Sunday, July 19, 2015

London 2015 Days 1 and 2, June 30 to July 1

London 2015 Days 1 and 2, June 30 to July 1

It sure is a fun city still, and the weather is great if too hot yesterday. Today is cloudy and much better. Our hotel is right on top of the Charing Cross station, perfect location to walk almost everywhere, and also for the train to Kent which we will take next week.

First day we went to Trafalgar Square for our picnic lunch with Marks and Spencer sandwiches! Then to the National Gallery for an hour since it was right there. We had our afternoon tea in the little courtyard of St. Martins in the Fields, right across from our hotel. Needless to say we both fell asleep pretty early!

Day Two, we walked to the British Museum for the Elgin Marbles and for the Greek exhibit, which was a great collection of sculptures if a bit superficial in descriptions! This was the really hot day. We walked there but took a very slow and hot bus back. Then after a short rest we had a first cream tea in our hotel, which was just scones but lovely! Later we walked across the Embankment, which is just down from our hotel, to check out the Eye and figure out when to go on it. We will wait for a clear day!

London 2015, Day 3, July 2

London 2015, Day 3, July 2

This was a busy busy day with two Tates and six miles according to Ti's Fitbit. At first we thought of going early to the London Eye, but after walking down to the Embankment and seeing the clouds we decided to go to the Tate Britain first. But the bus did not come and after waiting around a bit, we took the tube, and managed to change lines and get to Pimlico. We followed some school kids down a few blocks to find the Tate.

WOW and double WOW, don't ever miss this museum, it is stupendous! And my favorite artist Turner has a whole wing to himself, a feast for mine eyes. Check out some photos on Facebook. We had a nice breakfast and then lunch in their lovely cafe.

Then we did manage to find the bus, no. 87, right in front of the Tate Britain, which left us in front of our hotel ! After a short rest we headed out to the other Tate, first by no. 15 bus, then across the Millennium Bridge, which had a lovely view of the Tower bridge and the Shard skyscraper.

The Tate Modern was huge and fun, but we only had time for ONE floor, as it closed at 6 and we needed some dinner before the Globe, which was right next door! I had my first fish and chips, and Ti had a healthy salad!

On to the Globe Shakespeare and a fun production of Measure for Measure. We had good bench seats and were pretty comfy sitting on our hotel pillows (don't tell them!) although after nearly three hours my back hurt a bit. At least we weren't standing like so many young ones.

Back across a very windy Millennium Bridge to Charing Cross, and so to sleep!

London 2015, Day 4, July 3

London 2015, Day 4, July 3

Today is the perfect day for the LONDON EYE, clear, sunny, and not too hot! We got there early even before the ticket windows opened to avoid the long lines. And a good thing too as it was mighty crowded when we got out. But it was super and our pod had only about ten people in it instead of the 25 that it holds, so we could move about freely and see every side! Took photos, photos, photos constantly, as did everyone else! Almost worth the outrageous charge.

Afterwards we took the tube from nearby Waterloo station and even found the change to the Picadilly line to St. Pancras for a visit to the BRITISH LIBRARY. Their manuscripts were fascinating even though the room was necessarily dark. The Magna Carta was in a special exhibition so we skipped it. After a nice salad lunch in their little cafe, we headed back via the no. 91 bus to Trafalgar.

Looking for dinner we wandered down St. Martins Lane and found a cute tiny Lebanese place, LA ROCHE. Food was excellent so we will come back.

Tonight we went to a wonderful concert of CARMINA BURANA at St. Martin in the Fields with a huge chorus including a small children's chorus as well. We had seats in the FIRST row right in front of the drums! It was loud but great, as though we were part of the small ensemble.

To top off the evening there was an HD screening of a live Royal Opera House Don Giovanni right in Trafalgar Square! So we watched the last half hour after our concert to see the Don meet his maker!

London 2015, Day 5, July 4 !

London 2015, Day 5, July 4

Happy Fourth to us! We both slept late today, but it is a holiday and we were out late last night!

After a very slow start we took the tube to South Kensington stop, changing successfully from the Northern line to the Picadilly line, then walking a mile through a long tunnel right to the VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM. What a fantastic place, a beautiful building with amazing collections, everything one could want, even a few Turners for me (see Facebook photos!). I particularly liked the ironwork gallery, although the cast galleries were fun, with a Column of Trajan chopped in half! We took a short tour of a few highlights, and then found dear Erica for lunch! That was fun and we sat in their wonderful garden courtyard and she took some really nice photos of us of course! Thank you Erica!

After an easy two bus ride to our hotel, nos. 74 and 9, for recharging, we walked two blocks to the SAVOY THEATER for the show GYPSY with Imelda Staunton. She was amazing and the show was terrific and funny as can be. Had great orchestra seats (or stalls as they are called here) but were three flights underground and a long hike back up afterwards. Nice to take a short seven minute walk back to our hotel!

