Travel Diary

Falling asleep was easy. Staying asleep past 4am would prove much more difficult. I tossed and turned for several hours and finally just had to wake up. I think it was around 7am. While my late night snacks were fine, we wanted something more substantial for the morning meal. We walked over to a local Sainsbury's, which would be frequented many times during our week there. We purchased fruit and bagels and juice.

We also checked our emails for casting notices as both of us had auditioned for "Mary Poppins" before our trip. Alas, no luck for either of us. But unlike the trip to Italy about 18 years prior, this news didn't bother me at all. Sure, it was a bit disappointing, but I was prepared to have a great summer either way, so it was win/win either way. All was well. And now the wondering was over.

Having some down time, I was able to do some writing. I brought a Bluetooth keyboard. It wasn't large, but it was much more effective than trying to type on an iPad screen. A solid investment on my part. And it's very light and easy to travel with.

After getting a few things done, we were on our way to our first stop: the V&A Museum. I had not been there since 2003, so it was practically new to me. On the way there, I did need a restroom break. Luckily, it is something even Google maps can help with these days, so I located a free toilet and jogged off to it. Then we entered the long tunnels to the museum.

Those spacious tunnels are one of my favorite things in London. There's music from buskers. There are people coming and going. There's a lot of interesting ads for events. It's just a neat place to be--just nearly tangible anticipation in the air.

The V&A museum even has an entrance from the tunnels. They searched our bags and then let us in. The price was of course my favorite thing: free! Plus, the allow photos there. Sweet!

Inside, we roamed around. There's a tremendous amount to see there. It's impossible to take it all in during one day. I did have to check out the Statue of David, which yes, isn't the original, though it's still pretty cool to see, considering how huge the statue is and all.

We elected to have lunch at the museum. The food looked fine and the dining area is quite fancy. Plus, we were tired of so much walking around. Yeah, this was fine. There's even a nice courtyard where many were enjoying the nice weather. Kids could play around in the middle wading pool. The buildings looked remarkable from the courtyard as well. Part of me just wanted to lie down on the grass and sleep.

After lunch, we left the V&A and headed to the Natural History Museum, another place I'd last seen in 2003. This place had changed too. A large blue whale skeleton hung in the middle of the great hall. It was impressive. The place offered countless things to explore, which we did for a spell; however, we were quite tired so we headed back to the flat.

It was nap time.

Then it was theatre time. We Tubed on over to the middle of the city and found a Pret A Manger to get some snacks. We found our theatre for "The Play That Goes Wrong" and stood in line. They were checking bags there too. Note: just about every theatre or museum or whatever checks your bags.

When collecting tickets, the agent mentioned that our seats were very high up. I nodded and thought, "Yeah, yeah. The closer seats are very pricey." But he then said, "Let's see if we can do something about that." He then wrote the numbers of two much better seats on them. I was taken aback. I thanked him cheerfully and we headed off to our better seats. It was a very welcome treat.

The show was a wonderful comedy. We laughed frequently and enjoyed all the antics of the play. It's just very, very well done and performed exceptionally well by a great cast. At one point, an audience member sneezed and an actor said, "Bless you." This then led to some more laughter and a bit of breaking by the actors on stage, which led to more laughter. Hard to say if the "breaks" were authentic, but nevertheless, it worked quite well and no one was the wiser.

Well, possibly me. But I won't tell.

After the show, we popped into a wine and port restaurant called The Port House. They offered a great selection of ports, which Ruth loves, so we ordered three of them. They were all quite tasty. Then I was confused. I wasn't sure about tipping. I knew it wasn't necessary in bars, but this was different. Finally, having no clue, I just approached some English people at another table and asked them about it. They said 10% was pretty common. Awesome. I think we did 15%.

We took the long way home for a spell and walked along The Mall and finally through Green Park. It's a wonderful walk for a night stroll. Very few people and it has an energetic feeling to it.

We took the Tube from Greek Park Station and returned the flat. Another long, but fun day completed.

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