London 2000 
London 2000 Our flight was scheduled for 5:30PM, with a 40-minute layover in Chicago.
We left a bit early to try to catch one of the two 3-:30 flights. The agent
at the counter told us they were both over-sold, so we got boarding passes
for the 5:30 flight and went to Concourse B. The gate agent there got us
right on the early flight. Smooth sailing, all the way to London!
At Heathrow,
we validated our seven-day Underground passes and boarded the Picadilly
Line for town. We got off at Russell Square and were soon checking into
the George Hotel on Cartwright Garden Circle. The hotel must have used
the same photographer as the Manang Hotel in Kathmandu! The room
was small and a bit stuffy. The hot water heat was on and we couldn’t
find a way to turn it off. So, we opened a window! Well, we
knew we weren’t going to spend much time in the hotel on this trip so we
decided to stay even though it was rather shabby. We unpacked and took
hot showers. 
It was only a two-block walk to the British Library. There were manuscripts dating back two thousand years. There was a special workshop area with displays on book binding, printing and the evolution of type faces. We both dozed through a fascinating video on leather bookbinding.
It was 6:00PM before we returned to the room. Our goal was to stay awake
into the evening to sync up with the new time zone. So far, so good. 
We all enjoyed the Tower of London tour. The Crown Jewels are really
something to see as well as the reconstructed sections of the Tower.
After a couple of hours, it was time to take a boat ride down the Thames
to Greenwich. It was a blustery cruise, but a sociable way to see some
of the sights. It doesn’t seem like a visit to London unless you spend
some time around the Thames. We got good views of the huge 1,000,000 square
foot Millennium Dome. It has a tent roof, much like our DIA. As a
temporary structure, it cost £ 750,000,000 and has been the
source of great controversy. In Greenwich, we ate lunch at a fine old pub.
John had a sausage coiled on a bap. That’s right, bap. A bap, in American
English, is a large soft bun. We toured the observatory after lunch. Unfortunately,
the air quality and light pollution have long ago rendered the observatory
unusable, and the working National Observatory has now moved to Cambridge.
John and I returned to our hotel at dusk: two weary tourists. A hot
shower soon set us right, so we decided to go on a quest to find the Sherlock
Holmes Restaurant. Invigorated, we walked up to Euston Station, working
our way up crowded sidewalks. The Friday night rush hour streets were bumper
to bumper. In a couple of minutes, we were at the Embankment Station looking
for Northumberland Street. Downtown London was quite lively. We went down
the wrong street at first, but with some map work we managed to find Northumberland.
We were seeking 12 Northumberland. After a block or so, we found a number
16. The next building was 18, so back we went in search of 12. We
ended up at the Thames without another address. In fact, we lost Northumberland
entirely. So back we went. Finally, we saw 16, then 18, and 100 yards further
around a corner on a side street was #12! The restaurant was tucked away
upstairs, and had an interesting display of Holmes’ study. We both thought
it was better than the one in Meringen, Switzerland. 
The
food was good. John had Toad in a Hole (sausages imbedded in Yorkshire
Pudding) and a fine IPA. I had sliced roast pork with applesauce, vegetables,
potatoes and a German white wine. The atmosphere was great and well
worth the effort to find. The walls were crowded with pictures from many
different Holmes films. Small artifacts were scattered around the
room. After the Underground ride back to Bloomsbury, we stopped in
at our “local” for a night cap and toddled off to our room for a glorious
night’s sleep.
Saturday morning
was an easy get-up and another English breakfast. First on our list was
the British Museum – “the finest collection of antiquities in the world”
according to our London Guide Book. How can the British Museum have a better
Egyptian Collection than Egypt? I couldn’t help but wonder at the arrogance
of the eighteenth century collectors shipping all the antiquities to London.
Seeing the museum, I actually changed my opinion 180 degrees.
Many of the displays had pictures of the places the artifacts were found.
Most of the sites where the objects were found were out in the middle of
absolutely nowhere and appeared to be neglected heaps of rubble. Few people
in the world saw them, let alone studied the relics.
Here the displays
are carefully reconstructed, studied and documented. The museum is open
to anyone in the world, free of charge. I now believe that the museum made
the best of some of the world’s forgotten treasures.
The next stop on Saturday was at “The War Rooms”, which are located
underground, next to the House of Parliament. One of Kris’ colleagues recommended
this, although our guide description was not very enthusiastic. The rooms
where Churchill and his staff conducted the war during the worst of the
London bombings were left intact at the end of the war. What a way to live—tiny
rooms, uncomfortable beds and people living practically on top of each
other. Audio phone tours are provided, with descriptions, speeches
and testimonials. The pictures gave us a very good idea of the extent of
the damage to London during the war. Our visit here very much affected
Kris and me.
Saturday night, we took the train to Richmond for a fine dinner with
Len & Vivien, Amanda & Ian, and Helene & Peter. We stopped
at Amanda & Ian’s house first to meet the children and see where they
live. The children are really cute. Amanda gave us the grand
tour of the house while Ian brought the kids over to his sister’s for the
evening. They have remodeled the house top to bottom and it is looking
quite good. They have put a lot of work into the remodeling
but it has been worth it.
The countryside was picture perfect. Sunshine, green rolling hills,
and mild temperatures, combined to make the hike a perfect contrast to
the museums and crowds of London. We had a very civilized ploughman’s lunch
and ale at a country pub. We hiked until 5PM, and caught our bus/train
back to London. There were many tired folks on the train returning to town
after a weekend of play.
Monday afternoon, on the return from Welwyn, we stopped at the British Library again. This time we visited the “Thousand Years of Chapter & Verse” Exhibit. We could still be there. Original copies of manuscripts dating back to King Alfred (c.900AD) were arranged by theme: law, love, faith life, etc. It was fascinating to try to pick out the words in the old English text with a translated description alongside. We stayed to the last minute possible.
But, we were on a schedule Monday night. This was our night for the
Theatre. We had our tickets to The Mousetrap. We dressed up, although we
could easily have gone more casual. But we had front row seats in the dress
circle. St. Martins was a fine old theatre built in 1914. Dark wood pillars
and trim along with plush draperies made a fine setting for the manor house
mystery. The seats were in the front row of the lower balcony and we could
see very well. The play was quite enjoyable.
