HoodedHawk

Got up and out of room by 8:30. Stopped at Starbucks and then took the tube to the Tower of London.

Walked around the Tower. Since it was before 10 when we got there, we went to see the Crown Jewels first. Good move, as there was absolutely no line.

One of the diamonds in a scepter from ~1650 was about the size of a small hen’s egg! Whoa!!

They have this moving walkway in front of the cases holding the jewelled crowns and scepters, etc. Guess that’s how they keep the crowds flowing. From the looks (and length) of the ropes forming lines to get to the the jewels, thousands of people must line up each day to see them! We hit it at the perfect time; I went back 2x to get better looks.

We then walked around the armory (with all the various suits of armor, etc.). Noted the Norman “toiliet” – was just a slightly slanted tunnel in the side of the wall, and just dumped right out the side of the tower.

Had to get back to the hotel to return the camera, get our bags and get to the airport, so we couldn’t see much more. We did see the Ravens that live at the tower. Myth has it that when the Ravens leave, the empire will collapse.

We took a private car from the Hotel to the airport. The concierge-lady recommended this as both economical and easy. It was; at 35 pounds it is worth it for the convenience – no subway, bus, etc. Don’t take a regular taxi, since they charge by time. The private car (nice Mercedes) was a fixed price for the trip. The driver (black guy originally from Jamaica, but in the UK for >30 yrs) was a riot. He gave us his philosophy on driving, and driver etiquette. I’ll request hime again!

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We made it from the Hotel to Heathrow in ~30 minutes (at 12:30 in the afternoon).

The Air Canada wench at checking made me weigh my carryon (backpack). You are supposedly only allowed 10kg per bag for carryon. This was news to me; they didn’t weigh or restrict it COMING to the UK. Mine was 18 kg, so she made me check it. What a pain in the ass. I took out some stuff, but had to leave some fragile souvenirs, etc. in it.

Had to claim our bags in Ottawa, then go through both Canadian and US customs. We would have missed our connecting flight to Washington DC (Dulles) – we only had an hour layover and arrived late – but the connecting flight was delayed an hour or so. We made the connection, got to Dulles (only an 90 minute flight), got the bags, and took a taxi back to the Lady’s place. Had to work the next day, so I went back to my place. Got to my place about 10pm, which was 3am “my time”. Night Night.

Yesterday at the British information center the Lady had found out about a place called “half price tickets” that sell theater tix at (half) price for that evening’s performance. She really wanted to see some real London/British theater, so she got up and journeyed out to the place. We had wanted to get tickets to see a Shakespeare play in the Globe, but they were totally sold out. We said we’d meet at the Bus Tour stop in Trafalgar square at 11:30. If either of us couldn’t make it, we’d try it again at 12:30, etc. So, I had some time to go find some bookstores.

Around the corner from the Hotel is a little Internet cafe, so I brought my laptop in and was able to check email, etc. via wireless (at 1 pound/hour).

Put the laptop back in the room and headed off to Charing Cross. Bought two Boswell’s at a shop (Rees and O’Neil) in the bookstore alley off Charing’s Cross. Also found a first edition Topper at another shop there (Tindley and Chapman). I got to the bus stop at 11:35 (by my watch). Missed the Lady; I waited around a bit, and then had a pint of Guinness and a chicken sandwich at the “Two Chairmen” pub. The Lady wasn’t at the bus stop at 12:30 or 1:30 either! I was beginning to wonder if we were going to the same bus stop. We finally met up at 2:30. Turns out our watches were off by about 5 minutes in opposite directions. :)

We took the subway to the British Museum. It’s free to get in. Bit of a mis-communication ensued, and we got split up. I got a tour book and did the “Intro to Ancient Civ” tour – Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, and Roman Britain. Some mummies, but it turns out the good mummy exhibit was separate and required tickets. I didn’t have time to see a tenth of the museum in the ~2.5 hours we were there (they shoo you out at 5:30).

