Lazy Sunday

We took it easy today and did not rush off to do any sightseeing. I told Heather and Graham I was just as happy to hang out with them at home as to go off sightseeing. In the morning I went with them to a nearby garden centre where they shopped for lawn mowers. Later at home I sat down at the computer with Heather and introduced her to some basics on the eBay website. Though I have used eBay to make a purchase I don't spend a lot of time on that website. Brad is a real pro at it and I guess I've picked up a bit of info that way. Anyhow, Heather thinks she'd like to start a home business trading on eBay and I managed to give her a few pointers. In the afternoon we took a walk on the footpaths behind their house. On the way back we got a good view of the village of Compton and it is bigger than I had realized. Heather and Graham's house is way on one edge of the village. Got to spend a bit of time with Rosie today. On Friday and Saturday she was gone till late at school and then at a friend's house. She is studying for her A Levels (Art, Art History and Music) and has been accepted to the University of Warwick. Dinner was some tasty asian-styled fare: a variety of fish cooked in a soy and ginger sauce served alongside stir-fried veggies and noodles. In the evening we relaxed in front of the telly and watched Waking The Dead. I've never seen it before but H & G enjoy it. It is a crime drama concerning cold cases and can be, I was warned, gruesome at times. The only one who stayed up to watch the end of the show was me. We all need to get up early tomorrow. Graham will drop Rosie off at school on his way to work and Heather will drop me off at the train station on her way to work. It's been a lovely visit with dear friends. I hope we can continue to stay in touch after Brad and I move back to the States.

A Drive to Lacock

Yesterday we took a scenic drive over to the village of Lacock. Alongt the way we passed Avebury where there are some fabulous standing stones and a white horse cut into a chalk hillside. The white horse was cut in 1780 on Cherhill Down and we viewed it while driving on the curiously named Labour-in-Vain Hill. I was quite tempted to ask Heather and Graham to take a detour to the Avebury standing stones, but I've seen them before and already taken pictures of them.

The village of Lacock is a charming cluster of medieval stone houses, a tithing barn, several inns and tearooms, a church and a 12th-century abbey that is now a private residence. The abbey is owned by the National Trust as is the entire village. The properties were given to the National Trust by a descendant of Sir William Sharington who took private ownership of the abbey in the mid-1500s following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VII. The current residents are now tenants of the NT property. An old barn in the village has been converted into a museum devoted to William Henry Fox Talbot, former owner/resident of the abbey. Among many other achievements, Fox Talbot invented the photographic negative in the 1830s.

I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the village, visiting the abbey and the Fox Talbot museum. It is easy to see why Lacock is frequently used as filming location in television shows and movies.

Down South

I'm visiting friends who live in the village of Compton near Oxford. I took the train down on Thursday afternoon after dropping Ginger off at the kitty ritz. He seemed quite calm about the whole affair so I think he must like staying at the Cosy Cattery. Or at least, he doesn't mind it so much that it makes him anxious. That's a relief -- sometimes I feel so guilty dropping him off at the cattery and running off to far flung places.

After dropping Ginger off, I had a few errands to run in town before catching the 13:14 train out of Harrogate. That felt odd, leaving in the afternoon. I'm used to embarking on my journeys first thing in the morning. Anyhow, I stopped in a Minuteman press to drop off the Harrogate RSPB brochure to be printed (yeah! I finally convinced the group to have the thing done professionally.). While there I ran into the woman who used to own and run the Thai restaurant on the corner near the bus station in Harrogate. There is another Thai restaurant there now under different management. She told me they had moved to a new location in Moortown, Leeds and renamed the restaurant Thai Lotus. She urged me to come visit them in Leeds and I said I'd like to but I'm sure I won't. Living in the town center of Harrogate with the ease of walking to many different restaurants, I've little inclination to drive to Moortown to go out to eat. I do wish them well, though, in their new location.

