MAVERICK ROVER WORLD Post #16 London, England 7/9/2018

MAVERICK ROVER WORLD

Post #16

July 9, 2018

LONDON, ENGLAND

   

Cheerio!

Getting to London is a story in and of itself, here is Ron's version, while mine would be quite similar

July 3, 2018

Today we left Valencia for London.  The day started with a visit from Sergio to return our 500 euro security deposit and then we were off on foot to the nearby metro station.  We made a mistake by buying tickets to the wrong zone.  We then got the right tickets and went down the wrong side of the tracks and missed the first train.  No problem, as we had plenty of time and another train came in ten minutes, but what a start to a long day of travel.  Once we arrived at the airport the drama continued.  We had paid to have our bags checked, but an attendant said that we had priority tickets and that we could carry our bags aboard.  We were reluctant to go ahead and check them because we were worried about them being overweight, so we decided to carry them onboard.  Against my advise and on Roger’s insistence, I put the shaving lotion in my suitcase, Oops! which turned out to be a major error while going through security. The security area was insane busy with lots of travelers and my suit case was ripped apart right on the security line after the x-ray machine.  Underwear and everything else was flying about, while others travelers tried to collect their own bags and possessions.  I wasn’t even sure what the big deal was until they found the shaving cream that I had buried in a plastic bag deep within one of my shoes.  Well problem solved, but talk about a pressure cooker.  We then had a cafe con leche and tried to regroup. Then our flight was thirty minutes late and while boarding we were told that our online ticketing with our phones could not be used without supervisor attention because we we had US passports and needed paper tickets.  Go Figure…. Obviously, there was no time to return to the airline checkin counter that we had previously avoided, so we stood at the head of the boarding line and dramatically slowed the boarding process, while waiting to be approved.  Once on board the flight was not allowed to lift off for 45 minutes due to heavy traffic.  We arrived in London nearly one and a half hours late.  

Then the next thing was to trade some Euros for Pounds and a bus ticket to the Stratford Underground Station.  We were able to do all of this at the money exchange desk.  The bus ride was about 45 minutes long.  We made another big mistake by taking the very last seats on the bus, because otherwise only single seats were available.  Well that put us right next to the TOILET and while nobody used it in transit, it definitely was the shit hole.  We had to hold napkins that we dug from deep in our backpacks over our noses to survive the vile odor that permeated the area throughout the trip.

Upon arrival at the Underground station, we purchased passes (Oyster cards)  for the underground and then boarded the Jubilee line to Bermondsey Station near our AirBNB.  A very short walk and we arrived at our lodging only to discover that we didn’t know our hosts unit number or his last name, so we had noway to let him know that we had arrived.  We had no wifi for using WhatsApp, but Roger had somehow earlier taken his phone off of airplane mode, so he was able to text our host on WhatsApp with our own cellular connection.

Aaaahhh……..  beautiful and comfortable lodging.  We finally ARRIVED.

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View out of our flat on The Thames from where

we can hear the waves lapping against the

Bermondsey Wall West 

as we sip coffee on our deck

We can see these floating homes from our flat and by the way,

all of the trees are live & growing on the boats

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Tower Bridge is in view from our flat

Underside of Tower Bridge, the view from the Vault Restaurant where we had our first meal

FISH N' CHIPS

Well, that was Ron's meal, I had Chicken Fajitas. What??

and we each had a PINT

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London Underground

The Shard designed by Renzo Piano

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 A bit of window shopping for these two retired guys. After seeing the Mr. Selfridge series on PBS, we just had to visit Selfridge & Co. and feel the  essence of Old London back in the day, and then a stop at the world famous Harrods for more window shopping. 


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Formerly the home of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II,

Lady Di and Prince Charles, and 

now the home of William & Kate 

and 

Harry & Meghan

Just cannot get enough of the amazing Lady Di, her passion and her commitment to world health and the AIDS crisis.  

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Westminster Abbey where Lady Di was married on that infamous day of July 29, 1981

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St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church near Trafalgar Square

Lovely candlelight chamber music concert after a chance find of Fumo Italian Restaurant. 

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Theatre is our never ending draw to London's West End

THRILLER
the music of Michael Jackson,
they did him proud

EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE
stars a new talent, John McCrea, from Sheffield, England. 
A very, very touching and moving story about a young boy on a self-discovery journey to find his inner self. He aspires to become a Drag Queen. He sings some amazing and powerful songs especially written for this production.  His amazing mother can not only sing, but she wrenches at your heart with her love for Jamie. We hear tell that JAMIE just might be going to Broadway, NYC


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The Shard from outside at night

The Shard from inside

Makers Mark on the rocks from the 34th floor


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There is a poem waiting behind this door, but until I find it, I will leave it up to these find poets honored in Westminster Abbey 

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