June 6, 2014 London, England

Thom invited us to meet him this morning at the Burrough’s market near London Bridge, a short subway ride from our hotel. This enormous market is open only three days a week and features anything and everything you may want to eat. You’ll find gorgeous meats, fish shops, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, flowers and more. You can find things to take home and prepare yourself or you can stop for a huge variety of ready to eat stands selling meat pies, sausages, hot dogs, sandwiches and salads. This market has been on this site for over one thousand years and still going strong.

We explored the neighborhood a bit including a walk along the River Thames where we saw London Bridge and Tower Bridge. We enjoyed George’s Inn, which dates back to 1542 and was frequented by Shakespeare and Dickens. The city of London is filled with grand old architecture mixed with new high-rise towers and everything in between. There are public parks throughout the city filled with art, sculpture and monuments of historical people and events. With more than eight million residents the city is a bustling, noisy place but at the same time you are able to find out of the way quiet spots to enjoy as well.

In the late afternoon we met our Friends Paul and David who live near Blenheim Palace in Woodstock for afternoon tea. They had driven into the city just to see us, staying over night before returning home the next day. We had a delightful afternoon and evening catching up with them. We had not seen them since 2010 when we had the opportunity to visit them in their home but we picked up where we had left off just like it was yesterday.

June 5, 2014 London, England

On this day we took in a matinee play called Handbagged, a play about the relationship of Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The play was based on true historical events with a great deal of humor. The play has only a cast of six; a younger and older Queen, a younger and older Margaret Thatcher and two gentlemen who played a variety of characters including Nancy and Ronald Reagan.

After the theater we met up with Thom and Tabor for a drink at a local pub, The Duke of Wellington, in the West End, not far from the theater.

Dinner was shared with our friend, John Gowan, from San Diego who lives in our building and was visiting London as well. We met at a restaurant called The Henry Root that is in the beautiful neighborhood of Chelsea. Chelsea is an affluent neighborhood filled with lovely restaurants, shops and homes. You can find chain shops here like Tiffany and Cartier as well as unique one-of-a kind shops.

June 4, 2014 London, England

This morning we were greeted at out hotel by a friend Thom who we had met on the Queen Mary cruising from New York, around the British Isles and back to New York in September 2011. Thom and his partner, Tabor, currently live in London although they are Canadians. They have lived in London several times over the past thirty years and so they know the city well. Tabor has a Canadian government position
in London.

Thom had graciously asked if we would be interested in having him show us around London, which we were happy to have him do. Our first stop was outside Buckingham Palace where Queen Elizabeth was making one of her rare public appearances of the year. In grand fashion, complete with a parade including regimen of horses, gilded carriages and Rolls Royce’s, she made her way from the palace to the House of Parliament where the Queen would open Parliament. Although the weather was cool and drizzly, thousands lined the streets to get a glimpse of the Queen in her recently acquired gilded horse drawn carriage in honor of her Diamond Jubilee.

Next we toured the Banqueting House near the Prime Ministers residence that has been the setting for many formal government dinners, parties and ceremonies. The grand hall’s ceiling is comprised of nine oil paintings done by the artist Reubens.

We walked the West End and Covent Garden enjoying the beautiful architecture and great shops. We stopped into the Savoy Hotel for a look at how the rich and famous might enjoy London. Tea at the Savoy will set you back about fifty British Pounds and reservations well in advance are required.

Late afternoon found us picking Tabor up at the Canadian High Commissioners office where he works before heading to Thom and Tabor’s flat for a lovely home cooked meal.

June 2-3, 2014 Depart San Diego

We departed San Diego at 8:30pm on British Airways bound for London, England. The flight takes approximately ten hours, arriving in London at about 2:45pm the following day. Once we had cleared immigration control and collected our bags we made our way from Heathrow Airport to Victoria Station in downtown London on the Underground. We had to change trains once to reach our destination but the two trains were on the same platform so it was fairly easy.

Our hotel for the next four nights was a Best Western Hotel located a few blocks from Victoria Station. We set out on foot with a map and suitcases in tow, dodging traffic and many pedestrians on the small narrow sidewalks. Our room was small as is common in Europe, but not as small as some rooms we have had. The bathroom was so small that it was not possible to sit on the toilet without your knees hitting the wall in front of the toilet.

After settling into our hotel, we headed to a pub near Victoria Station for a dinner of fish and chips and sausages before going to bed early.