Dateline – London, UK
It’s the end of the first full day in London. When last left, our intrepid hero was pining away in the bowels of Copenhagen airport on a six hour layover full of non-excitement. Eventually the flight from Copenhagen to Heathrow boarded, and we sat on the tarmac for an hour as the fog in Southern England limited the number of flights that could enter airspace. We did eventually get the all clear (or the fog lifted, I didn’t find out which) and took off. I don’t recall much of the flight as I wedged myself into a corner and slept for most of it, waking up as the plane bounced on touch down in jolly old England.
The process of deplaning, passport control (fully automated), baggage collection, and customs clearance went without major incident and I emerged to find my driver for the ride into the central city. I was dropped off at the hotel (a Holiday Inn close to Regents Park near Great Portland Street) about 6 PM local time, roughly 25 hours after walking out of my condo. Quick shower and change of clothes and then off to the local pub to meet up with my travel companions (Frank Thompson, Bill McMullen, and Kathy McMullen and the rest of the tour group). Chicken Schnitzel and a pint restored good humor but, despite it being Saturday night, I was pretty done in and crashed soon after, sleeping for twelve hours.
After breakfast this morning, a trip to The National Gallery (which I had not been to the last few London trips) to bask in a few masterpieces of Western Art. (Lunch in the museum restaurant – beef lasagna accompanied by mulled wine). Then some walking through town, collecting up a few other friends, another glass of mulled wine and off to Baker Street for a show entitled ‘A Sherlock Carol’ which is a rather clever mash up of Sherlock Holmes and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with six versatile performers leading us through familiar phrases twisted in new ways as Sherlock is visited by the ghost of Scrooge and… well, you have to see it. It’s rather difficult to explain.
Still feeling tired so turning in early again this evening. I have two choices tomorrow – a trip to York or a matinee at the RSC. I haven’t made up my mind yet. Stay tuned.
Life, The Universe, and Everything 