The train ride to Didcot Parkway (closest station to Heather and Graham's house) was crowded but otherwise uneventful. Again, I found it frustrating that there is not enough space allowed for storage of luggage and found myself having to dig my bag out from under another mountain of luggage. Heather was waiting for me at the platform in Didcot and a few minutes later had brought us back to their lovely little home in Compton. The big news there is the fire that closed down the The White Swan pub. As we drove by I saw that all the windows had been boarded up and could see scorch marks on the whitewashed walls.

We had a relaxing evening at home. Heather threw together a tasty meal in just a few seconds flat. We had steak, boiled new potatoes and steamed veggies. Very British fare, I thought. She'd added a few condiments to choose from: red onion marmalade, Bearnaise sauce and red pepper pesto. Pudding was a pineapple/coconut mousse cake from Marks and Spencer. Very nice and thankfully light.

That evening I presented Heather with the pashminas Brad had sent me earlier in the week to bring down. She was pleasantly surprised and very pleased with them. I'd brought down one for her and for each of her girls and she'd quickly sorted out which one she would have. The girls'll have to decide amongst themselves which ones they'll have.

Rosie came home late that evening and we said our brief hellos. She has grown so tall and is so slender. A very charming girl. She'll be attending the University of Warwick this fall and is studying for her A Levels right now. She'll take them in Art, Art History and Music.

Heather had the day off work on Friday so the two of us spent the morning in Winchester. We toured Winchester Cathedral -- a very plain looking cathedral on the outside, but inside filled with wonderful treasures. We saw Jane Austen's grave and marvellously decorated quire among other features, then headed upstairs to the library. It was a lovely room with a curved ceiling and shelves of books on either side, heavy with vellum-paged volumes. There were two 17th century globes on view but I couldn't get close enough to them to read the place names along the east coast of the U.S. In another room we viewed the four-volume 12th Century Winchester Bible. The skill of the scribes and the illuminators was impressive. We saw that the Bible had never been completed -- some of the initial caps had not had the final gilt added to them while in other places there was just a blank where the initial cap had not even been drawn in yet. We viewed a finished initial cap and it was astounding in its detail and imagery. The pages of the Bible are made of vellum, which is basically a finely tanned calf hide. Astonishingly, it took the hide of one calf for every page of the bible.

After our tour of Winchester we had lunch at the Wykeham Arms, a wonderfully atmospheric pub that served up delicious meals. Can't beat a combination like that! We sat at old schoolboy's desks that had come from nearby Winchester College. I ordered spinach, black olive and tomato risotto while Heather chose sausages and mash. We decided to share our meals so we split the risotto and had that as our starter and then shared the sausage and mash as our main. Everything was absolutely delish. We had a bit of time to wander through the streets of Winchester. It reminded me a bit of Harrogate but only in that there are a few ugly modern buildings among older more attractive buildings. Of course, Winchester is much much older than Harrogate and the architecture reflected that. There were many half-timbered houses and walls made of flint.

From Winchester Heather drove over to the little village of Chawton near Alton. There we visited Jane Austen's house. It's the house she lived in during the last years of her life. The house actually belonged to her brother Edward who had taken on the surname Knight. Jane shared a bedroom there with her sister Cassandra. The house itself was charming enough but it was also filled with many mementos from Jane Austen's life including the topaz cross necklace given to her by her brother, needlework created and signed by Jane and a patchwork coverlet made by Jane, her mother and sister from old dresses they and their servants had worn. After touring the house we went across the street to a lovely tearoom called Cassandra's Cup, presumably named after Jane's sister, Cassandra. We had tea and shared a piece of coffee/walnut cake. Mmmmm...nummy.

Once we arrived home Heather spent a little bit of time in her garden planting a few plants she'd recently bought and I managed to reach Brad on the phone. The conncection was really poor but it sure was nice to talk to him.

Dinner last night was thrown together in no time flat again. Heather seems to be a master at quick and tasty meals. We had salmon, steamed veggies and watercress sauce. We finished off the pineapple/coconut mousse cake for pudding and also sampled some cheese and biscuits. I certainly won't go hungry while visiting Heather and Graham.

Yobs Attack Bettys!

