped us in the hands of some high pressured rug salesmen, who gave us a 15 minute presentation of their wares. This is the only part of the tour that was a bit tacky…we had no desire or need for a Moroccan rug…so we patiently waited and got the heck out. Street vendors are soooooo aggressive on the small winding pathways through the medina that it puts the Mexican beach vendors to shame. These guys are all over you, literally encircling you and barking at you with their deals, and super deals…..well it was just too much for Jackie to resist….she bought a wooden box from one guy, and that escaladed the selling frenzy to a whole new level…..she was forced into yet another purchase of a small wooden camel from a teen age boy….and luckly we were about to escape to the bus and our Super Ferry ride back to Spain. Maybe one of our very best days…so different, so unique.