Travelogue part IV. London.
We hit town mid-afternoon and had a tight schedule already, but with the train being late by about 45 minutes, we had to hustle. Navigated the Underground to our Air BnB, dropped our bags and hustled over to the theatre district for dinner and a show.
On the road between the closest metro stop and our pad is a restaurant that I really wanted to sample but never got the opportunity. That's MR. Lasagna to you sir.
Did much better planning ahead with food on this leg and made a reservation at a place that came highly recommended and I highly recommend it for you. Bucco di Lupo. Italian that is equal parts fancy and laid back and is in the heart of the theatre district. A great spot if you are going to a show.
We all agreed that we should see something when in town and I won't lie, didn't want to see a musical that we can see on Broadway. Really didn't want to see a musical period. Found something that I thought was unique to England and was highly rated and the gang agreed to go see The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime.
It wasn't the quirky Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery I was expecting but a rather sordid tale of a boy on the spectrum and his messed up family. Betty didn't care for it, I liked its noir texture and we all agreed it was well staged. At intermission, the Boy turns to me and said he knows it and has read the book. Not only that, but it wasn't a school assigned book. It's no secret the kid is not a recreational reader and later ask him in all seriousness how many books he has read for fun and he says three. The one from the play tonight, I. Robot., and something else he could not remember. We are all amazed and amused.
A pre-trip request by Lady Grey was to go to a Jamie Oliver restaurant but it did not make the cut/final itinerary. We walk out of the theatre and right across the street is Jamie's Italian. We had a round of delicious desserts and felt good about a surprise win.
The next morning is the 'you forgot the butter' fiasco from an earlier post. 4.0.
We're in London for a couple days and the moms and I have all been there, but the kids haven't and we agree to put a couple of must see tourist spots on the agenda. As we're on the road, a couple of friends from college see we're in the UK too and we figure out we're gonna be in London at the same time. Our schedules find us with only this AM to meet and we agree to hook up at the Tower of London.
I had stopped taking pictures a few days ago as I dropped my camera and it was acting funny, plus Betty takes a ton of photos and knew she had documented the happenings extensively. I did whip my phone out one time today for a photo and was not only delighted I got this shot but proceeded to show to everyone with a Bevis and Butthead giggle.
Would have liked to sit down for lunch and spend more time, but they had stuff and we had High Tea reservations for mid-afternoon and were meeting our old Taiwan friends that moved back to the UK for that. We went to High Tea at Harrods last time we were in town (had to be '97ish) and didn't think much of it then and thought about passing this time. Seeing that it was the groups decision to go and that The Boy needed to experience it, acquiesced. Reservations were made at the Goring Hotel, which was lovely.
Of course it was great to see two of the people we like the most again.
First of all, it is just tea. Pour hot water in a bowl with some leaves and there you go. I know how tea is made...you pick the leaves, dry them and...that's it.
As for the "food". It's three tiers. The first course are sandwiches...with the crust cut off! Royalty and the hoi palloi hangers on disdain crust apparently, probably because it is too brown. They are filled with the meagrest amount of filling and in this incarnation, two of the four choices had gawdamn pickles in them, which made them inedible.
Last is the dessert tier and this is where the biggest rip off occurs. I've had better desserts in Taiwan. There were several to choose from and we had several sweet lovers in our midst, including yours truly, and only one got even the slightest moan of pleasure. They get way too cute with it and forget the sugar, but suppose they can't trot out a plate of nice brownies or something as that would be too plebeian. The staff kept telling us we could ask for more of anything we wanted and we didn't request a single thing. And all for the low price of 50 pounds. High Tea is the biggest scam in the whole of the animal kingdom.
We hung out for a few hours and then all had dinner together at an Indian joint. Our UK friends would talk derisively of the local TW Indian food joints, which I like, saying the places in the UK are much better, so we challenged them to come up with one for us. They did come through and we had an excellent and reasonably priced meal at Darjeerling Express in Soho. The back story of how it is owned and operated by a bunch of Indian women that make their family recipes makes you appreciate the uniqueness of the dishes we had even more. Highly recommended and a tip if you go, just have the server tell you what to order.
