Postcards From Abroad…London

 

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow’”

Anita Desai

Hello…

 

 

Today we arrived in London!

 

 

And just in case you missed the beginning…The beginning

 

 

 

 

The Strand Palace Hotel will be our home for the next couple of days.

 

 

 Instead of trying to hassle with the tubes in the underground…

 

 

 

 

Joe thought we should just take a cab. great idea Joe!💋

 

 

 I really enjoy the sights and sounds of the city.

 

 

 The cabs are unique…and fun to ride in. Our cab driver was very nice and talked all the way to the hotel. We shared with him that it was our 15th wedding anniversary and he made us laugh when he said seven years is as long as he can get to in any relationship. Anyway it was a pleasant ride and when we arrived at the hotel the doorman was very welcoming.

 

 

We checked into our room on the seventh floor room 714. The room was smaller than we imagined from the photos we had seen when we made the reservations…however it was nice and clean and looked out into a small courtyard…and most importantly the hotel was in a great location!

 

 

Even though we were both exhausted and needed to turn in and get some sleep we decided to go and get something to eat in the hotel’s cafe. While enjoying a wonderful meal (I had fish & chips… and I forget what Joe had other than dessert) 😋 we began planning for the next day Friday. We had some ideas…but nothing definite. We had no trouble falling asleep that night. During the night Joe woke up and started thinking about what we had spoken about at dinner…and the things we would like to do…one being experiencing a play in the British theatre. Since he was awake he decided to go online checking the different theatres. He noticed that The Book Of Mormon was playing at The Prince of Wales Theatre More and so he went ahead and purchased tickets for Friday evening. Joe figured this would give us the day to rest and then we could walk to dinner before strolling to the theatre. This was a great plan and so the next evening after a restful day we began our walk to dinner and the play. At this point I won’t go into all the details however simply said we got a little lost on our walk (this would be a common occurrence  throughout our trip💋) the name of the streets are written high on the wall and visible if you know where to look…however we were looking for regular street signs and got turned around ending up right in the middle of Trafalgar Square where there were lots of things going on…concerts…and some kind of protest…

 

 

fortunately we found our way again and stopped at a charming Italian restaurant for dinner before the play.

 

 

When we arrived at the theatre the curator of the lines were formed and were rather long. Joe had to work his way through up to the window that had the tickets and then get back in the long line. I had been waiting in line and thought I could just cut through to where Joe was…but the guard saw me. 🤭

 

 

btw …the play is fabulous. A story about religion, faith, fraternity and God.

 

 

The music and choreography were outstanding. The audience was great…lots of clapping and laughing.

 

 

When we got out of the theatre it was relatively late and yet there were people walking around everywhere.

 

 

It was exciting…as we were heading back to the hotel we noticed a small restaurant and stopped to look at their dessert menu.

 

 

Before we knew it we were sitting inside in a romantic corner of the restaurant…

 

 

ordering a dessert.

 

 

(another common occurrence on our trip)😘

 

 

The next day it was raining…but this would not defer the Califorgornian gal. Following a relaxing morning Joe was able to get the location for the Cath Kidston store.Click away

 

 

 I have been longing to go into one of her shops!😉

 

 

While I explored Cath Kidston… Joe found a place to have coffee.😉☕️

 

 

Afterwards we ate lunch at the White Swan Pub. So far it’s been a fabulous couple of days in London…our next stop will be in the Cotswolds verdant pastures and quaint cottage villages.

to be continued…