The large Egyptian statues were impressive – and some were 4000 years old! Ditto the Assyrian statues (even older, some). The sculptures and friezes from the Greek Parthenon were amazing in their detail. I took lots of pictures! Next time I have to come up with a system to notate such things; there’s going to be no good way for me to know what a given statue is “of”. Maybe I can match them up with a guide book.

Found out later that the Lady had been to the Reading Room. I would have loved to see that. But the museum closes at 5:30. Staff starts herding people through rooms, shutting doors behind as they clear rooms. Eventually everyone gets dumped into the great Hall and entrance area. Efficient way to clear the place out. I DEFINITELY want to go back to this museum!

Stopped by the Museum Tavern after the museum – directly across the street. Had a couple of pints and rested at the bar. When the waitress poured the Guinness, she finished it off by swirling the glass so a little shamrock was outlined in the beer head. :)

The Lady had purchased tickets to “Chicago” earlier in the day (turns out that was all that was available). We took the tube back to Charing Cross Station, since the theatre (Adelphia) was on Strand. We stopped by “Porters Restuarant”. It’s an “authentic English food” place. Delicious dinner! I had an appetizer of Chicken Liver pate with garlic and Guinness. It was homemade, and came in a little crock, with bread on the side. Delicious!! The entre was steak, mushroom, and Guinness pie (with puffed pastry on top). I had it with chips and a Guinness. Again, Delicious!

Turns out that Chicago was just phenomenal! David Hasselhorf (the Babe Watch dude) played the lawyer, but the women were just stunning (and great actresses). The live band was absolutely fantastic. Loved the music (and the band). We had good seats- 6th row on the floor, left side.

We got back to the Hotel about 11:30. Got to sleep a few hours later. :)

Found a camera store down the street from the hotel, so bought a D70 with 28-200 lens and a 1GB card. Now I can still take pix; I’ll take really good care of the camera and then return it before we leave.

Stopped by the British Information center and got info and tix to the London Eye and Tower of London. Had lunch (fish and chips) at Captains Cabin – a nice pub near the Information center.

After lunch, we took the “Original Tour” bus at Trafalgar square; saw a bunch of the city (from the top deck), and got off at the London Eye (a big ferris-wheel type thing that gives you panoramic views of the city).

The London Eye was ok, but went too slowly. The cars you ride in are completely enclosed. The windows are curved, so any pictures you take are distorted and full of reflections. Not worth the time, in my opinion.

We walked back across the Millenium Bridge (over the Thames). Happened upon the Sherlock Holmes Pub (Restaurant) near Trafalgar square and stopped in. I had a snack of “Cheddar Ploughman’s Platter”. YUCK! – it was nasty. The English rendition of cole slaw sucks (at this place anyway). The “platter” was this cole slaw, a stale bun, a slab of cheddar cheese and some sliced gerkins. I just ate the cheese.

We walked around a bit more, and ended up at “Pitcher and Piano”. Met a nice (and gorgeous) Welch waitress (wannabe actress) there. She had lived in Texas for awhile, and had a “boyfriend” from there – who was a Marine being sent to Iraq. Wonderful food. The Lady had smoked salmon with fresh dill cream sauce. She topped it off with a couple of Brazilian drinks – Capricanas? Great bossa-nova and live jazz as well. Cool! We were pretty much the only people in there. The bartender told us how to get to the Charing Cross area (where the bookstores are). We walked around and found the Bookstore Alley off Charing Cross. All the shops were closed (it was past 9pm), but it was nice to find.

After walking around a bit more, and trying to find a subway station entrance that was open, we opted to take a cab from Charing Cross Station to the hotel. Night Night.

The Lady was very tired; I made it to breakfast while she snoozed. A first! I got up before the Lady!

Walked to the Castle from the car park near the B+B. Stopped by “Tower Coffee House” for a coffe and donut. Small incident with a bee in the window, but it was no match for me and the large magazine that hit it. The coffee shop was neat – right inside one of the original Castel Wall towers! Not many places you can have an espresso while looking out a window surrounded by 800 year old stonework! Wonderful view of the bay from the window.

