Arrivederci Italia

The Villa Ambrosia has turned out to be such a pleasant find in the Tuscan hills just south of Florence that we have decided to stay here through Monday night. The places in Tuscany that we want to explore are all easily reached from here. Today, Sunday, we were again reminded of how beautiful the hills of the Chianti region of Italy are. We have been blessed on this trip with incredible weather and today we think Gerry and Cathy also realized the magic of traveling in this region. We are located just a few miles from our first stop, the American Cemetery of Florence. Compared to Arlington or Normandy this is a small cemetery but a beautiful one. There is a Memorial at the back of the cemetery, behind all of the markers as you enter, that lists hundreds of names of American GI’s who died during the assault from Sicily through Italy who’s graves are unknown. We also saw many markers that indicated a died soldier whose name was unknown. The Memorial also had a narrative that discussed the fierce battles that occurred in the liberation of Italy from the Germans. It was very moving indeed.

We left the cemetery and drove through the hills to the town of Tavernalle Val Pesa. The Osteria al Gramala is located in Tavernalle. This is the restaurant where we took a cooking class eight years ago when we spent 6 weeks in Tuscany. Good fortune was with us as the restaurant was open. We re-introduced ourselves to Cecelia and Massimo and enjoyed a lovely lunch of pasta and wine. We are not sure if Cecelia and Massimo remembered us but they were gracious enough to act like it. After lunch we drove on to Certaldo where our apartment was located. Among other things we wanted Gerry and Cathy to see the wine coop in Certaldo where we bought our wine in 5 liter boxes. The wine coop is where farmers who do not grow enough grapes to bottle their own wine sell their grapes and the coop produces a wonderful table wine. When we first went in the coop we were shocked to see gasoline style pumps and watched as people brought in very large plastic containers that were filled with wine from these pumps. We tried a box of the wine and loved it. Unfortunately, because it is Sunday, the coop was not open. We also had great difficulty in driving by our apartment because all of the traffic patterns have been changed. The apartment was located just a couple of blocks from the train station and all the streets in the area have been closed to through vehicular traffic with pedestrian tunnels now in place that go under the tracks. We left Certaldo and drove to San Gigimnano. This is a beauty full town that sits atop a hill with these wonderful towers that rise high above the town. We were able to see these towers from miles away. Because of these towers San Gigimnano is sometimes called the Manhattan of Tuscany. We thoroughly enjoyed strolling through the town, looking in the shops and occasionally buying a souvenir. After all of this walking about we were tired so we returned to Villa Ambrosia for naps before going out for dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant next to our hotel and was a delight. We arrived at 8:00 and were the only people in the restaurant. After we were seated, the chef came out and greeted us and spent much time going over the menu with us. After ordering, the waiter brought out a book that our chef had just had published that contained many recipes as well as some historical perspective. At least we think it was historical perspective as it was in Italian and the waiter said that was what was in the book. The chef came back later to ask about our first course and Tim asked him several questions about both recipes and the risotto that Tim had just eaten. It was all very fun and enlightening.

Monday turned out to be a very special day. It began rather benignly with a drive to Montalchino, a hill town south of Siena. Montalchino is famous for its Brunello wine. The average person thinks of chianti immediately when thinking of Tuscan wines, but connoisseurs know that Brunello’s are excellent, robust red wines that can be considerably more expensive then chianti. Other then an old fort that Gerry enjoyed, there was not much to see other then wine shops so we drove on to Pienza which is pretty much due east of Montalchino. Lynda and Tim had been to Pienza before and remembered it as a nice little town but something about it today made it exceptional. There is a cathedral in Pienza celebrating its 550 anniversary which really isn’t all that old in terms of Italian history and it is not really a cathedral like Notre Dame or St. Peter’s. However, about a block away was a small church that was beautiful in its simplicity. The crucifix hanging over the alter was very contemporary and striking as was the pulpit next to the alter. We also enjoyed going into several neat little shops just before they all closed for lunch. We also happened upon a wonderful little piazza and then walk to the rampart behind the cathedral where we were met with a spectacular panoramic view of the southern Tuscan hills. On leaving Pienza we continued to enjoy spectacular scenery. We are sure Joni and Bill will to attest to this as they spent their honeymoon here several years ago. Our last stop of the day was in Greve, another of the picturesque villages in Tuscany. We particularly wanted Gerry and Cathy to see the butcher shop here that has been open since 1729. Along with the usual assortment of meats, this shop specializes in chingaili, wild boar. There also were multiple hams hanging from the ceiling throughout the shop. Cathy enjoyed it, We are not sure about Gerry. From Greve we returned to our hotel to prepare for going out for dinner. Think naps. We had planned on returning to the restaurant next to the hotel that we enjoyed so much last night but it was closed. The hotel, however, suggested a trattoria just down the hill that turned out to be a good choice. It was more of a local trattoria, no frills, but good food and wine.