Next day, the moms want to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum (torture...and not the good kind) and I take the kids to the British Museum cause I thought they should see that cause it has everything. As with the Tower, it is layed out differently than it was in the 90's, with the most notable difference being that the Rosetta Stone is now encased in bulletproof glass. It was just out in the open when we went last time and touching it is my most lasting memory from that trip. That and being able to pee in the toilet from the bed in the crap shack we stayed in in our younger days.
Not sure if the kids liked it but hope they did. We had discussions about whether the stuff was stolen or preserved. I like anything that is Assyrian or Phoenician. The Boy was nonplussed by all of the hairpins and saying afterward that "99% of it was just shit from people's houses". True, but still.
At the suggestion of our UK friends, we all met up for lunch at Borough Market. Think Pike Place Market but older with way more and better food. Dozens, maybe a hundred, stalls with a great variety and reasonable prices and everyone can get just what they want. Almost. I had in my mind that I could get a meat pie here and went on a search for it. Find a stall that was selling things that looked like them but were called pork pie. I ask the lady if these are like the Aussie meat pies that I so adore and she goes all highbrow saying that these are served cold and that ketchup would never touch them. The English are soooo fucking refined and the disregard for the Aussies (and lots of others for that matter) by many overtly and by most in ways like this is pretty ugly. I will say that Borough Market is a must on any visit and makes for a convenient, reasonably priced and quick lunch.
After, there was the idea to ride the London Eye and tix were purchased in advance. Made a personal call and said I'd pass, so the 5 of them went off and the Brits and I found ourselves a pub.
Quick pub diversion. Our English mate said a couple times how English pubs are so great and unique. The one from the night before previously discussed could have been in anytown USA. The one we went to today (The George) was one they had been to before and had fond memories. We saddle up to the bar and as we're waiting for our drinks are all disgusted by the group of loutish locals discussing the merits of screwing Italian and Thai women in graphic detail. We do go to another room that was quieter and had a lovely fireplace, but my friend says not to judge all of the pubs by those guys that were "effin and Jeffin'. A great British term to describe people that swear profusely.
It was a lovely day to ride the Eye and the pictures they took bear that out.
We all met up after the Eye/cocktails and the wheel part of our group were not amused. They were all bent about the organization of the scene and the wait was unpleasant apparently. And once you are in your Ferris wheel pod, you jostle with 20 other smelly tourists....just like you. We somehow sensed their discomfort at the pub and sent taunting photos of us warming our insides with drink and outsides by the fire. Wish I could find those photos as they were classic.
The station that we met each other near was Waterloo and that got me humming The Kinks 'Waterloo Sunset' I was desperate to find a magnet with the Waterloo Underground label and looked around the gift shops in the area but was told matter of factly that 'they don't exist' The kids didn't understand why I was so obsessed with this station and explained the song (and the beautiful story it tells) and how The Kinks were everything to me when I was their age. Think it broke through. Really is an amazing song and if you don't know it, you should.
Betty and I arranged to have a couples dinner this night with our Brit friends. These are the rare folks that we can see as couple and can all be our true selves without fear of insulting anyones delicate sensibilities and our conversations take twists and turns from politics and religion to bowel movements and other embarrassing topics. One that I remember from this night surrounded food and the energy behind it. Betty says that Babydoll always has snacks on her and hidden away and the dude tells us that the missus has a bizarre food move where she will never clean her plate completely and leaves a morsel, however small, on her plate every time. She never realized she did it until he pointed it out after many years of marriage but she now knows she does and explains that she thinks it is hard wired from her childhood when her parents would not let her leave the table until her plate was clean. Didn't matter if it took hours and she remembers dry heaving and other traumatic events. Get to thinking about Babydoll's penchant for food hording and think it could be from her earliest experiences of being hungry in the orphanage as a baby and that maybe that fear of not having enough to eat subconsciously has her hiding food in her bags and room.
Our last day in town we went a few different ways. On Betty's secret travel to-do list was to get personal with Stonehenge and she wanted to do the sunrise tour of it. That tour necessitated that she get up at 4am and would not be home until close to 5pm. The rest of us weighed the ability to get close and see Stonehenge with a 4am alarm and all decided that we'd prefer to muck about London instead.
