Still in London

Lost in the Victoria & Albert Woods

Sunday 5/22/05
Slept the morning away. For lunch, we went around the corner to the small sandwich shop which served delicious baguettes but also served up some heavy attitude as it was run by French people. In a burst of exuberance we decided to walk all the way to the British Museum. 3 hours later we were greeting our old friends the Egyptians, the Rosetta Stone, the glorious Great Court and Reading Room. We had a bit of priceless refreshment upstairs, then slowly wound our way back toward Kensington-St. James' Park, snoop around B. Palace, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens. For dinner we celebrated Hector's birthday at Zaika, an exquisite Indian restaurant around the corner from the hotel on Kensington High Street. Mark insisted on calling out the chef, which he is wont to do as he is in the business- turns out the chef used to work in LA, knew San Diego well and was a delight to talk to. We all got loaded.

Monday 5/23/05
Slept late again. As we were preparing to leave the hotel, Jim and Chris appeared. Apparently unable to reach us by phone since none of the hotel staff spoke English, they decided to catch us in person in order to make plans for our trip to Bath the next day. That done, they left for Nottingham (where Jim once lived) and we left for the Victoria and Albert Museum. Visited ceramics, glass, jewelry and medieval treasures but my favorite was the installation of fake trees at the entrance.
Later, in our best bibs and tuckers, we taxied off to the Piccadilly Theatre to see Guys and Dolls starring Ewan McGregor! Now I won't become a critic here but I must say I had high hopes but low expectations for this show. It's one of my favorite musicals and it is a difficult show to keep alive. There's no big splashy effects, it just comes down to good old fashioned singing and dancing, and this cast was just great. Ewan sang and danced his little heart out even though he has the dullest role in the show. The show stopper was, of course, Martyn Ellis as Nicely Nicely Johnson. "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" literally did stop the show. It was a very fun evening and I hope the run is successful.
After the show we met Jim and Chris at Regency Street, a bar, then walked over to Leicester Square for a boring Italian dinner.

Tuesday 5/24/05
Well, today the six of us did Bath. I love Bath. I wish I'd lived there 40 years ago before all these annoying tourists were crawling all over the place. We first took an open-air bus tour around the outskirts of the city, which I didn't remember seeing last time we were there. Some wonderful neighborhoods and homes tucked in the trees with remarkable views of the city. Every home, of course, costs a billion dollars. After the tour we had lunch at the tiniest place I've ever seen, Sally Lunn's. Six huge Americans were squeezed in upstairs like a bunch of oversized dolls in a dollhouse. We ate like the gluttons we are. Naturally, we toured the Roman Baths, I could do it every time I visit England. Then Bath Abbey, another gem. It's been meticulously restored.

We wandered around the city this time more than we did last time and I was unaware of what a shopper's... um... paradise it is. A bit much for my tastes, with all the shops selling T-shirts and magnets but I suppose one can't expect Bath to stay charming and quaint, they have to make a living, too.

Jim wanted to find the one gay bar (The Tap) mentioned in his gay guide for Bath and, after wandering around for an hour we came across it- boarded up. It didn't look like the kind of place I would want to spend the afternoon, even in it's prime.

After returning to Paddington, we said our farewells to Jim and Chris, they were off to Dublin the next day. Later Mark, Arturo, Hector and I had our Farewell to London dinner at Arcadia, a small Italian place around the corner from the hotel.

Wednesday 5/25/05
A nice surprise this morning- the front desk forgot to charge Hector and I for our upgraded room, quite a savings. (let's see...40 GBP per night = $72.50 x 7 nights = $507.50! Good God!) We quickly tiptoed out the door before they had a chance to realize their mistake.

The Slovak mafia collected us at 830 am for our 1145 am flight to JFK. I don't know why it had to be so damn early when we were the only ones in the car but we dared not argue. We had a $25 airport breakfast, finally got on our plane- same seats, same AIRPLANE as the one we came in on. I know because my seat refused to recline on the incoming flight as well. We even had one of the same evil-tempered stewardesses. Had an uncomfortable 5 hour layover in NYC, then our excruciating 6 hour flight home to San Diego. Exhausting midnight cab ride back to the house, goodbye to Mark and Arturo, I never want to see any of these people again as long as I live.