I slept in late this morning, had a leisurely breakfast then decided to go pick up the Sunday paper. It's a pretty day outside alternating between cloudy and sunny skies. When the sun is out it is nice and warm; when it goes behind the clouds it is quite chilly. I picked up the paper at the news agent and then decided to take a stroll through town. It's Easter Sunday so the streets of Harrogate are really deserted. The only other shop I saw that was open was The Works, a discount book and stationery store. And then there are a few restaurants and cafes open. As I approached Bettys I was shocked to see one of their huge store front windows boarded up. I went inside to inquire what had happened. I learned that someone had "put out" the window at 2 a.m. this morning. Is nothing sacred??

Farewell Vince

Vince and I had breakfast at Bettys this morning. We had poached eggs on toast and they were delicious as usual. After breakfast we walked over to the 20-minute photo place and dropped off our film for processing onto a CD. I took Vince on a walk over to Valley Gardens while we waited for the CD to be ready. I was glad that, despite how busy we've been, I did get a chance to show Vince around some of our local Harrogate haunts. When we went to pick up the CD we used one of the photo shop machines to view the images we had taken yesterday. Again, they turned out pretty good. I told Vince I'd burn a CD with all the pictures I've taken during his visit here and send it to him. He's been building his own webpage for his vacation in England. Then we went back to the car and I drove Vince over to the train station. We had about a half hour until his train arrived so I hung out at the station with him till then. He will spend another night in London at the Harlingford Hotel and will fly out of Heathrow tomorrow morning.

Whitby and The North York Moors

WHITBY ABBEY


THE 199 STEPS


VIEW FROM THE ABBEY

In a way it was a good decision to postpone our visit to Whitby till today. The weather is much better today -- the wind has died down and the sunshine is predicted to last all day long for a change. The downside is that this is Good Friday, a big holiday in Britain and Whitby is a popular destination. We got to Whitby early enough to get a good parking spot near the Abbey but not early enough to beat the crowds that descended around lunch time.

I've been to Whitby before but had not gone up to the abbey. It is a stunning structure standing on a cliff overlooking the North Sea. After touring the abbey we went down the 199 steps into the old town in search of lunch. It was a mob scene down there. I abandoned all hope of going to the Magpie restaurant, home of Britain's best fish and chips. After a frustrating attempt to navigate the streets and lanes of Whitby we went back to a cozy little cafe at the base of the abbey steps, called aptly, The Abbey Steps Cafe. I'm sorry to say we were disappointed in our meal there. We each decided to try the crab sandwich and it was really awful. Why I even bothered to order dessert is beyond me. I had substandard Victoria Sponge and Vince had unchocolately chocolate cake. Oh well...can't win 'em all.

Vince had expressed a desire to see some standing stones. I've been wanting to visit the so-called "crosses" of the North York Moors. (The stones on the North York Moors are not all crosses and some date to bronze age and medieval times.) I thought we could satisfy us both by a visit to the Moors in search of some of the standing stones there. Well, good idea, but we never found any of the stones. The guide book I had was not detailed enough and we kinda got lost wandering through the moors. But the scenery was gobsmackingly gorgeous!! I wish I had pulled off to the side somewhere to take pictures. But that was the problem. The roads were very narrow, many of them were extremely steep and there were hardly any shoulders to pull over onto. We drove around for about an hour seeking the stones and then spent another good hour just getting out of the moors. It was a long drive home and we were both very tired after all the touring we've been doing. We got back to Harrogate at 5:30 p.m., a half hour before the Waitrose supermarket closed. We stopped there so Vince could pick up a few ingredients for dinner tonight. He wanted to prepare his tomato sauce for me and I was quite willing to let him cook tonight. The sauce was simple but delicious and I've got plenty of leftovers for the weekend.

Hard to believe it but Vince departs tomorrow. The time sure has flown by and I've had so much fun hangin' out with my bro'.

Across the Moors:from Nidderdale to Wharfedale

VIEW OF NIDDERDALE FROM BRIMHAM ROCKS


DWARFED BY BRIMHAM ROCKS


ON THE FOOTPATH FROM GRASSINGTON TO LINTON FALLS


I abandoned my plan to visit Whitby this morning after listening to the news. The newscasters stated that traffic would be at record levels as today (Maundy Thursday) is the most heavily trafficked day of the Easter holiday weekend. The weather report wasn't much better: strong winds with gale force gusts were predicted. I didn't fancy driving up to the coast in such weather.