Tuesday began in the tiny village of Monsanto, just outside Poggibonsi, about half way between Florence and Siena. There is an exceptional winery in Monsanto that we had visited back in 2004. Back then we saw wines in the underground cellars that were 40 years old. We also had the opportunity to taste their wonderful wine. Unfortunately, today they were unable to give us a tour so we spent a few minutes looking around the grounds and then drove on to Siena. The main square in Siena, Il Campo, is actually sort of shell shaped and is huge. It is famous because twice a year a horse race called “Il Pallio” is held in Il Campo. There are approximately 16 different political sections to Siena and each enters a horse in the race. The horses race around the outer ring of the piazza and the crowd stands in the middle. There is much pageantry surrounding this event. We planned on visiting the Duomo,the main cathedral in Siena, but there was a charge to get in so we didn’t. The Duomo in Siena is similar to the one in Florence in that it is strikingly beautiful on the outside but rather dark and dreary on the inside. For lunch we had planned to return to a little restaurant we had discovered previously but when we got there it was closed, maybe permanently. Fortunately, just a block or two away we found another place that had, all together now, excellent food and wine! After our fine lunch we finished some last minute souvenir shopping and had one last gelato before heading to Fuimicino where we are staying tonight before flying home tomorrow.

Sadly this is the end of our trip. It has been wonderful. While most places were sites that Tim and Lynda had seen before, we enjoyed watching Gerry and Cathy experience them for the first time. All indications are that the Browns have had a fabulous first trip to Europe. They have had a hard time deciding which place was there favorite of all the places we visited. And the good news is that Gerry and Lynda are still speaking to each other! We hope you have enjoyed following along on another of our trips and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Arrivederci.

Rome, Venice, Florence - Benne

Tuesday night in Rome we took a bus to Trastavere, a neighborhood that use to be a Jewish area, was also a working man neighborhood, and now features many wonderful shops and restaurants. It was another of the string of beautiful nights we have had on the trip and the trattoria we dined at was also excellent. After dinner we took the bus back towards Piazza Navona. The Piazza Navona holds special significance for us because on our first trip to Rome when we stayed in a hostel run by Dutch nuns just off of the Piazza and the Piazza was the focal point of our first trip. It was a relatively quiet night in the Piazza but we still enjoyed the memories of previous trips.

On Wednesday morning, Lynda slept in so Tim accompanied Gerry and Cathy to the Coliseum and The Roman Forum. Each time we go to the Coliseum it is a marvel both architecturally and construction-wise. Unfortunately, it is a testament to what can be built if you have enough slaves. Tim did learn something new. He was always under the impression that the Coliseum is round when, in fact, it is oval shaped. In terms of history, the Roman Forum is without a doubt of considerable significance. However, seeing the ruins of it is less then moving. The rest of the day was spent either doing laundry (Cathy and Gerry) or lounging in our hotel room. Wednesday evening we were able to get to the Pantheon shortly before it closed for the day. Of all of the tourist sites in Rome, the Pantheon seems to fly under the radar. It should not. Gerry and Cathy were suitably impressed with the building, just as we are every time we see it. The tomb of Victor Emmanuelle, the first King of Italy is located in the Pantheon. From the Pantheon it was a short walk to Trevi Fountain. We, of course, took the required pictures of Gerry and Cathy throwing coins over their shoulders into the fountain. By doing this it assured them of returning to Rome. Don’t laugh. It worked for Lynda and Tim! Just a few steps from Trevi Fountain is L’Achetto Restaurant. We discovered this restaurant a couple of years ago on our trip here with Madison. The spaghetti was every bit as good as we remembered (and we sat at “our” table, Madi). As we prepared to leave Rome the four of us discovered that we were all a bit ambivalent in our feelings about the Eternal City. On one hand Rome is a wonderful place for a leisurely evening stroll; the food and wine are exceptional; and at least one of us becomes rapturous when discussing Gelato. On the other hand, Rome is a dirty city, and the people are very aggressive and pushy when in line for buses, tickets, etc. We all agreed that we enjoyed London and Paris more. But still, there is the Gelato!

