The Americans are coming - The Americans are coming
With not much in the way of time, in Dublin, we pretty much just went to our hostel which was in Temple Bar Area at Oliver St John Gogarty. We were told that the area was a little sketchy because it was so touristy (huh?). That morning we (I) woke up around 7:57 and picked up a little quick breakfast before catching the 747 shuttle to the 737 plane...we were only about an hour "early" but luckily we skirted through security quickly.
Heathrow's location on the Picadilly tube line made it convenient to get to the hotel (also on the same line). Dad set us up in what is described as the Boardwalk of London, Mayfair. In fact, my sister told a guy in Madrid that she stayed in Mayfair to which he responded "That's pretty posh!" As Dad said, posh means something different to Europeans. It was very very ordinary, but it doesn't get more convenient location wise.
After putting our bags down we made a bee line to Westminster Abbey which, according to Dad, is apparently featured prominently in The Da Vinci Code. It was closed, so we went to Trafalgar Square.
Emily: I want to feed the birds
Joey: I will not permit you to waste your money on ragamuffin birds. When we go the bank I'll show you what you can do with your tuppence and I think you will find it most interesting
Trafalgar Square looks a wee different (btw, my Irish relatives have inspired me to bring the word 'wee' into my everyday speech). Nelson's column is being worked on, presumably for the summer tourist season. Okay 0 for 2. On to Picadilly, which was the part of London I was most interested in since it reminded Emily of Times Square and Puerta Del Sol in Madrid.It is really cool, but smaller than I thought it would be.
We finished our sightseeing by having a shortbread and soda dinner along the Thames with a view of Parliament and the London Eye.
Changing of the guard
The changing of the guard happens at 11:30 at Buckingham Palace. The cornerstone of the security appears to lulling any would by intruders into a deep sleep from the sheer boredom/pagentry. After they make their entrance into the gates they just click their heels and shuffle a little bit before two of them just stare at each other for a while. Someone spoiled the ending for me (highlight to read:
gasp...one of the guards replaces the other) so we decided to get a jump on the next attraction, Westminster Abbey.
...Hands down the best Abbey
In our second attempt we got to Westminster and after a very minor security check, we went through to the doors. When I was in Vienna, the write up on the Domkirche said it was meant to rival St Peter's Basillica. People need to stop using that comparison, because little does. That said, Westminster is one of those places that does. Almost every member of the royal family up until George II (Windsor Castle is now the preferred location) is buried there along with notable writers, musicians, artists and scientists. In fact, Charles Darwin (how is that for irony?) is among those buried there.
But here is the coolest part. As Em and I are walking through the choir section we noticed there are two tiles missing. We ask a worker what he was doing (although it didn't sound like that when we said it) and he told us that occasionally some of the marble tiles get significant cracks which pose a danger (all the crypts and chambers under the church make it difficult to avoid) and as such anytime it is determined that a tile is unsafe/a knighting is coming it most be replaced. He then added "You are welcome to take a piece" referring to the chipped marble in the bucket. Best...souvenir...ever!
The Tower of London
After having lunch at the Abbey we decided to leave for the Tower of London exhibition. One of the highlights of the tour is that they have storytellers that cover events from the prison. It changes (Em heard the Gunpowder Treason plot last time she was there) and this time they told a (true) story about a Jesuit priest planning an escape with fellow inmates.
We went walked across the London Tower Bridge (which I always had confused with London Bridge). It was built in the late 19th century...out of wood, and was refurbished after the war which explains why it looks so new. As an added bonus, we got to see it open for a ship.
We looked into a London Walk but unfortunately we were about 20 minutes too late so we headed to St Paul's Cathedral and stopped off for a Cask Ale (Young's Bitter and Greene King IPA). A Cask Conditioned Ale is unfiltered, unpasteurized goodness (aka Real Ale) and is highly different than what most fizzy yellow lager (BudMillerCoors) drinkers are used to. This is type of beer that makes people say the Brits drink warm beer (they don't; it is typically served at ~60F or 15C) that is flat (they don't artificially add CO2). The Cask Ale tradition is in a bit of jeopardy. Younger Brits are moving to malternatives, hard liquor, and macro beers from Europe and the States. Cask Ales are also more difficult to preserve due to their traditionally wee alcohol content (usually 3-4%) but CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale) has been actively defending and promoting the style. Make sure your visit to London (or the UK in general) includes a tasting.
Since we were still in the neighborhood we took the tube to Tower Hill to see London Tower and the Tower Bridge at night. The area was deserted so we were reluctant to spend too much time showing off our tourist status by snapping photos like crazy. Fortunately when we approached the water a ship pulled in with school age kids in formal wear, so that put our fears to rest. For all we know that area is perfectly safe but not knowing London, popping out in the slightly sketchy London Bridge station put us a wee bit on edge.