I chose, instead, to make a drive across the moors from Nidderdale to Wharfedale -- a more local destination. The change in plans allowed us to make a stop in town to purchase film for my Leica camera. Vince suggested dropping the film off at a 20-minute photo shop in town and having them put the photos on a CD.

Our first stop was Brimham Rocks, one of my favorite places to take people. As predicted, it was extremely windy but the site was beautiful as ever. As we were making our way along the path between the fantastical rock formations a jet plane flew overhead. It was flying very very low and we both nearly hit the dirt as it passed noisily overhead.

From Brimham I took the scenic drive over to Appletreewick and we had lunch at New Inn. Lunch was tasty as usual at the New Inn and Vince had a chance to hear some authentic Yorkshire accents. Vince had vegetable soup and I had a jacket potato with creamed mushrooms.

From Appletreewick I drove over to Grassington, another favorite destination. We took the footpath over to Linton Falls and toured the 12th-century church in Linton Falls. By this time it had become very cold, windy and rainy. While we were in the church it hailed. Because of the dreadful weather we decided to head back home rather than walk through the village of Grassington. I stopped off at the base to get gas and check mail. We saw a pale but pretty rainbow on way home on the A59. I stypped off in Harrogate and we got the film processed onto CD. We had coffee at Milan's while the film was being processed. The pics turned out pretty darn good and it only cost £2 to have them put on a CD. Once home, we each took a nap. This touring business is tiring stuff!

We went to Ali Raj for dinner that night. I'd never been there before but it was recommended by a friend. The recommendation turned out to be spot on. We had a delicious dinner there. Vince had some kind of curry (I forget exactly what he had) and I had my favorite dish: Sag Tikka Chicken.

The Northern Dales

I drove to the base this morning to get gas and check mail. I picked Ginger up from the cattery. Our purrboy was quite happy to come home and has been very affectionate. It will break my heart to take him back to the cattery next Thursday when I head down south to visit Heather and Graham for a long weekend.

The day started out bright and dry. We were on the road at 11 a.m. for an excursion into the northern Yorkshire dales. Our first destination was Masham, particularly the Black Sheep Brewery. We had arrived just ten minutes before the 12 p.m. tour. We first watched a video about the history of the brewery and the method of brewing Yorkshire beer. We then proceeded to tour the facilities. We walked onto a platform overlooking a wonderful copper vessel. I pulled out my camera to take a picture and realized immediately something was wrong. The image on my display screen looked very strange, like it was melting. I tried several things to get the camera working right and finally accepted that either the camera was broken or the memory card was corrupted. I missed out totally on the beginning of the tour as I was fiddling with and worrying about my camera. And, thus, I have no pictures from this day of touring. After the informative tour we had a very tasty lunch in Black Sheep Cafe. I had fish cakes, Vince had a roast beef sando and we both had free half pint samples of Black Sheep beer. Vince even purchased a third half pint for our taste test.

After lunch the skies clouded over and it began to rain. (do you see a pattern developing here?) Just a short way down the road from Masham near Jervaulx Abbey is the Brymor ice cream parlour and we stopped there for dessert. Mmmmm, Brymor ice cream is simply to die for. From Brymor we drove to Middleham and visited the castle ruins there. I had to keep telling myself the day was so gray that any pictures I would have taken would have been boring. From Middleham we drove to Hawes. It was a bit further away than our previous stops and we were on the road for awhile, dodging sheep who wandered into the roadway. We arrived at the Wensleydale Creamery around 4 p.m., too late to see cheesemaking demonstration but went walked through museum and viewed some interesting vintage cheesemaking utensils and other items related to farm life. We bought some cheese in the shop and had tea/coffee and cakes at their restaurant. I had to drive back home in some nasty rain but the scenery was still breathtaking. Dinner that night was a big salad and cheese and crackers. yummy.

