London Calling

And finally, the big day is here. We’re leaving on a jet plane for London, and a 1-month trip through the UK. This trip originally began as a cruise, was cancelled by the cruise company, and then I cancelled it altogether because of all the horror stories about people trapped on cruise ships with Covid. After researching numerous possibilities, we finally decided on a 19-day land guided tour with a company called Costsavers, which is a less pricey version of Trafalgar Tours. As far as I could tell, the major difference between Costsaver and Trafalgar was the level of hotel you would stay in, and that wasn’t a concern for either of us. This tour would take us through England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales with multiple stops in each country. The price was right, and the airfare was ‘free’ and included in the price (although of course, nothing is free). But since the price including airfare was so good, I decided to inquire what the upcharge would be to fly first class and avail us of seats that would lie flat for a good night’s rest before our London arrival, since the flight would be a red-eye. That price was also surprisingly reasonable, so I made the arrangement.

One of the things we both felt was lacking in the basic trip was the time in Wales. For some reason, Bob and I both have Wales on our bucket lists. We don’t know why exactly. Bob thinks he may have Welsh ancestors. I am a fan of the whole King Arthur/Merlin legend and Merlin’s cave is in Wales. But beyond that, we don’t have a clue. So, we began researching if there were any add-on options to get us more Wales. And there were! We finally decided on a 6-day tour with WelshDragonsTours. This is a private tour run by Rob and Irene Laird, a local couple, who referenced all the sites we wanted to see as well as Merlin and King Arthur in their website, so I was sold. Basic planning accomplished, and on to the details.

One of our first challenges was to meet the luggage requirement of no more than 50 lbs with only one suitcase for each of us for a month. We could have a backpack each, but because the luggage would be loaded on and off a tour bus each day by the driver, we had to obey the weight limit, even though our first-class tickets gave us more weight flexibility. And of course, we had to pack a month’s worth of medication, converters for the electricity outlets in the UK, all our necessary electronics, enough clothes to deal with limited laundry facilities, and all the things that make old people like us comfortable. Now our road trip in Penny had taught us a few things about lighter packing, but our review of the weather in the UK made it clear we would need clothes for cold and rainy weather, which are heavier to begin with. Whatever happened to throwing a few things into the back of the VW and hitting the road? But we managed to make it just under the 50 lb limit with two pretty full backpacks, so score!

Passports, check. Tickets, check. Paperwork, check. And then, one minor surprise the morning of travel when I happened to read that we needed to have a negative Covid test to re-enter the US at the end of the trip. And they were pretty prescriptive about that test. It had to be a specific brand, and a downloaded application so we could upload our results no sooner than 24 hours before our return to the US. So over to CVS who luckily had the right Covid test and adding those to the luggage made it just 50 lbs.

On the first leg of the trip Truman was joining us as he was going to spend the week with Catie in NJ, so we upgraded his flight to 1st class so he could sit with us. He is a very spare flyer and immediately curled up against the window and took a nap. Our flight connected in NJ and was a little late arriving but we gave Truman a hug goodbye and hustled off to our international gate without any problem. We were excited to see our Polaris seats on United. They looked like little computer stations with our own television, lots of storage space, plenty of pillows and a cozy blanket, slippers, toiletries, and indeed the seats would lie completely flat. We were offered champagne as we boarded, and settled in for the red eye to London. We had a nice dinner, nothing fancy but better than a prepackaged fruit and cheese plate, and it was off to sleep. I have a terrible time sleeping on planes, trains, ships and automobiles, but I managed a good four hours, which was plenty to keep me from being too exhausted for our first day in London.

When I was 13 years old, I first heard the Beatles singing ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ on the radio, followed shortly by ‘She Loves You.’ I was a music fan before that, to be sure, and I liked Elvis ok, but the Beatles were a whole new phenomenon, and I fell hard, as did everyone I knew. Suddenly the world belonged to teenagers. And I was one of them. I was still geeky. Always introverted. Often in a world of my own, and I preferred it that way. But now that world was open to possibilities. On February 7, 1964, the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. I was not aware at the time how that was to catalyze such a change in the experience of young people. London became the mecca for cool. While the Beatles led the way for many years, other groups sprung up and I often fell asleep with a transistor radio under my pillow listening and learning the words to every song they played. When I could, I would get my hands on Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, and 17 magazine. And through those I learned about the Mods and the Rockers in London. The Rockers fashioned themselves after Marlon Brando, were nihilists, wearing all black, riding motorcycles. The Mods were into Soul and Blues, style setters. I couldn’t decide between them, but I knew, as did all teens at the time, that I wanted to go to London. Then came Twiggy. Skinny, short hair. And while she was beautiful, and I was still a geeky kid, she opened the possibility that you could look different and still be special. Then came go-go boots, miniskirts, bell bottoms. I started my teen years wearing pointy bras and girdles (even before I had any belly to put in them), with short, permed hair, blue eye shadow and ended those years in ripped bell bottoms, underwear optional, no makeup at all, and it all started with a music group from London.