Thursday morning we took a taxi to the airport where we rented a car. Tim went through quite an ordeal in attempting to rent the already confirmed car. It is too long a tale of woe to publish here but be sure to ask him about it when you see him. Once the car was procured we were on the road, the first stop being Assisi, of St. Francis fame. Assisi has a rather commanding location on the side of a hill. One can see the town from a great distance away. When we were last here it had been right after a devastating earthquake which did considerable damage to both the church and the village. Today there was little sign of damage and we were able to visit both the upper and lower basilicas, which we had been unable to do previously. The only problem with visiting Assisi is that, because of its location on the side of a hill, everything is either up hill or down hill which makes for tough walking. A stop for wine certainly made the climb easier. The drive from the airport to Assisi was about two hours and it was another four hour drive to Venice. We arrived in Venice about 8:00, parked the car in a car park just on the island, took a vaparetto, water bus, to the Rialto bridge and had about a 5 minute walk to our hotel. Nothing to it. Our rooms in Venice are downright sumptuous compared to all of our previous lodgings and the hotel was able to recommend a very good restaurant just a block and a half from the hotel. After the long drive we were all ready for the delicious wine that we had. The meal was also excellent: ravioli stuffed with smoked ricotta in a butter sauce, veal scaloppini, insalada misto, and sea bass.

Friday morning we walked to San Marco Square, fascinated by all the wonderful shops along the way. San Marco square is where the church of San Marco is located as well as the Doge Palace. Doges were the political leaders of Venice for over 800 years and the Doge Palace is where they lived as well as the seat of government for Venice. In its prime Venice was one of the most important cities in all of Europe which, in turn, made the Doge a very important political figure. From San Marco square, we took the vaparetto to Murano which is another of a group of small islands that makes up Venice. Murano is famous for its glass furnaces. We found the glass gallery where we have bought two pieces of murano glass on previous trips. We were again impressed with the quality of work done by the glass artist, Simone Celenese. We especially looked longingly at a spectacular chandelier that would look perfect over our dinning table. With great difficulty we decided not to buy it. We were also taken by our salesperson back to the furnace to watch the artisans working on the glass. Gerry and Cathy were very intrigued with this. After lunch (and wine) we took the boat to Burano, another of the islands. This island specializes in making lace. Cathy was particularly interested in this and bought several pieces as gifts for relatives. Tim and Gerry were not so impressed. In the evening we went to a restaurant that Lynda and Tim discovered on their first trip to Venice and have returned to on each subsequent trip. It may have been the best meal of the trip to this point. Lynda had an excellent Spaghetti Carbonara, Cathy and Tim had porcini stuffed ravioli in a truffle oil sauce, Gerry had a T-Bone steak, and Tim had slices of beef in a Balsamic Vinegar reduction. The highlight of dessert was Tim’s chocolate covered cream puffs. Cathy had an excellent Tiramisu but after one taste of Tim’s cream puffs was extremely jealous and may have even pouted a bit. We enjoyed a lovely stroll back to our hotel.