In Shakespeare Country

MEMORIAL TO SHAKESPEARE IN HOLY TRINITY CHURCH


15TH-CENTURY ALMSHOUSES IN STRATFORD

Breakfast at the Sequoia House Hotel was your typical English B&B fare. We both had (wet) scrambled eggs and toast. We could have had full English breakfast fare but neither us had the appetite for it. Our plan today was to walk into town to tour the other Shakespeare properties there and then walk over to Anne Hathaway's cottage. She was Shakespeare's wife and the cottage, where she lived as a child and had been wooed by the Bard, was only one mile from Stratford. Even though we had already checked out of our B&B the owners let us leave our car parked there. Surprisingly, they had few guests staying overnight -- must've been too early in the season.

The skies were cloudy and gray as we headed out on the canal path towards Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. Soon it began to rain. We took refuge inside Holy Trinity only to find there was a communion service going on. After all, this was holy week and we were there on Holy Tuesday. Easter is really a big holiday in England. We sat in one of the front pews as we waited for communion service to finish. Lucky for us it only lasted about a half hour. We discovered we had to pay £1.50 to enter chancel to view Shakespeare's grave and memorial bust. Shakespeare's tomb is marked by a flat stone panel in the floor. It was quite difficult to read the famous epitaph carved in the stone:

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Buried next to Shakespeare are his wife, Anne; his daughter Susanna; his son-in-law, John Hall; and his granddaughter's husband, Thomas Nash. Nearby are facsimiles of the parish register recording Shakespeare's baptism and burial notice. We also saw the font in which Shakespeare is said to have been baptised.

The churchyard was very picturesque but it was raining quite heavily now and I only dared take a couple of photos from the shelter of the church entrance.

A short walk from Holy Trinity brought us to Hall's Croft, the house where Shakespeare's daughter Susanna lived with her husband John Hall, an eminent doctor. Hall was a progressive doctor who did not believe in bleeding as a treatment and we were able to read gruesome extracts from his medical diaries. We were struck by the spaciousness of the home and the elegant furnishings, testament to the wealth of the family. We had tea/coffee and cakes at a little cafe in Hall's Croft before heading over the the next Shakespeare attraction, Nash's house and New Place.

Thomas Nash was the first husband of Shakespeare's granddaughter. His house was large, richly furnished, elegant and suggestive of how Shakespeare's house would have looked. New Place, the home that Shakespeare had purchased in 1597 with his London earnings, is said to have been the second largest house in Stratford. Again, more evidence of Shakespeare's wealth. Shakespeare's house had been torn down in the 18th century by the owner who was vexed by the constant stream of pilgrims coming to visit the home of the Bard. The foundations of the house remain and on that site a beautiful Elizabethan-style knot garden has been planted. To the rear is the Great Garden, containing an ancient mulberry tree said to have been planted from a cutting from a tree planted by the Bard himself. They take their Bardolatry seriously in Stratford.

The weather was still dreadful, plus it was getting late, so we went back to the B&B and drove the car over to Anne Hathaway's cottage. There was a very LONG line to enter the cottage but we decided to stick it out anyhow. We had arrived in between two large school groups. This week is half-term -- school's are on spring break so we did have to contend with lots of tourists and school-age kids everywhere we went this week. It was still raining but not as heavily as before. We only had to wait about a half hour before being allowed into the cottage. It was a very interesting tour and we got to stand on floors where we know Shakespeare had stood before. After touring the house we walked through the garden and then had a very late lunch in the tea room across the street. There was a strange waitress there who fed biscuits (cookies) to a squirrel.

We got back on the road late (4 pm)! One of the roads we wanted to get on was closed due to an accident. As is often the case, we were unsuccessful in following the diversion signs. We stopped off at gas station to get directions as our maps were not detailed enough for that area. The manager of the shop gave us what we thought were very good and detailed instructions but we missed the first turn of the instructions. After a brief moment of panic on my part, Vince realized we had ended up on the right road anyhow. There was lots of heavy rain on the ride home, not a very pleasant drive. We arrived in Harrogate around 7 p.m. We walked into town and had dinner at Pizza Express, a chain restaurant that serves up very good pizza, salads and pasta.