Took a self-tour of Conway Castle. Impressive- built in 1283-87. It wasn’t really crowded, and though it threatened to rain, it held off long enough for us to climb to the top of a few Castle towers and walk around on top of the wall. I bought some Wales souvenirs at the gift shop.

Made our way back to the car, and off to London!

Shortly after starting back to London, stopped at a “Little Chef” (chain restaurant, like Shoney’s). It happened to have wireless Internet access, so I was able to check email and post the first two blog entries of this series. The Lady was able to lookup more specific directions to the Hotel in London. Ain’t technology great? :)

Arrived in London in about 5 hours (it’s about 240 miles from Conwy). Took us another ~45 minutes to find the hotel (Hotel Kensington Gardens; it’s next door to the Best Western Phoenix Hotel, and affiliated with them). London isn’t small. Or easy to get around if you are brand-new and driving!

I had planned to drop off the Lady (and the other bags) and then return the car, but at 10pm I didn’t want to try and find Heathrow (the only National/Alamo car place open on Sunday). So I just parked, we checked in, and then walked down the street to have dinner. Had a nice dinner at Bella Italia on Queensway, around the corner from the hotel. I had “Cassereci Salsiccia Piccante (Spicy Napoli Sausage, roasted peppers, red onion, garlic, and fresh chillies on penne pasta).

BUT, the night did NOT end well. We got up to leave, and my camera bag (which had been hanging on the chair I was sitting in) was GONE. STOLEN! What a bummer. My renter’s insurance will cover it (I hope), but the whole day’s pictures were gone. I had fortunately copied previous days’ pictures to my laptop). I think I had some really nice ones of Conwy and the Castle there.

Scumbags are everywhere. Naturally, *after* I had my bag pinched I started noticing all the signs, seemingly everywhere, saying to “Beware of Pickpockets and Bag Snatchers. You may be being watched as a mark right now” (or something to that effect).

Got up in time (7am) and out the door (8am) to make the ferry to Dublin (the ferry is about an hour’s drive from the B+B). However, the Lady forgot her passport, so by the time we drove back to the B+B, we didn’t have time to make the ferry. At least it wasn’t my fault this time. :)

Back in Conwy, the Lady was able to setup a later ferry crossing (at 3), so we walked around Conwy, Wales. Castle Conwy still includes the castle walls around the city (it’s the most complete remaining “walled city” in the UK, I believe). Impressive. Saw the Smallest House In Great Britain (about the size of a large closet). Someone was living in it from the 1600’s until sometime ~1960?

Lunch was fish and chips at a place in Conwy that Rick Steves recommended in his Great Britain guide. It was ok, but I like more fish and less batter in my Fish and Chips. :)

Drove to the ferry and made it with time to spare. Ferry ride was smooth, taking about 2 hours (we used the Irish Ferry’s “Jonathan Swift” ferry).

Got to Dublin and took a cab to the Guinness Brewery. Couldn’t take a tour of the actual brewery or building (it was almost 6 on a Saturday), but were able to get into the new Guinness Storehouse (museum). A pint of Guinness is included with admission (a self-guided tour). The top floor (9th?) is a pub with a panoramic view of Dublin. Nice place to enjoy a pint (or two) of Guinness! Dublin isn’t as picturesque as Bath or London -at least from that viewpoint. Looked mostly like a factory town (guess it is). We didn’t have time to do much else after the Guinness store other than go back to the ferry. Next time I’m going to spend a night and drink a pint in a real Irish pub.

The last ferry back (the one we caught) was the “cruise” ferry, so it took 4 hours to return. We were tired, so we got a cabin. Grabbed a bit of dinner on the boat and took a nap. Long day for what amounted to just a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. But at least I was there! The cab *did* drive right past the actual brewery. :)