We had two free days in London on this trip and with an 8 am arrival we didn’t want to waste a moment. We cleared customs without a hitch. So, armed with our several hours of sleep, we checked into our hotel, a Hilton in London. As Diamond members, we were upgraded to a king room and our room was ready, so we unpacked and got ready to meet our first guide. Lee C., whom I found on ToursByLocals.com, was to meet us outside our hotel at 11:30. And he was spectacular. Looking for all the world like you would imagine a London gentleman guide would look, Lee had arranged to have a driver and a cab so he could sit with us and narrate our visit. We had left the planning to him, asking only that he show us the London he felt a first-time tourist would want to see.

Lee really delivered. We saw all the expected things we would have asked for. Like the Royal Albert Hall, where nearly every artist of note has played. Lee told us that Van Morrison was actually playing that evening at a small venue near our hotel and that he is much better in a small place, but as Lee said, ‘only if he’s in a good mood, which is rare.’ Like the London Natural History Museum, where I know Bob and I could have spent at least a full day. And the new Globe Theater (the old one burnt down), Buckingham Gate, St. Margaret’s Church, Big Ben, which is finally out in all its glory from the scaffolding of the last several years, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. James Park. We are here just a week or so before the Queen’s Platinum 70th year Jubilee so London is very excited and there is lots going on. The Queen is obviously loved by everyone, and coming from a nation in which lately our leaders are lucky to have approval ratings of 50%, it is unusual to hear of a leader so revered. Many of the Royals are at least appreciated and respected. But not so much Harry. And certainly not Prince Andrew. Boy, don’t get the English started there.

In addition to the usual tourist attractions though, Lee came up with some places that we would never have found without him. He took us to James and Fox Cigars. Now, neither Bob nor I are into cigars, but the real draw here is the handmade pipes, which are beautifully intricate, and the opportunity (and you have to know to ask) to go downstairs to the Winston Churchill room, where there are tons of memorabilia owned by Churchill as well as his actual leather chair that he sat in while pondering how to save England from Hitler. Bob got to sit in the chair. We went to the Twinning’s Tea shop, where Bob got to taste several teas and we all found our refreshing favorites. We went to Brompton, where the rich park their posh cars for all to see, so we took some pics for Penny. Finally, after four hours of our tour, Lee left us off at the Borough Marketplace where we had Steak and Guinness Pie, wandered around and returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

The next day we had another tour planned. This one was to go to Warner Brothers Studios which is where the Harry Potter Movies were made. A friend of ours had done this tour a few years ago with his family and said it was really worth it, so we arranged for a car to take us there for the day. We were told the tour would take about three hours and you definitely need at least three hours to complete it. There are two huge sound stages separated by a cafeteria which is very crowded, but there is also a place to get food and drinks at the beginning of the tour which is much less competitive and easily accessed. The tour had all the Harry, Ron and Hermione you could want, but even more impressive was all the work done by all the set builders, costume designers and makers, directors, producers, and all the people who envisioned and made the magic. If you’re a fan, this is well worth the time. We got back to the hotel around dinner and since we had eaten at the Studios, we really weren’t hungry, but we popped into the hotel restaurant for our free drink (included in our reservation) and were excited to see we could order a Knickerbocker Glory. This is a layered ice cream sundae that Dudley Dursley is annoyed by because his doesn’t have enough ice cream in the first book in the series. So we ordered one and split it. It certainly had enough ice cream, brownie, chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce and whipped cream for us! Quite satisfied by our all-Harry-Potter day, we retired to our room and got packed up for the beginning of our UK tour which starts tomorrow. Our luggage is to be outside the room at 7 am, breakfast will be served at the same time, and we begin our adventure at 8 am. Oh, and we tried Marmite. You can have my share.