2016 CARPE DIEM TRIP PART III - LONDON

Goodbye, Reykjavik

DAY FOUR – HELLO AGAIN, LONDON

I was a little sad to leave Iceland so soon.  There was so much more I wanted to see, although our host, Una, said that Fall or Spring would probably be a better time for the Ring Road.   We never did see the Aurora Borealis because of the cloud cover, but I did see a shooting star on the way from the airport.  With good support for the arts, it’s a visually attractive country, inside and out and the people were so kind.  Like many before me, I was curious to know why there was such a low crime rate and I found a very informative article called, Why is violent crime so rare in Iceland?   It was written by a US International Law student.  who made it the subject of his thesis, and it was published online by BBC.   To borrow from his findings to find out what Iceland was doing right, the overwhelming reason stated was that  “there is virtually no difference among upper, middle and lower classes in Iceland. And with that, tension between economic classes is non-existent, a rare occurrence for any country.”   Another study revealed that only 1.1% of participants identified themselves as upper class, while 1.5% saw themselves as lower class.  The remaining 97% identified themselves as upper-middle class, lower-middle class, or working class.  There is a tradition in Iceland of pre-empting crime issues before they arise, or stopping issues at the nascent stages before they can get worse.  They did jail some bankers after the 2008 economic crash, but when crimes occur, they usually don’t involve firearms, although Icelanders do own plenty of guns.  But, acquiring a gun is not an easy process, which involves a medical examination and a written test.  GunPolicy.org estimates there are approximately 90,000 guns in this country of just over 300,000 people.  The police remain unarmed; the only officers permitted to carry firearms are on a special force called the Viking Squad, and they are seldom called out.  A separate drug police and drug court was established in 1973 by the parliament.

Since that article was published, I found that there has been a slight rise in crime, which police attribute to the influx of Eastern European immigrants.  Although general sentiments have been strictly tolerant, Iceland’s concerns center on increased immigration and expansion of Islamic cultural and religious institutions, including opposition to plans for building of the first mosque at a prominent location in Reykjavik.

All of that was fascinating to me, but it was time to say goodbye, and it proved surprisingly easy to rise at 4:30 a.m. to return our rental car and go through security at the airport for the next leg of our trip.  I paced myself a little better in the Business Lounge this time, knowing that the phenomenon of more yummy food certainly awaited on our next first class flying experience.  The trip to Heathrow was uneventful and I was starting to feel a little like an experienced jetsetter.  We arrived mid-day and set out to get the Oyster cards that would get us around on mass transit during our five day stay.  In the process, Ron discovered that he’d made an error booking our departure from London, which needed to be straightened out right away.  This led to a two-hour goose chase all over Heathrow, a very large airport, to find the person at British Airways who could rebook it.  Only then could we finally find the train to take us to Leicester Square and the short walk to our B&B in Seven Dials, where we’d stayed on our first trip there in 2008.

Leicester Square Nightlife

The first time we visited, we booked a triple room to accommodate the three of us, which had worked out well, but it was unavailable this time.  So we booked two doubles, thinking we’d all have plenty of room.  We now know firsthand why all the Europeans who stay in our B&B gasp upon seeing how much space they’ll have.  Doug’s room was on the floor above us, and we soon heard a lot of scraping and movement.  By the time we went up to see how he was faring, he’d rearranged the furniture to give himself the space to simply function that we were also craving.  We eventually followed his lead, as we couldn’t even open the closet door the way it was positioned, and there were two of us.  It gave us a comfortable place to sleep and a decent bathroom, and it was close to the theatre district, food and shopping, so we put on our stiff upper lips, "kept calm and carried on" as the British are fond of saying.

Just looking, thank you

The temperatures in Europe were much more moderate than Iceland, staying mostly in the 50’s, which was resulting in a lot of early blooming, just as it is here on Cape Cod.  We spent the time left that day strolling through the nightlife of Leicester Square, eating at the new Five Guys, and seeing what was new in the souvenir shops.  It was pretty much the same stuff I remembered from eight years ago, only less interesting a second time around.  We turned in early, listening to the cooing of the pigeons who lived in the drainpipes outside our windows. 