Betty reported a good time and she was able to see Stonehenge in an uncluttered way. In retrospect, would have liked to have seen it but glad I didn't go caue she said you weren't allowed to touch it let alone pee on it.
This day was also earmarked for our girly-o's to go shopping. The Boy went with them and found a couple shirts in a style he already has but different..."they're the kind I like" Not sure all that our travel partners found but Babydoll got a great pair of classic black Dr. Martens that she loves and will have for decades.
I suggested to Lady Grey to let the kids go on without us and come to the National Gallery with me, but she decided to hang with the kids, which meant that I got to commune with the great art I was excited to see solo.
The National Gallery had an exhibition of Impressionistic paintings that added to the great selection they already had, so got my fill of Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne. Gauguin, Van Gogh, Matisse, Klimt, etc. Plus they had a couple of my second favorite artist Seurat that I had never seen and a whole mess of the great Monet (they're the kind I like). Collected in three rooms, just the right amount to savor and not feel overwhelmed.
Not much more to tell...we all had a last night dinner with some of the worst Thai food I've ever had. We're waiting for the Uber to dinner and Chiquita says something about friendship and I am hit with this memory of an 'I Love Lucy' episode and proceed to sing the song Ethel and Lucy sang almost exactly correct. The episode had Lucy and Ethel being allowed to sing a song on one of Ricky's shows and they both want to wear the same dress. They agree that since they both want to wear it that neither should but of course come on stage and they are both in the same outfit. They proceed to rip off pieces of each others dresses and it gets violent to the point that they are gonna be naked and Ricky and Fred have to intervene. Effin' funny. Even the jaded kids found humor in it. Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League...
We all said toodle-ooo the next morning. Our flights back to TW were shorter than coming, but still 16 air hours. Should mention that we were flying Air Emirates on an Airbus A380 for these flights and had never been on one before. These planes are massive, are double decker and can hold 522 passengers. The upper deck is all business class, which we were on this time, and they are capitol D Deluxe. Best thing they have at the back of the plane is a lounge area where you can relax on couches and sample snacks or the full bar.
Was hanging out there and had chats with the bartender and other attendants and they tell us that Emirates is the only airline that has them and their business model is to only fly these and 777's so that they can maximize maintenance and personnel most efficiently. I love me some efficiency. Was interesting to hear how these attendants live. They are all required to move to Dubai and their lives sound as cool as can be. They fly everywhere and get some time to see stuff. This crew had never been to Taiwan before so was able to give them some tips. And they told me a bit about their lives in the UAE. They rent accommodations in the same buildings and while they have roommates of the same gender and fraternization is not encouraged, it is not discouraged either and there are hookups as they are all young, hot and single. They say that if you don't make a scene, that living in Dubai isn't too restrictive but that their counterparts in other Arab countries are almost in lockdown. Also, the population is only 10% Arab (or Emitatis) with the remaining population being expats and foreign workers like them. Pakistanis are preferred as they speak Arabic, but the lady attendant said all the people that do nails and care giving are from the Philippines.
One last dumbass old guy thing. My knees are getting worse and am finding myself dragging my right leg along as I walk. A new thing is happening on occasion is tripping over nothing. We're in the Dubai airport changing planes and have an hour or so to sit in the lounge. Am walking back from the bathroom on the hard stone and perfectly level flooring, catch my sneaker on the ground cause I'm not picking my foot up enough and go down hard, right on my right kneecap. Messed it up something fierce and was in new and exquisite pain for the next couple of weeks. Was hoping to wait to get back to the States to fix it but think I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and risk it here.
One last dumbass old guy thing. My knees are getting worse and am finding myself dragging my right leg along as I walk. A new thing is happening on occasion is tripping over nothing. We're in the Dubai airport changing planes and have an hour or so to sit in the lounge. Am walking back from the bathroom on the hard stone and perfectly level flooring, catch my sneaker on the ground cause I'm not picking my foot up enough and go down hard, right on my right kneecap. Messed it up something fierce and was in new and exquisite pain for the next couple of weeks. Was hoping to wait to get back to the States to fix it but think I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and risk it here.
Right on...that was fun and hope you got some laughs and/or useful info.
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