With a tear in Tim’s eye (Venice is his favorite city in the whole world), Saturday morning we left Venice and drove to Florence. We went directly to our hotel south of Florence as the website from which we booked the hotel had comments about how difficult a location it was to find and we did not want to try and find it after dark. This was in fact true but the hotel turned out to be very nice. Unfortunately, it was very quickly back in the car to drive into Florence. There have been many instances, we are sure, where Cathy and Gerry were convinced that we were crazy and the drive into Florence may have been one of them. We successfully found a parking garage next to the train station and set off on foot for the Duomo, the cathedral in Florence. We did not go inside as there was a long line but that was not a problem as the Duomo is one of the few cathedrals in Europe we have visited that is more spectacular on the outside than on the inside. The highlight of the day was visiting the Accademia Gallery where Michelangelo’s statue of David is located. A 16th century artist described David as “the most perfect sculpture of a man ever done”. We could not agree more. We sat for sometime mesmerized by the beauty and magnificence of this incredible work of art. There are many other statues in the gallery but they all pale by comparison. When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from David we walked to the central market. Upon arrival at the market we discovered to our dismay that the food and vegetable portion of the market was already closed. We managed to get over our dismay with a limoncello, an Italian liquor that tastes like real strong lemonade but will knock you on your bottom if you drink it too fast. Also around the Central Market is the leather market. There are hundreds of stalls with leather goods where the merchant has you try something on and then takes you back to his main shop where there are more goods on display. We were able to refrain from major purchases, think leather coats, but did buy some small items, Tim a new wallet and Lynda a wool cape. We went back to the Duomo where we did go inside the Baptistery located next to the church. This beautiful building has a dome that on the inside is covered in gold mosaics depicting many of the stories from the Bible. Again, we sat for some time taking in the beauty of the structure. We continued are walk about Florence by going to the Pont Vecchio. The Pont Vecchio is a bridge over the Arno River where for years all of the goldsmiths of Florence had their shops. This bridge still contains numerous gold and jewelry stores. You may also be interested in knowing that the Pont Vecchio was the only bridge across the Arno that the Nazi’s did not destroy during WW II. After all of this walking we were tired and hungry. We returned to the car and drove to Bagno a Ripoli, a little town just outside of Florence where there is another of our favorite restaurants. We won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say the food and wine was excellent.

We have decided to stay a second night here in Florence, actually Impurnata, in the Villa Ambrosia. Sunday we will drive around Tuscany.

Buon Giorgno.

Buon Giorgno from Rome

When last we talked we were getting ready to go out for the evening. Saturday night was a lovely night in Paris and the cruise on the Seine River was delightful. On the hour each night there are special lights on the Eiffel Tower that turn on for five minutes giving the tower a very sparkly effect. Our cruise was long enough that we saw this twice. It was all very exciting and romantic. After the cruise we walked down the Champs Elysees and ended up at Pizza Pino for dinner. Pizza Pino is a bit nostalgic for our family. On our first trip to Europe in 1984 with Tim’s parents we had several meals at Pizza Pino. Jil and Jeff were particularly surprised when we ordered a pizza and found an egg in the middle under the cheese.

We ran into a bit of a problem on Sunday morning. In Britain they have a wonderful expression for this. They call it a “cock up”. As you read on some of you will undoubtedly enjoy the double entendre of this expression. When we booked our trip we were told we would be staying at the Tim Hotel (really!) in Paris on the Boulevard De Clichy just off of Place Pigalle. The Moulin Rouge is located on Bd.de Clichy. When we received our documents we were booked into the Opera St. Georges, located a couple of blocks from Place Pigalle. On checking in on Friday we discovered that the Crandall’s were indeed booked in the Opera St. Georges but the Browns were still booked in the Tim Hotel. We expressed considerable dismay at this situation. After several phone calls by the gentleman at the desk to the desk at the Tim Hotel he informed us that we were both now booked into the Opera St. Georges. On Sunday morning, Tim was going for a walk and upon turning in his room key was told that there was no room for the Browns that night and that there was a room booked for them at the Tim Hotel. After much discussion with Gerry, Cathy and the hotel desk clerk, it was arranged that the Crandall’s would move to the Tim Hotel. When we arrived at the Tim Hotel we found it located between two sex shops!