DAY 5 - LONDON

We’d decided not to miss out on the complimentary full English breakfasts that were served in the basement every morning, so we set alarms and met Doug downstairs.  The typical English fare is a buffet of eggs, beans, tomatoes, link sausages and toast with cereal, orange juice, coffee and tea available.  The common seating area serves the whole building and we sat near a woman from Montana the first morning who was dining alone.

The trusty Underground transportation

 With no set itinerary, Ron suggested a visit to Westminster Abbey, which was closed when we last visited.  Using our Oyster Card, we hopped on one of the red double decker buses, which along with the red phone boxes is the quintessence of London, and rode by Trafalgar Square to our destination.  I’m sure I’ve noted before that churches are “not my thing”, nor walking over buried famous people, but when it comes to spectacular, ancient architecture, that piques my interest.  I’ve also learned that to just walk into these remarkable and intricately crafted buildings that take literally centuries to build, it’s very easy for me to be overwhelmed by the details.  This is where the taped self-tour came to my rescue, guiding me at my own pace from one point of interest to the next, giving me just enough history to explain, but not overwhelm.  Without it, I’d probably still be standing in the doorway with my head tilted to the ceiling and an open mouth.  The first Benedictine monks settled what became Westminster in the year 960 and much more recently, many of us have watched films of royal coronations and weddings on those famous, ornate aisles.  Photography is not permitted inside and prayers can be heard each hour, as this is every bit as much an active church as it is a tourist attraction.  Indeed, we passed a number of school groups touring that day with us.   

Westminster Abbey

Nothing works up an appetite like walking over countless, buried dignitaries and we were about to discover a real treasure of a restaurant, to which we would return many times during our trip.  Called Pret a Manger, it prides itself on its ready-made healthy soups, sandwiches, salads, desserts and snacks.  Add a barista and reasonable prices and we were hooked.  With happy tummies, we continued to wander the neighborhood and stopped in at an Antiquarian bookstore to browse the old books and art.  Downstairs, I found a basket of pins for sale for a pound each to support the British wildlife fund.  Since most things in Iceland had been so expensive, I picked a Puffin pin to remind me of Iceland wildlife and do my share for the British Isles.  We gradually made our way back to Leicester Square, which is always bubbling with activity, but by that time, Ron’s shoes had declared war on his feet, and the shoes were winning.  We decided that a movie would be in order.  Being the odd woman out, traveling with two men, the odds of my getting to see The Danish Girl weren’t good from the start, so I gritted my teeth and racked up some brownie points by going to Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight.  The short description of the film describes it as “a Western mystery, in which eight strangers seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover some time after the American Civil War.“  Having seen a Tarantino film before, I settled in for the predictable violence, which he somehow has the ability to make laughably absurd in its excess, at times.  I dozed at other times, and we all enjoyed ourselves.   Across the street, another theatre was preparing for a red carpet premiere of a zombie movie, and lines were beginning to form to see the arriving celebrities, but even Tarantino is more appealing to me than zombies.  A quick bite to eat satisfied us for the day, and we settled in for the rest of the evening.  

 From Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Eye on the left,
just a couple of tourists on the right.  

DAY 6 - LONDON

The infamous Harrods, 

now owned by Mohammed Al Fayed, 

the father of Princess Diana's boyfriend

Another experience we missed was a proper visit to Harrods, the ultimate department store.  When we were there in 2008 over the Christmas holiday and attempted to visit, it was their popular Boxing Day, and the store was literally so crowded, we could only see the ceiling on our short trip through, mashed against hundreds of others.  I know that Doug, who abhors shopping, must have been a little nervous about this trip, but Ron convinced him it would be worth his while.  

The Lego Department-
to the right is a scale model of Harrods under glass,
the man in green is all Legos.