In Search of The Bard

SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE


VINCE AT SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE

The train from London to York was rather crowded. When we arrived in York we discoverd our luggage was underneath a huge pile of other luggage so had to wait till most everyone else had disembarked. As it turns out we had more than an hour layover for our train to Harrogate, so we nipped over to Puccino's Cafe for some cappuccino. I ran into Les, one of the committee members from my Harrogate RSPB group, on the train from York to Harrogate. I think Vince enjoyed chatting to Les, though he told me he understood only about 80% of what Les said. I'm finding I have to do a lot of translating from British English to American English for Vince. We had a leisurely evening at home and had some pasta fazool I had put in the freezer for dinner.

We left for Stratford-upon-Avon around 11 a.m. It was a beautiful day for a drive. the night before we had consulted Google maps for directions and we had no problems whatsoever in getting to our destination. We arrived around 2:30 p.m. and checked into B&B, The Sequoia House Hotel. It was a pleasant enough B&B, nothing too fancy or frilly, clean and comfy. It is situated right on the River Avon across for the Royal Shakespeare theatre. It was an easy walk into town which had a rather touristy feel to it. We had lunch at Garrick Inn, a pub in an attractive half-timbered Tudor building.

After lunch we visited Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street, a lovely old half-timbered house with a modest garden in the back. After the tour of the Bard's birthplace we stopped off at library to check email. Stratford has a really nice library, just a few doors down from Shakespeare's birthplace. We only had a short wait for our free internet session on the computer. After our library visit we went back to b&b to rest up.

We had dinner at Thai Boathouse, just a short walk from our B&B. There was a rather overstated sign out front proclaiming the restaurant had been voted the best Thai restaurant in the world. Hmmmm... well my glass noodles with veggies and tofu was rather tasty but I suffered from an MSG headache afterwards. Vince had order stir-fried beef and veggies. The beef was okay, but the veggies turned out to be a side salad. How bizarre.

The highlight of the day was yet to come: Romeo and Juliet performed at RSC Theatre. The cast put forth an excellent performance (with the exception of Juliet whose acting was a bit weak). The costumes were modern and the staging quite innovative with a rather dramatic scene in the crypt at the end. There were musicians on stage singing and performing unusual yet enchanting folk music. The play was three hours long. We learned later that we had seen the unabridged version.

Leaving London

Hard to believe our stay in London is just about over. We've checked out of the hotel and are back at Bread and Butter, the internet cafe. We'll catch the 10:45 train out of Kings Cross and arrive in Harrogate in the late afternoon. Monday morning we head off by car for Stratford-upon-Avon.

Defying Gravity

THE RUSSELL HOTEL PRESIDES OVER RUSSELL SQUARE


SICILIAN AVENUE, JUST OFF BLOOMSBURY SQUARE


A COUPLE OF SICILIANS

After our visit to the internet cafe Vince wanted to take a breather and relax a bit before beginning another day of sightseeing. While he rested up at the hotel I explored the area around our hotel a bit more. I walked through Russell Square again and it looked more picturesque than ever on this glorious spring day. I took bunches of photos there and then walked over to Sicilian Avenue, a nifty street studded with roman-style columns and Italian sandwich bars. I walked over to Museum Street and window shopped before heading back to our hotel.

I told Vince about Sicilian Avenue and he seemed interested in it so we went back and had lunch in one of the cafes there. Before choosing a cafe in which to dine we took pictures of ourselves in front of Sicilian House using the self-timer feature on my camera. I was drawn into the cafe that had the most delicious aroma wafting from its doors. It turns out the aroma was from the pasta that they make there daily. I was a bit disappointed that, aside from the pasta, there were no other Italian food items on the menu. At any rate, we both enjoyed our lunch there. I had a poached salmon sandwich and Vince had a chicken sando. Both of the sandwiches were topped with shredded white cabbage with dill and oil dressing -- very tasty.

