Eleanor in front of the Heathrow Express. This was more expensive than some of the mass transit options from the airport, but well worth it in time and ease of commute.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
We're in London! Stevan and his nephew picked us up at 8 this morning to take us to Belgrade to catch our flight to London and then waited until we were through passport control. The flight was packed but uneventful. I sat next to a man from Ireland who was returning home with his family from a European Youth Olympics event which his 17 year old daughter had competed in. It was interesting sharing our experiences in Serbia.
We went through passport control at Heathrow and had our luggage within 30 minutes...nothing to declare. Got some money and bought tickets for the Heathrow Express. We rode the tube to Waterloo station and were going to walk to our hotel but the roads wind in such a way that we ended up jumping into a "black cab" after about 15 minutes and riding the rest of the way. It cost £3 for the cab...well worth it! Our luggage was just getting heavier and heavier with each step! Obviously we were very close though. The instructions I had received from people told me to go to the Westminster tube stop, but the map made Waterloo look closer. Now I know that Westminster was a better option...live and learn!
Our room is very nice...and such a contrast to dorm life. We are quite comfortable with our air conditioning! Of course it's only 73 outside but the air is on in our room! Eleanor is cataloguing the luxuries for me...bathrobes, toiletries, turn down service, etc. The funniest is the umbrella in the closet! There is also a complete setup to make tea of course.
We have tickets to see Wicked tonight. It is almost 5:00 PM and we are going to change clothes and go find someplace to eat before the show and look around a little.
...We ate dinner at a restaurant near the theater called "The Duke of York". I had a very traditional British dinner of a meat pastry with gravy, mashed potatoes, and green peas. Excellent flavor. Eleanor ordered a monstrous Angus burger and fries. She could only eat half of the burger.
We then headed to the theater. It is just across the street from Victoria Station. Arrived at the theater, picked up the tickets from will call with jackets on due to temperature (a nice change we thought), bought a program and some refreshments and went to find our seats. I will admit that I splurged on the tickets and picked them carefully after much research, but I won't say how much of a splurge it was. These are awesome seats!!!! I am attaching a picture of the set (if it will take). We are in the dress circle, four rows up, dead center on the aisle!
Update from intermission...Awesome show!!!!! And at intermission, they sell ice cream too! Again...better ice cream than I ever get at home. You should travel to Europe just for ice cream!
The show was terrific! We exited the theater to rain. Unfortunately, we didn't bring the umbrella and so we are a bit damp from the walk from the tube station to the hotel. That's OK though. It's been so long since we have seen rain and, besides, it's London. It's supposed to rain here, right?
We aren't completely sure what we are going to do in the morning. The concierge is researching Presbyterian churches in the area...I stumped him. He knew where the Catholic church was, but I even had to spell Presbyterian. Scotland it ain't! Hopefully he will figure it out soon and call with a location.
We are also trying to decide between the Tower of London and a street market. The Portobello Road market is on Saturday so we missed that, but the Camden Market is active on Sunday.
Monday we are going to Buckingham Palace for the Queen's summer opening while she is at Balmoral. Maybe we will flip a coin in the morning. The only certainty is that we won't have enough time to see everything we want to see. We will just have to come back!
Cheerio!
Kellye and Eleanor
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