We navigated first to the toy and electronics section, where I saw Doug's eyes light up immediately and his pace quicken.  This is the Disneyland of stores.  Each loyal staff person is trained to be an expert on demonstrating the product to which they are assigned, and it’s their job to entice shoppers to look.  They had absolutely no difficulty with us. We were there to be entertained, and they were prepared on a grand scale.  Doug managed to talk a salesman, who was just learning how to operate an AirWheel, into letting him try it out.  He didn’t do too badly, either, for a first time, but he couldn’t go very far, or the salesman would no doubt get into trouble.  

Submersible vehicle

Ron became immediately infatuated with a racer car that can go up walls and across ceilings.  I knew it would be pointless to try to talk him out of it.  We wouldn’t stop hearing about it for the next five days, and it would involve more trips to Harrods to visit it one more time, so I made it easy on all of us and told him to just pick a color.  We had many other games and gadgets demonstrated for us, looked at massive Lego displays of things like Star War figures and the entire Harrods building in exact detail, went through the “Millionaire’s Gallery”, where they had things like signed paintings by Bob Dylan, an autographed Bruce Springsteen guitar, old historical letters, and all manner of collector’s items.  This led to the “Spy Shop”, where little pieces of expensive machinery could turn you into James Bond, as well as an amazing, bright yellow, submersible vehicle.  There was simply department after department of items in this two square block building for the well-appointed household, all manner of tempting displays of foods, restaurants, even a sun lounge to relax in with your tea.  We spent the whole morning there, and didn’t see all of it, by any means. 

A nice place to rest before hitting the next department

After spending the morning inside, we decided to take advantage of the sun making a rare appearance to head over to Hyde Park.  The last time we were there, a Winter Carnival filled it with vendors and rides.  The most activity we saw this day was a group of equestrians galloping by on the horse path and the ever-present collection of birds being fed crumbs and crisps near Serpentine Lake.  Doug has always been fascinated with the antics of pigeons ever since he could walk, and there is always a good variety of fowl vying for every crumb in this enormous, lovely outdoor park.  

We had a big night planned at the Prince of Wales Theatre to see the play, Book of Mormon, so we caught the tube back to Leicester Square to exchange our e-tickets so we wouldn’t be held up in line that night.  After a short rest at the B&B and a quick bite at Pret a Manger, we eagerly headed to the theatre to claim our seats.  This is a play we’ve been wanting to see ever since hearing about its development in 2003 and the Broadway premiere in 2011.  Wikipedia describes it like this:   

"The Book of Mormon [Musical] is a religious satire musical  which follows two Mormon missionaries as they attempt to share their scriptures with the inhabitants of a remote Ugandan village. The earnest young men are challenged by the disinterest of the locals, who are occupied by more pressing troubles such as AIDS, famine, and oppression from a warlord."  

You needn't take our word for it that the writers have the ability to balance serious topical issues with clever musical numbers, laced together with laugh-out-loud humor.  The show has won nine Tony awards [one for Best Musical] and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.  And, it even got a polite nod from the LDS Church, which later purchased advertising space in the playbill.  It was the main reason we made London a part of our trip this time, and it lived up to every positive review and expectation.

After the show, I suggested a quick stop at Boots, the local pharmacy, to look for some foam padding for Ron’s sore toe, which made the rest of the trip much more comfortable, and also made me look quite brilliant.  I love when that happens.

DAY 7 – LONDON

Still humming the catchy score to Book of Morman, we decided during breakfast downstairs to go for photo ops on the London Eye.  This is a giant Ferris wheel with 32 enclosed passenger capsules that was erected on the Thames south river bank in 1999.  The wheel rotates at about ten inches per second and it takes thirty minutes to complete a revolution, allowing plenty of time to enjoy the view.  Until 2013, it offered the highest public viewing point in London.  It was fun to be able to pick out recognizable landmarks from above and see them in proximity to each other.