Sir John Soane's museum was just a short walk from Sicilian Avenue. We arrived shortly before 2 p.m. We arrived to see a sign posted at the door stating the museum was full and we were to wait outside for permission to enter. Luckily we were at the head of the queue and did not have to wait long. The museum consists of three Georgian townhouses that belonged to 18th-century architect John Soane. Every nook and cranny of every room is crammed full of interesting objects: architectural models, paintings, bits of marble from ruined buildings, statues, clocks, barometers. He even owned a solid limestone Egyptian sarcophagus for which he had paid £2,000, outbidding the British Museum. They say he threw a three-day long party to celebrate the acquisition. One could spend days exploring Sir John Soane's museum but we were there for a good hour or so.

That evening we had dinner at a pub called the Coach and Horses. It was just your average pub with smoky rooms. Vince enjoyed his roast beef sandwich immensely. My fish and chips was so-so. I can't wait to take Vince to some Yorkshire pubs.

We abandoned the idea of the theatre that night in favor of a comedy club. Vince had found info on The Red Rose comedy club, a non-smoking club near Finsbury Park tube stop. We were entertained by four stand-up comedians as well as the emcee. The club was small, patronized by a rather youngish crowd and not sold out. Jacket potatoes were available from the bar but there was never any pressure to order anything. Since the club was so small we ended up in a seat near the stage. The emcee chatted with several members of the audience, including us. The chairs were kinda flimsy and offered little back support. We had moved our chairs so that they would back up against a wall. The emcee had noticed that we'd moved and commented upon it. Trying to explain this to the emcee proved difficult and Vince proclaimed that the wall was an anti-gravity device and pulled his chair out to demonstrate what would happen if we didn't have the extra support. We became known that evening as the "gravity-defying couple".

Tate to Tate to the West End

ST. PAUL'S OVER MY SHOULDER


CAN YOU FIND THE RUSSELL SQUARE IN THIS PHOTO?

We're at yet another internet cafe near our hotel. This one is called Bread and Butter and is also a proper cafe serving food and coffee. We've ordered double-shot cappuccinos but they're too hot to drink yet. I was awakened promptly at 8 a.m. by the phone ringing. I thought it was the wake-up call I had ordered the night before. It was actually Brad calling to wish me happy anniversary. Today is our 11th. I was so surprised and happy to hear from him. I will try to call him again later today on my mobile phone.

We had a delicious dinner Thursday night at Thai Garden Cafe on Museum Street near the British Museum. Breakfast at the hotel is your typical British B&B fare: cooked full English plus a selection of cold cereals, juice, yogurt and fruit. Most of the fruit appears to have come from a can and sits in a bowl full of heavy syrup, the cereal selection is not very inspiring. The eggs are fine and you can have toast non-stop if you want. They also have croissants and hot cross buns available.

Vince and I had a full day yesterday. We stopped by the half-price ticket booth at Leicester Square and managed to pick up tickets for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We then had an invigorating walk from Leicester Square to St. Paul's Cathedral. We had hoped to take a look around inside the Cathedral but the £9 admission fee put us off. We instead went down to the cafe in the crypt for a mid-morning treat: tea and coffee and cakes. From St. Paul's it was a short walk to and across the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern. We spent about an hour or so wandering through the regular collection full of bizarre, sometimes grotesque, sometimes funny modern art. My favorite was a small understated painting by Dali.

We had originally planned to take the boat from the Tate Modern to the Tate Britain but opted instead to make use of our one-day travelcards and took the tube over to Victoria station. From there it was a short walk to the Tate Britain. We were both interested in seeing a special exhibition there: Gothic Nightmares. It featured paintings from the 18th century by Henry Fuseli and William Blake and their contemporaries. The entire exhibit seemed to be built around and inspired by one painting by Fuseli entitled The Nightmare. It is a famous image and has had resounding influence even until modern times.

We were fairly tuckered out after our visit to the Tate Britain, so made our way back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for our evening out in the West End. The play was showing at the Apollo on Shaftesbury Avenue, so we just wandered around in that area till we came across a restaurant that caught our fancy. That turned out to be Don Luigi, where we each had some good pasta and salad. Watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf turned out to be a draining experience. I'd never seen the movie before (I was in my early teens when it came out and my mom wouldn't let me go.) but had a fair idea of what I was in for. The thing that surprised me most was how much laughter the play elicited from the audience. You'd've thought we were watching a comedy rather than a wrenching heartfelt drama. It starred Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin in the Liz Taylor and Richard Burton roles and they both did a great job.