Once the hotel situation had been sorted out we all went to the Eiffel Tower. We spent two hours taking the elevator to the different levels of the tower, including the very summit of the tower. The weather was a bit hazy but the views were still spectacular. At the very top Tim made the comment that it felt like we were in a real life Google Earth looking down on Paris. It was really hard to tear ourselves away. From the Eiffel tower we took a taxi to the George Pompidou Center. This is a very large modern art gallery with a rather controversial architectural design. It looks like the plumbing is on the outside of the building and all the duct work is painted in bold, vivid colors. We did not go into the gallery. We don’t particularly like the art on display. But we did think Gerry and Cathy should see the building and the area around the Pompidou is a lot of fun with also sorts of interesting restaurants and great people watching. We found a good location and had a crepe and a glass of wine. After this brief respite we walked to the Rue de Rivoli to catch a bus back to our hotels. Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted by a very large demonstration. We stood for over fifteen minutes watching literally thousands of motorcycles drive by us. The noise was deafening. Someone at our bus stop told us they were protesting the arrest of some terrorist in Toulouse. We eventually returned to our hotels by subway - the Metro.

Sunday evening we went back up to Montmartre to see Sacre Couer and the view over Paris after dark. We ate dinner at a restaurant that served raclette. Raclette is a machine that has a heating element. There are spikes where a quarter of a round of raclette cheese is attached. As the cheese melts the diner uses a knife to scrap the cheese off of the round and then put it on various items such as boiled potatoes, different kinds of salami and ham and bread. While Lynda and Cathy enjoyed the raclette Tim and Gerry had another specialty of this restaurant where a very hot stone is brought to the table and the diner cooks their own meal. Tim had beef and Gerry had prawns. Both thoroughly enjoyed their meal. After dinner we viewed the lights and then found a bar for a drink. Over wine and pastis we luxuriated in the atmosphere of Montmartre. There were many street artists about who wanted to do a quick charcoal portrait of each of us. We declined each offer, but one of the artists kept returning to our table and telling us off color jokes and generally making interesting conversation about life in Paris. We enjoyed him so much we eventually bought him a glass of wine. We are sure he enjoyed the wine more than doing our portrait.

Monday morning Tim went to the Louvre with Gerry and Cathy while Lynda did some laundry. We wanted to see the Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, by the time we got there the lines were so long we decided not to go in. Cathy found a bench under a tree where she enjoyed a final view of the Eiffel Tower while Tim and Gerry explored the outside of the glass pyramid that I.M. Pei designed for the new entrance area to the museum. After a final lunch at a typical French restaurant we boarded a train for the airport and caught our flights to Rome (via Munich).

Upon arriving in Rome we took a cab from the airport that took us directly to our hotel. The hotel turns out to be the nicest we have stayed in so far. We arrived at the hotel shortly after 10:00 p.m. We were able to find a local pizzeria still open and had our first truly Italian pizza. Nice way to end the day.

Today, Tuesday, we bought tickets for what is called a “hop off, hop on” bus. It goes between the major tourist attractions and allows you to get off when you want and get back on when you want. Hence, the name! We spent over four hours at the Vatican. We started at St. Peter’s Basilica. As you can imagine, Gerry and Cathy were astounded at seeing it for the first time. Tim and Lynda assured them that seeing it for the fifth time is still an incredible experience. While we were in line to enter the cathedral we had a delightful conversation with a priest from Lacrosse, Wisconsin. We learned from him that there is a purple circle of marble in the floor when you first enter the church. It was on this circle that Charlemagne was crowned King of the Roman Empire. For many years no one was allowed to walk on this circle unless you were royal or a pope. When the present day St. Peter’s was built in the 1600’s it was decided that this did not really go along with the church’s teaching so now everyone can stand on the spot where
Charlemagne was crowned. We also visited the crypt of St. Peter’s where all of the popes tombs are located. On our last visit to the Vatican there was a large gathering of people around the tomb of Pope John Paul II in the crypt. Since then, probably as part of, or because of, his beatification, his tomb has been moved into the church proper. After lunch we went to the Vatican Museum specifically to see the Sistine Chapel. On our last visit to the Vatican Museum it had taken well over an hour to walk through room after room of relics from the history of the catholic church before finally getting to the chapel. There are now shortcuts that visitors can take to avoid all of these relics although there are routes you can follow if you are truly interested in them. We were once again in awe of the magnificence of the Sistine Chapel. None of us could remember exactly how long it took Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel nor could we begin to comprehend taking on a project of that magnitude. After leaving the Vatican we were all exhausted and have returned to our hotel where some of us are happily napping while one of us works on this blog! Tonight we are venturing off to the Trastavere section of Rome. This is an area of Rome we discovered in 2004 when Jeff was with us and we enjoyed exploring it again on our last visit here with Madison in 2010. We’ll let you know if the dinner at one of outside cafes is as good as we remember,

Bona Sera.