That's Big Ben and Parliament behind us.

The weather had taken a chilly turn, so after our slow-motion spin, we headed back to the B&B for warmer dress.   From there, we headed to Carnaby Street, which became well-known to us during the 1960’s for its shops featuring mod and hippie fashions, which dressed many rock and roll bands.  Along the way, we passed a sports shop with lines coming out the door onto the sidewalk and asked what was going on.  There was a very popular football [soccer] star signing something inside, but since we don't follow soccer, we kept walking.  A narrow, three block long area, Carnaby Street is still a pretty hip and fashionable place to look and shop, and as of 1973, the Greater London Council restricted vehicular access during the prime shopping hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.  I was mostly interested in just looking, but a pair of red suede men’s shoes seemed to follow Ron back to the B&B, where we rested a bit.

Dinner that night was a pilgrimage back to a place we discovered on our 2008 trip.  When we first went, it was a common perception that London was not noted for its cuisine, as say, Paris is.  But, Ron had discovered on previous trips that one could get a hearty meal at a reasonable price at the pubs, and that’s how we discovered the Porcupine's “pub grub”.  At the Porcupine Pub in Leicester Square, right next to the Underground station, we first discovered the Steak Pie with Stout gravy.  It was served with a vegetable and mashed potatoes that we continued to dream about years later, the kind you really wouldn’t want to know how much butter and cream were involved.  Pret a Manger was healthy and tasty, but we needed a change and had every intention of revisiting this den of deliciousness.  With an upstairs view of Leicester Square, the pub is on the ground floor, we quietly devoured our three pot pies, smiling and nodding appreciatively with no words necessary to indicate approval of our dinner choice.

DAY 8 – LONDON, The Last Day

Our Beefeater for the afternoon

On our last day in Londontown, we decided to take the Beefeater’s tour of the London Tower, another of Ron’s recommendations that we hadn’t been able to do on the prior trip, due to the long holiday lines.  On that trip we took a wonderful boat tour of the Thames instead, but the lines were manageable this time.  The entire name of the Beefeaters is “The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary”.  The uniforms are just as fancy as their title.  Their official responsibilities include looking after any prisoners in the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels, but in daily practice they’re tour guides and have become an attraction in their own right.  It’s not easy to become a Beefeater, as our guide explained to us.  They must have at least 22 years of armed forces experience serving Her Majesty, and hold the Long Service and Good Conduct medal.  Our guide was chosen from over 500 applicants for his position and lives with his family inside the fortress, along with the other Beefeaters, a resident governor, a chaplain and a doctor.  They pay rent and taxes, but must own a home to which they will retire.  Their tour is a polished, colorful narration of historical facts about each part of the Tower.  As we walked from place to place, they deftly punctuated the stories with dry humor to keep the bloody history from becoming tedious.  The formal tour finished in a chapel, where all sat in the pews to hear the sad tales of some of the royal prisoners held in the Tower.  Sitting there on those hard, ancient benches listening to his skilled and passionate telling, all of these tragic lives suddenly became very real human beings to me, as opposed to just another dismal story in a history book with so many others.  As we filed out, free to wander the Tower on our own, I told him that I’d enjoyed all the humor, but thanked him for allowing me to stop and feel the sadness of his country’s tragic history.  He seemed well-satisfied with my review.

View of the Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

Because the tour involved a lot of step climbing and walking over cobblestones, we were all ready for a respite at the B&B before our second theatre treat.  I had found our play for that night online before we’d left on our trip, and thought it sounded like good fun.  Performed by a theatre troupe called, Mischief Theatre, the play was called The Play That Goes Wrong.  Slapstick humor was the main character of this energetic play-within-a-play, and none was spared.  Ideally, we would have seen it before seeing the clever and polished Book of Morman, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable way to end the trip, and perhaps especially meaningful to Ron, an Equity actor who is familiar with making the best of stage flubs.


STAY TUNED FOR PART IV -  AMSTERDAM

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