LONDON:  ROYAL DELIGHTS AND CHEAP FLIGHTS

October 23, 2000

We have been in London for several days now, so it is safe to say that this city is fabulous.  Rich and I arrived late Thursday afternoon after catching a $70 flight from Madrid.  Our friends that we met in Thailand, Debs and Glenn, picked us up from the Victoria train station and took us to their home in Camberwell Green.  We had a wonderful time looking at their Africa photos.  After a delicious stir fry dinner, they took us out for a night tour.  They drove us all around showing us Big Ben, London Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, and much more.  By the time we got home we were all exhausted.

The following morning, Glenn cooked us a wonderful English breakfast (eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and tea with milk).  Glenn and Debs were going to see his grandmother who was ill in northern England, so they dropped us off in town and left for a few days.  We are overwhelmed by their hospitality and trust.  They have entrusted us with their home.  They do not even know us all that well, but they still have done so much for us.  

Our first task at hand in the big city was to look into the availability and prices of flights to Africa, which will be our next stop.  After getting a quote from the Travel Bag, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed over to the theater district in Soho.  Rich and I decided that we wanted to see Mama Mia, a musical that features 22 ABBA songs.  Of course, they are sold out until next July;  however, it is possible to stand in line before a show to see if there are return tickets.  We waited until 10 minutes into the show.  We were next in line, but we decided that it would not be worth paying for a show that was already 15 minutes into it.  We decided that we would return Monday morning for restricted view tickets.

The rest of the day we just wandered around and enjoyed the fabulous city of London.

Saturday was a big day for us.  We began our day at the STA travel agency.  We were delighted to walk out with two plane tickets to Africa, each under $500.  And so, now Africa is a reality.  We will leave Friday really early in the morning.  After this huge victory, we decided it was time to explore London some more.  We visited the British Library and saw the oldest Bible, some original Beatles lyrics that were jotted on scrap paper by the Beatles themselves, the Magna Carta, and much more.  After a few more sites, we celebrated the day with a wonderful Thai dinner.  London is known for its great international cuisine.  

Sunday was another productive day.  We visited St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tate Modern Art Museum, and watched people preach and argue at the Speaker's corner in Hyde Park.  The greatest part of the day for me, however, was the Beatles walking tour.  I have been humming Beatles tunes in my head ever since.  If anyone is reading this and is planning a trip to London, I recommend the Original London Walks Tours, especially this one.  Last night was a transportation nightmare.  It should take us a half hour tops to get back to Debs' and Glenn's.  However, it ended up taking us one hour and a half.  It was raining and we were tired.  Needless to say, when we got home, we collapsed into the couch and ate a meal that we cooked for ourselves and watched "Four Weddings and a Funeral".  All in all, a wonderful day!

Today is Monday.  We woke us early and waited outside of the Mama Mia theater to try and get tickets,  We were second in line.  The waiting paid off, as we were able to secure two great seats for tonight's performance.  After our success, we headed over to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard.  While it is great to say that I saw it, I was not as impressed as I was when I saw it in Greece and Sweden.  Perhaps if they performed outside of the gate for all to see, it would have been better.

And now, we are back home getting a little work done before heading out to see the musical.  

Later that same evening......Back from Mama Mia.  It was......cute.  However, if I was a theater critic, I would tell the public that it is like I was watching a high school drama class impromptu performance using as many ABBA hits as they could.  Trust me, I am very easy to please as far as entertainment goes, but I was just not wowed by the musical like I thought I would be.  I am told that many people absolutely adored the musical, so I am happy that it is doing very well.  I just was not as impressed.

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