We were both exhausted after the play, abandoned our plan of visiting a pub after the theater, and made our way back to the hotel.

It's another beautiful day today. The sun is shining right now and it's a little on the cool side. Perfect sightseeing weather. Our plan is to go to
Sir John Soane's museum today and maybe take Afternoon Tea.

Walkabout Bloomsbury

THE WORLD'S SMALLEST HOTEL ROOM


VAN GOGH'S BEDROOM IN ARLES


AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM

We have checked into our rooms now. The tiniest room I think I've ever stayed in. It reminds me of the painting Van Gogh did of his room in Arles, but I think he had more room. My room is neat and clean, though, and I've plenty of space to store my clothes and suitcase. The bathroom has stylish modern features. The staff at Harlingford Hotel are quite friendly. The breakfast room is cozy and inviting; we shall discover tomorrow what breakfast fare is like.

After checking in, we took a walk over to Russell Square and had a lite bite to eat at a cafe in the square. Vince had a tasty Margherita pizza; I had a delicious apple tart and we each had a nummy cappucino. What a fine day it is! Cool and breezy and lovely sunshine and blue skies. It is hot in every building we go inside and so refreshing when we step back outside. Bloomsbury is an attractive neighborhood; we've been enjoying the architecture and have popped into a few shops here and there. We spent a good hour at the British Museum. Saw the Elgin marbles and other treasures from all over the world. Discussed how odd it is to wander through a museum that is basically full of plundered art. The most incredible coincidence occurred at the British Museum. Vince ran into a woman he had met in SF on the way to the airport. They both took the same Virgin Atlantic flight over to Heathrow. And they are both due to fly out on the very same flight a week from this Sunday.

After the British Museum we took a break at another cafe. Vince was hoping to find someplace that would serve an Italian soda but I think that is a California thing. I don't recall ever seeing Italian soda on a menu in the UK. We settled for an Orangina. By this time Vince was ready to go back to the hotel and take a nap, but I wouldn't let him. I convinced him to walk over to the British Library instead. We only spent a short amount of time there. His jet lag (and my fatigue) has really begun to set in and we just didn't have the energy to devote to the treasures gallery. We decided to make this brief stop at the internet cafe. We will head back to the hotel after this stop then plan to go to a Thai restaurant for dinner.

Arrival in London

VINCE IN FRONT OF THE HARLINGFORD HOTEL

Vince and I met at the Harlingford Hotel within minutes of each other. Remarkable since he had flown in to Heathrow from San Francisco and I had taken the train down from Harrogate. We can't check into our room till 1 pm but from what I can see, it looks like a really nice hotel. Very convenient location, just a short walk from Kings Cross and we are at an internet cafe just one block away. It's a beautiful day in London...hope this is a good omen for our trip.

Saturday Morning Drive

PHONE BOX LINE-UP


FLOODING ON THE STRAY

I had grand plans of driving all the way to Whitby by myself today. I got up early and was ready to head out the door a little past 8 a.m. Despite the sunny weather forecast by three websites and the BBC, it was pouring down rain. I decided to go anyhow, thinking, ahhh, it's just a passing spring shower. The rain got heavier and heavier the further along the road I got. I finally pulled in and took refuge at the North York Moors National Park Visitor Centre at Sutton Bank between Thirsk and Helmsley. While there I picked up info on the crosses of the North York Moors and the Farndale daffodils. All this was in preparation for a visit from my brother next week. We'll be spending time in London and Stratford-upon-Avon (where we will see Romeo and Juliet performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company), but I do hope we'll have time for an excursion to Whitby and the North York Moors. As I drove home, the skies cleared -- of course! All was not lost, though. To my utter fascination, I passed by a mechanic's yard filled with old and decaying phone boxes, lamp posts and post boxes. I pulled off to the side of the road for a half-hour photo shoot.