Bonjour from Paris

On Thursday, our last day in London, we started the day at Buckingham Palace. The plan was to watch the Changing of the Guard. Unfortunately, the schedule we looked at on line did not coincide with the Palace’s schedule. There was some excitement, however. While we were standing around bemoaning the fact that we wouldn’t see the guard change, an ambulance helicopter landed in a grassy section in front of the palace. Several paramedics (helimedics?) got out, jumped in a police car and sped around towards the rear of the palace. We saw no news of this later so we are assuming the royal family remains healthy. So it was onto plan B, which was going to the British Library. We had been there before but it was still exciting to see original scores by famous composers and pieces of paper with the lyrics to famous Beatles songs written on them by Paul or John. Original magna carta documents were also on display. Tim cannot remember seeing those before. Gerry, Cathy and Lynda spent a bit more time inside the Library than did Tim. From the British Library we went on to the church where John Wesley original preached and where his tomb is located. Gerry and Cathy also found this interesting. After a bit of a break back at the hotel we went to the VIP reception at the art gallery where we bought the painting that hangs in our bathroom. We were warmly greeted by flutes of champagne and the young woman who sold us our painting. The reception was for an artist who was just opening an exhibition at the gallery. The artist was there and demonstrated an interesting technique he uses where he puts a piece of glass on an easel, looks into a mirror behind the glass and paints on the glass. He is basically painting backwards. The glass is then put in a frame. We’re not sure this is very good description, but the paintings were very interesting but not really our style. We finished the evening at a pub!

Friday morning we took the Eurostar from London to Paris. The train made one brief stop outside of London before whisking us off to Paris. There was no grand announcement that we were entering the Chunnel, the tunnel the train passes through under the English Channel. It pretty much felt like we were going through a very long tunnel. The trip from London to Paris took about 2 hours and a half, was very smooth and, unfortunately, because of the speed, made it quite difficult to watch the countryside. But it sure beat the heck out of going by plane. After checking into our hotel, conveniently located near the Pigalle section of Paris (Ugh), we had a quick lunch and headed up to the Sacre Couer, a beautiful 135 year old cathedral majestically located on a hill in Montmartre with a commanding and breathtaking view of Paris. It was a sunny day so the view was spectacular. We wondered a bit more around Montmartre, stopping along the way for a glass of wine. After a bit of rest back at the hotel, we took Gerry and Cathy to one of our favorite restaurants in Paris located on the Left Bank. We once again had a lovely meal at La Boussole after which we stopped at a bar and introduced Cathy and Gerry to Pastis, a licorice flavored liquor that is sipped very slowly with water. They both seemed very pleased to meet Pastis.

Our first stop today (Saturday) was at the Arc d’ Triomphe. Unfortunately, because of some unnamed problem the elevator to the top of the Arc was not open today. From the Arc d’ Triomphe we went to the Musee d’Orsay. The Musee d’Orsay was originally a train station that has been re-opened as an Art Gallery. The building is every bit as impressive as the art located in it. We all particularly enjoyed the impressionists: Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, et. al. We left Musee d’Orsay and found a cozy little bar just across the river from Notre Dame. Gerry and Cathy each had their first Croque Monseur sandwich, a ham sandwich with cheese on top that is put under the broiler. Sort of a grilled cheese sandwich only with ham, and not grilled, and served with a wonderful French wine, and a side of frites (French fries which are nothing like the American imitation.) While we walked about Notre Dame there was a chamber choir, maybe 12 voices, rehearsing for a concert this evening. The choir certainly made the walk about Notre Dame that much more enjoyable. The last stop of the afternoon was a Gare de Lyon, a train station in the eastern part of Paris. A friend of Gerry’s told him about a restaurant, Le Train Bleu, located in the Gare de Lyon which the friend thought was the best restaurant he ate in. Tim looked it up on the internet and found that it is, in fact, quite famous in Paris, but also quite expensive, so we opted to go there for just a drink. The restaurant décor was stunning. You would not have known that you were in a train station, Most every one is resting now in preparation for an evening boat ride on the Seine. It has been another beautiful day in Paris so the cruise on the river should be great fun.