London 2015 Day 6, July 5 Sunday

London 2015 Day 6, July 5 Sunday

Woke up far too early today and it rained a bit! Just a mist really. Since we were early we had our first English Breakfast here in the hotel terrace room. Very nice and filling, with sausages, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast and pastries, fruit and juice!

Then we took the 15 bus up the Strand (down the Strand? along the Strand?) to St. Paul's Cathedral for the 11am orchestral mass with Mozart's Coronation Mass sung by their boys and mens choir. Really really impressive sitting right near the front. The church is stunning, particularly the nave which is unadorned with the Victorian mosaics of the choir section. We didn't have a tour since no tours on Sundays when there were services. But the music was thrilling

After that we took the 15 bus back for a short visit to the Courtauld Gallery with many fine Impressionist paintings, and one of my favorite Manets, the Bar at the Folies-Bergere. A little lunch in their cafe and then off to the opera across the street!

The Royal Opera House in Covent a Garden is worth a trip to London by itself. Seats were really pricey but the view was close from our seats in the Stalls Circle as they call the first ring of seats. ThenOpera was Guillaume Tell or William Tell by Rossini but sung in French. Much press has been written over the last few days about a rape scene with several soldiers and a young girl. The production was toned down a bit from opening night and she is no longer left naked. But it was a small part of a four and a half hour long performance, with only two half hour intervals. It was overall a strangely moving production with several crowd scenes and a huge dead tree revolving around the stage. Singing was excellent, and this was an HD filmed show for theaters around the UK and maybe eventually the US!

Whew, after our marathon opera afternoon, from 3 to 7:30, we wandered through Covent Garden Market where most young ones were enjoying a pint or two! We found a little Italian restaurant for a yummy dinner, and then a short walk back to our hotel!

London 2015 Day 7, July 6 to Cambridge

London 2015 Day 7, July 6 to Cambridge

Awake early again, but we didn't leave until almost 9 and first got some breakfast goodies to eat on the train from our nearby little M&S shop. Took the tube via Northern line to Piccadilly line to Kings Cross Station. By the time we found the ticket office and waited on line, we got the 10:14 train direct to Cambridge in less than an hour, very fast train. Then we found the local bus into the center of town!

Cambridge is very very busy with huge groups of students and other tourists. It made the little streets very crowded. We found the Tourist Information Office for a map and guide book. Sadly I didn't ask when things were open so we missed a few things by just taking our time around the town. For example the Wren Library was only open from 12-2, and Christ College closed at 4 pm. Trinity was closed to visitors as was St. John's.

First visit was to the Kings College Chapel, a fantastic gothic work, with the most gorgeous vaulted fan ceiling, unbelievable. Too bad no concerts today. Lovely location and grounds also.

But we did find a lovely concert in Great St. Mary's Church across the street. It was a touring women's choir from Orange County California! They sang a nice variety of songs from early music to American country!

After that we needed lunch, so found the famed Eagle Pub for some fish and chips, only my second here! Then we decided to find the river Cam and see the punters. But we were right at the punting stop so decided to take a ride. The seats were not that comfortable but the ride was pleasant. Our punt man (punter?) was a handsome lad and very chatty even though we couldn't hear much from the other end of the boat.

We were rather tired by then so made our way back to the train by bus, and just made the 4:55 train to Kings Cross. This was a slow train but very relaxing at any rate.

London 2015 Day 8, July 7 Cotswolds tour

London 2015 Day 8, July 7 Cotswolds tour

Today we met our bus at the Citadines Hotel just around the corner from our hotel. But this coach took us to the Victoria Coach Station, from where we boarded another bus to continue on our tour of the Cotswolds region, stopping at four pretty villages, Burford, Bibury, Bourton-on-the-Water, and Stow-on-the-Wold. By the end of the day we were pretty confused about which was which. Our photos all look very similar, with small houses all built of the local yellow limestone, which looked grayish in the rain of the morning, but looked golden in the afternoon sunlight. There is a requirement now that anything newly built must be made of this local stone to keep a unified look.

We first went to Burford, a small town with one Main Street down the hill, and with shops lining each side of the road, and some hidden alleys with little houses. There was a fly fishing ship just for my brother but I didn't buy any flies! Here it was grey and misting for a little rain but we walked around anyhow.

Next we went back on the bus to Bibury, a tiny village with some historic weavers cottages. We walked around and made our way to the White Swan Hotel for lovely trout lunch. The village has a trout farm in the very clear waters. Lunch was fine and relaxing, then back to the bus to the next village.

Bourton-on-the-Water was as the name says right on a little brook running through it, with small stone bridges over the water. Very many tour buses here.

Lastly we stopped at Stow-on-the-Wold, a bigger town than the others, with a nice square, but full of parked cars. The market comes on Thursdays, but today is not Thursday! But here in this town is Huffkins Tea Shop, and boy were we ready for tea time as it was nearly 4pm by now!

A long bus ride back to London Victoria Coach Station and a short tube ride back to our hotel, changing from the District Line to the Northern Line formCharing Cross.

At the end of the day we feasted on a sandwich for dinner with champagne provided by the hotel!