Somehow managed to sleep really well. Woke up at 6 or so and didn't see any reason to get up so I slept another hour.
Our rooms have tiny fridges that are a little cooler than lukewarm but for anything else there's a communal kitchenette on our floor/wing. (There are five rooms but we're the only ones here.) The kitchenette has a toaster, an electric teapot, a microwave and a sink. (It has a stove/oven but we don't care.) There are also a few teabags and units of milk and a tv. (We're watching the England/Portugal game as I write.)
So I got up, had some tea, watched some tv. Then I started to get hungry. The only lead I had on a grocery was a reference on a neighborhood map in Rick Steves book. I tore out the map, tried to locate the neighborhood on another map and ventured off. I went back across the Jubilee bridge and entered an Underground station. I tried for awhile to figure out the tube but it mystifies me - costs too much for a grocery run anyway. Trouble is everytime I come out of the tube station, I'm lost.
 | I wandered around figuring I'd get to a street shown on the map eventually. I passed a building with one of those funny guys with the red coat and furry hat - and an uzi on a stick with a vicious knife on the end. I figured that must be Buckingham Palace so I re-oriented myself and headed off anew. I came to a park which led to another big building which was... Buckingham Palace. |
Buckingham road was on the map and I followed it to Victoria where Rick had clearly placed the store. Of course none of the roads on the map matched up to reality and I walked in circles for awhile until I finally happened onto the store - right where Rick said it would be.
I found greek yogurt and regular yogurt and good meusli and fresh fruit and enough stuff for two good breakfasts and snacks besides. Seems like I would have been able to follow my tracks back but no. I headed off in several wrong directions until I finally wound up on a road that I was able to follow back to Buckingham Palace and I had no trouble getting back from there.
Barbara was up and ready to eat and we had a fine breakfast. I ate a bit more than she did since I'd already walked 6 miles.
 | It was so hot yesterday and was supposed to be even hotter today (close to 90F with lots of humidity) so I decided to wear shorts and sandals even though it didn't seem right. Everyone I met near our dorms were local worker types and wore bluejeans and tshirts. A few miles into my quest I noticed several other males in shorts - all middle-aged american dorks (do-wahks). |
Barbara got dressed and we left on another quest. I thought we should follow the only walk listed in Rick's book - across the Winchester bridge to big ben, past parliament and up to Trafalgar square where we'd tour the National Gallery. Finally we'd get on one of the hop-on hop-off buses and see things without getting lost.
We started along the Thames. The walkways were filled with tourists and people trying to squeeze a few pounds out of them. Many people were dressed up and painted like kings, pirates and so forth. There were jugglers and the people blowing big bubbles always draw a crowd. Easily amused. Similarly, the London Eye already had hundreds of people in each of its two lines (one for tickets, one to board). I tentatively scratched that off my list.
It was almost noon when we neared Big Ben so I readied my camera in movie mode to record the famous Big Ben tune. It bonged 12 times but no tune. Maybe I should do a little homework. We entered the queue to follow Rick's walk. I don't know whether they all had the book but they were all on the same route. Other than statues of Churchill and Lincoln, I don't know what we were looking at.
The crowd dispersed at Trafalgar Square but they were getting ready for something bigger. Booths were set up, quakers were handing out leaflets, no other clues as to what was going to happen. When we came by later there were people carrying pink Union Jacks and men dressed in nothing but rainbow colored speedo-style underwear and large hats. Probably explains something. Certainly dispels my apprehension about wearing shorts.
We went into the National Gallery. Barbara likes to look at every picture and read all about it. I like to look long and hard at the ones I like and skip the rest. Struggling to read the descriptions is saved for the very best. I had Rick Steve's cheat sheet of his favorites and made sure to see those. They included Van Gogh's Sunflowers. I'm so used to Jake's picture inspired by Van Gogh's that I was surprised that it was so monochromatic gold. Two Renoirs of women playing the tamborine and castanets captured me the most. Another of a boat on the river was nearly as appealing. Renoir knocks me out. A Picasso of a little girl holding a dove also held my interest. So did the Da Vincis, Michaelangelos, Monets, Rembrant's self-portrait. There were also a whole lot of pictures of baby Jesus.
We spent sixteen minutes in the National Portrait Gallery. Barbara wanted to be more intimate with the subjects of Shakespeare's history plays. But the gallery started with the last of those kings so we were able to move quickly. Rick Steves said that the Portrait Gallery was like looking at someone else's high school yearbook. I agree.
We wanted to watch the England-Portugal game in a pub with the locals like we did in Oxford. Fat chance. One place that advertised six tv's had people ten deep outside the window. Another just had a bouncer yelling "We're Full, we're full." Another had a sign demanding a £5 cover. That's when we decided to go watch in our kitchen. On the way we stopped for a wine. I was perusing the menu and chose a greek salad. Then I discovered Ice Tea. A pitcher of Ice Tea! They even agreed to make it without sugar although they thought we were disgusting for asking.
So now it's much later and we're watching Brazil/France (0-1). England lost in tiebreaking penalty kicks. (The games last 90 minutes unless they're tied (always nil-nil that I've seen) when they add another 3 minutes and if they're still tied they add another 30 minutes and if they're still tied they add another 3 minutes and if they're still tied they kick 5 penalty kicks each. I haven't seen it tied after that so I don't know what the next step would be.
We went out to a book store that we'd discovered right after it closed at 22:00 last night. Barbara was hungry so we stopped at a place called Eat. It has a long cooler with sandwiches, salads, yogurt and granola, juice, milk. Everything I walked six miles for this morning is just a few blocks away. Live and learn, hopefully.
The sun was setting behind Big Ben so we walked a mile or two up and down the Thames. The living statues we'd seen earlier were gone (although I almost took a picture of three women in silver burkas who I thought were tin men), but two people had dragged out pianos and a guitar and trumpet were hiding under a bridge torturing old pop tunes. They should have hidden better.
Brazil lost to France without any overtimes (although I misunderstood the 3 minute extensions i described earlier). They followed up the game with a commercial featuring lowlights of England's games - missed goals, frowns and tears. The music in the background? Johnny Cash doing Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt".