Greetings from London

March 21, 2012
Greetings from London
Both the Crandalls and the Browns arrived in London after smooth and uneventful flights from Michigan and Florida. We arrived a couple of hours ahead of Cathy and Gerry so we arranged for their travel tickets for London public transportation (Oyster Cards) and had a coffee while awaiting their arrival. We all took the Tube into London and went directly to our hotel which is located just around the corner from the Earl’s Court Underground Station. We took 30 minutes to settle into our rooms and then headed off, the first stop being Westminster Abbey. On arriving at Westminster Abbey we discovered there was to be an Evensong service at 5:00. As it cost 16 pounds each to get into the Abbey during the day but was free for the service, we decided to go to the service. Westminster Abbey is directly across the street from the Houses of Parliament so we went there next. Lady Luck was smiling on us and we were able to get into the visitor’s gallery at the House of Commons without waiting. The Deputy Prime Minister was answering questions while we were there so the Members of Parliament were in their full glory jeering at the opposition as they offered opinions on the question at hand. We had witnessed this on a previous visit but it was all new to Cathy and Gerry. They were amazed and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We were also able to spend some time in the Stranger’s Gallery in the House of Lords. The Lords are a more sedate and dignified group but it was still fascinating listening to a discussion on the high amount of food waste in the restaurant and catering industry and what to do about all of this waste. Upon leaving the Houses of Parliament we took Cathy and Gerry to their first pub. Gerry obviously enjoyed the pub because he wanted to stay for a second pint rather than go back to Westminster Abbey for Evensong. He was outvoted 3 to 1. The Choristers of the Abbey, the boys’ choir from the school affiliated with the Abbey, sung at the service. The purity of the voices of these young boys was breathtaking. After the service we all went to a pub we have visited before for an excellent dinner of fish and chips and mushy peas (Madison – this is the pub near our hotel when you were with us). Following dinner we took the bus back to our hotel, by the great circular route so that we could see some of London after dark, and called it a night. All four of us were exhausted.
Today, Tuesday, started with a trip to The Tower of London. The Tower was built during the 12th century and was originally the castle for the King or Queen of England. It was more infamously known as a prison and today its claim to fame is the repository of the Crown Jewels and Yeomen Warders, better known as Beefeaters, who conduct the tours of the Tower. Tim joined Gerry and Cathy in the Tower while Lynda sat in the brilliant sunshine at a nearby park and read. The Beefeater who conducted our tour was very entertaining and the Crown Jewels were a marvel. Lynda then joined us for a tour of the Tower Bridge located next to the Tower of London. The Tower Bridge was the first draw bridge built across the River Thames. It was built in 1891 and allowed larger ships to navigate farther up the Thames. Part of the tour took us into the engine rooms. The engineering of this bridge was quite amazing. From here we took a train out to the Docklands where we enjoyed a light lunch outside and then got back on the train and went up to the site of this summer’s Olympic Games. It was fun for us to see how much has been done since we visited last May. Unfortunately, there appears to be much work left to do. We took the tube back to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were only able to peek inside just a little as there is also a high admission charge for St. Paul’s outside of service times. Gerry and Tim also walked part way across the Millennium Bridge. Cathy was having trouble with uncomfortable shoes that were making walking increasingly more difficult so the next order of business was to find her new shoes. This quest ended at Harrods. Darn! New shoes were successfully found and then we took the obligatory tour of the food halls. We know we have said this before, but the food halls at Harrods are quite astounding.
Today is Cathy and Gerry’s 30th wedding anniversary. We found a nice pub in which to celebrate. The pub was located in Covent Garden. It was a beautiful evening in London so after dinner we took a leisurely walk from Covent Garden through Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus before taking the tube back to our hotel.
It has been fun for us to watch Cathy and Gerry experience London for the first time. They are both enjoying the experience although Gerry does occasionally sound like his father, questioning why the British do some things so strangely. Tomorrow’s schedule includes the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and a VIP reception at an Art Gallery in Notting Hill that we visited last May. We are leaving the afternoon open in case we bump into the Queen at the Changing of the Guard and she invites us into the Palace for lunch!
Cheers until next time.