I am IN London. You do not know what a great accomplishment that is. Seriously. To be brief. Because I do want to actually write about London in this blog entry; this is the long and the short of it.
We flew from Chicago to New York (JFK) to meet a connecting flight to Heathrow.
This 1 hour and 30 min. flight with 45 min layover turned into 7 and half hour in various holding patterns due to weather over NYC; with a slight detour to Pennsylvania.
We made it into JKF where we were squeezed onto the London flight; but we didn't get to sit together.
We got to our hotel around 1 pm London time; we'd left Chicago at 2:30 pm the previous day.
Needless to say our plans were completely dashed as we could barely stand straight. But we did have tickets to the Globe Theater for Merry Wives of Windsor. So after a much needed nap we pulled ourselves onto the tube.
I was completely amazed at the Globe. I got to tour the theater last time I was in London but this was my first performance. We decided to get actual seats in the tower instead of being a "groundling" and standing in the open air. This turned out to be an superb choice as it down poured the first half of the show and everyone; actors included got a good soaking!
We rented cushions, as the theater seats are authentically wooden plank. Sitting up there looking down as the play enfolded was astounding. This was Shakespeare, how it is supposed to be enjoyed. My inner Shakespearean was quite happy!
We walked back across Millennium bridge and took some photos of the city lights. I love this city at night; even the bite of the wind off the River Thames. I can't get enough that skyline.
It has been hard to catch you up daily between getting in late, leaving early and having to pay by the hour for my Internet (our hotel is rather lame). But here is a re-cap of Day 2 and 3 and photos to whet your whistle for now. I'm trying to keep you in the know!
Day 2 - Museums, Fleet Street and Spontaneousness
We had to overall our itinerary due to losing a "day" with the travel . . . issues. So we went to The Tate Britain; which hosts a wondrous collection of art. Lorna and I went specifically for the Romantics.
Our favorites were "Ophelia" by Millais and " The Lady of Chalot" by Waterhouse. I'd seen them in books but . . . to see them in person.
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| "Lady of Chalot" by Waterhouse |
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| "Ophelia" by Millais |
The colors are so vivid and I felt myself floating down the river with them. Their brocade trailing among the reeds and hair flowing behind them.
Next we visited the Sir John Soane Museum which is an absolutely jam packed full of the collection of antiquities and paintings as well as the beautiful architecture of Sir John himself.
My favorite part about his house is the skylights he had inlaid with yellow and orange tinted glass to recapture the Italian light that he fell in love with when he spent two years on scholarship there.
Next was Fleet Street; infamous for the legendary Demon Barber and Mrs. Lovett's Meat pies. We went with a particular purpose though, to eat lunch at the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. This is an ancient pub ( rebuilt after the great fire) that I stumbled across on my last visit and I just love the atmosphere as well as the ale and delish pub food.
We then spontaneously bummed about Westminster and took photos and made our way Tafalgar Square. We ended up eating dinner at the Penthouse Restaurant with a great view of the south bank skyline as the sun set.
I will fill in more detail on our day trip today where we took a tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath on the morrow as I am very tired and need to rest up for yet another day of London adventure!
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