Since it was approaching 11 we headed back to the hotel so we could get up early. Mom and Dad called and left a message for us to leave four and a half before the 12:30 flight. That struck us as a wee bit excessive. Although 8ish seemed like a good time to wake up, so we could grab breakfast, pack etc. and be on our way to the airport by 9:15 to 9:30 which would still give us 2 hours to wait.
I think the plan was pretty good. We should have followed it. We arrived at the airport check-in desk with 57 minutes to go. 3 minutes too late to check the baggage. We called home and woke Mom up who woke Dad up to see if we could catch the Northwest flight later. Between not having "money" on the ticket, and Continental issuing us a paper ticket we couldn't make the last flight out of Gatwick, nor the last flight out of Heathrow (we would have arrived with roughly an hour left) so we departed a day late.
Bonus Day
Dad got us the hotel again so we headed back just in time for the 7:30 Jack the Ripper walk. We got Shaun (the other guide is Donald Rumbelow, who wrote 'The Complete Jack the Ripper' and has been referenced for every major work based on the show) who was a fantastic guide. We ventured into the 'East End' and the dividing street is still somewhat obvious though now a lot of the flats have gone condo for the yuppies and a lot are fetching over a seven figure price tags.
The tour ends near the Waterloo tube stop. I wanted to check out one of the famous London curry houses but Em was not feeling as adventurous so we checked out the "modern" curry houses which would be more likely to have the hamburger that she was craving. Ripoff. So we went to a sandwich shop that advertised hamburgers and subs. Nice surprise, they have Chicken Curry and rice. Em tries to swap out the fries for a potato but it got a wee lost in translation. She got just the potato and ended up digging the chicken curry. At least Trafalgar Square was a great place to enjoy dinner.
Not wanting to do anything resembling the disaster of the morning we went back early, got up early and arrived in plenty of time for the flight. Our take off was smooth and as we were descending the ride got real bumpy and I was hoping that the bigger drops would be when the altitude was shown, I swear a few were 30-40 feet easy. To make up for it the landing was so soft I barely noticed we were on the ground.
The flight to Tampa was smooth in the flying sort of way but was awful in another. These two old New York broads talked the whole trip. One did about 80% of the talking while the other would just respond with cliches. "You got to live life" "You get what you pay for" and "If the shoe fits" to name but a few. In fact she one time followed up the "If the shoe fits" with "He knows the shoe fits" since the former did not get a response. I felt like saying "Yeah that's the way to make a cliche relevant and insightful, Lucille Ball voice from the late 60s, repeat it". The best part? The main talker's actual seat was 12 rows up, she just came back because she was motion sick...who knew it was contagious?
It is nice to be home. I will be back on the daily blog (
http://joeyisrighthere.blogspot.com) and I attempt to do a monthly post here to keep it "active". I will have one more post here to show the photos I will enlarge this time around.
The Temple Bar District:
--Joey
The flying option was surprisingly inexpensive and presumably a lot more convenient. The only problem was the flight was at 6am meaning we had to arrive at the airport by 4:30. Made for a real short night (after midnight, I couldn't get back to sleep). Before catching the tram to the terminal, everyone had to empty their pockets of anything liquid or gel like. This one guy with a big piece of luggage was asket to fit it into their simulated overhead compartment. It didn't fit, naturally, so he shoved it in with gusto claiming that he flies all the time. That may be but it still didn't fit. With the tram doors opening he felt an extra sense of urgency and began yanking on the straps to get the bag out and in doing so lifted the sign and box off the ground, damn near knocking the lady guarding the table in the head. Her counterpart yelled "Now sir, what are you doing to do when you start pulling the plane apart?"
We landed and picked up our rental car (we upgraded to an SUV because a few fans came with us that didn't have rides) and headed off to Legion Field. The stadium is old, historic and in the middle of the ghetto. Stereotyping 101: That must mean there are good barbeque joints near by. The parking attendant suggests Rheno's. We walk over and there is this cracked out lady handing out flyers telling us to eat there and to tell the staff she brought us in. Umm..alright. "We were actually looking for Rheno's" "Yeah yeah this is it" The flyer said "M&E eatery". Whatever the name is, it looked like there must have been some bribing of the health inspector to keep it open.
Around halftime we went in search of concessions. A table with a guy making mixed drinks and pouring icehouse into styrofoam cups. Alright, time to take a leak. No soap, or paper towels (Kim ended up getting soap from the womens room for us). Scott started stretching by pushing on the supports to which Kim said "Scott, don't! You'll knock the stadium down".
After the game we headed over to Ruby Tuesday in a safer part of town, and from there went to Vulcan Park: Home of the 2nd largest statue in the US. Not wanting to press our luck we headed back to airport a little early to find the flight delayed by 2 hours so I threw a foam football around with a few kids.
