Day 7 - I'm all for home improvement, but at 3 AM?

Not sure what our neighbors were doing last night, but they had a hammer and drill out at 3 AM.  Between their redecorating, the lorries or trucks driving past the flat and the tube rolling beneath us, sometimes it's difficult to stay asleep.  Though I am a fairly sound sleeper.

Today we're seeing the currency ex-changer.  From our many visits, we've discovered taking US Dollars and converting them over to GBP once we're here is the most cost-effective way to go.  Better than travelers checks and converting the money in the USA before we travel.  In the meantime, we tried to book a trip to the Cotswolds tomorrow (the Cotswolds are considered to be an area of outstanding natural beauty typified by rolling hills and farm fields peppered by dots of white sheep), so until we know whether or not that's a go, we can't purchase theatre tickets for tonight.  We booked the trip late last night, so we'll give them a call later to see if it went through.

On our way to Victoria Station we stopped by Covent Garden, and the living statue guys were back.  I'm not sure how this guy does his trick, but there is nothing visible holding him up.  He's very popular with the kiddies, though I must admit we were equally as amazed.

Looks like our request didn't go through for tomorrow, so we are trying again for Thursday.  On this trip we'll be going to Stratford-on-Avon (Shakespeare's home) and Oxford.  Today, however, while we were in Belgravia, we purchased tickets for a performance of Wicked this Friday night.

We took a different bus route back to the apartment, and it was detoured, so it terminated in Parliament square, which obliged us to hop on a different bus with a transfer in order for us to get back to the flat.  Rather than Leicester Square, this bus dropped us off near Chinatown.  So, we stopped and took a picture.

Hubby has gotten pretty efficient at getting us through the complicated layout of London.  So, we were back at the flat in no time, and tonight we're doing laundry.  Yeah, really exciting.  We think we've got the machine figured out (it has temperature dials and other numbered dials).  Hopefully, our clothes will come out in one piece.

Day 2 - What do you mean "You" didn't pack the pain relievers?

Our flat's front door

Well, I did pack Aleve, Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Aspirin, actually.  I just packed the small purse size I can take when we're out and about.  What I didn't pack was the large, unopened bottle of "Extra Strenth Tylenol" that hubby said he would pack.  When I informed him Britain actually has medicine now and that they've stopped using leeches for years, I got "the look."  So, I said we'd drop by a Boots and pick up a bottle.  That's when I was informed they don't sell "extra strength" in this country, only regular strength.  Okay I must admit I did not know that, but figured he could "double up."  When I suggested that as a viable alternative, he tersely informed me he would need to "triple up" to get anywhere near the same dosage.  Fine, 3 for 2.  It's not the end of the world.  However, I was careful to make sure I commiserated properly, then returned to what I was doing.

Still haven't gotten used to the time change, so to make sure my posts run when they're scheduled I'm keeping my computer on EDT time, and have moved my watch five hours forward to GMT.  That way I can get really confused. So, back in Ohio, it's 9:30 AM time now.  I was up around 8 AM.  Yay for me!  However, Londoners add another five hours to that, so it's close to 2:30 PM, and I haven't had "breakfast," yet.  I thought I heard hubby mucking about earlier (probably to swallow down a couple of those extra strength capsules before we have to get the leeches out), but he's back in bed now.  So, I'm going to slip into the 3x3 shower (see below), while I can, and think about getting dressed.  No promises, but I'm heading in that direction now.  I get to share the shower with the water heater.  At least I think that's what the big white box in the far corner of the stall is.  Will try to chat more when I return.  If I return..... Bwah haha.  (All I can think of right now is that shower scene in Psycho.)

Small, but serviceable - no tub.

I'm back.  That white box was the force and temperature regulator as well as the "on" button.  I've never seen a shower that has an on button before.  I have to say, that shower is a tight accommodation.  You know those scenes where the hero and heroine make love in the bathroom?  Not gonna happen in this one.  I don't think my toy French poodle and I could both fit in this particular shower.  Human-wise, it's a single person use only, and even that's a close call.

When we finally left the flat, we walked over to Covent Garden where we strolled about like tourists, listened to musicians, watched a juggler, and chose to eat some empanadas.  They are similar to pasties, which are meat and potatoes in a pie shell, but empanadas have more spices in them than the Cornwall Pasties I've had before.  I enjoyed mine, and it became dinner as well.

After our late lunch, we went searching for a Boots (pharmacy) so we could get hubby's Paracetamol (Acetaminophen).  And guess what?  They do sell it in 500 mg.  So, crisis averted.  However, and this surprised us, one individual can't purchase more than two boxes of 16 tablets or capsules each.  So, that means 32 pills is the maximum a person can purchase during one visit.  If another person accompanies you, they will allow you to purchase four, but they have to be separate purchases.

Once we bought an adequate supply of the analgesic, we stopped for a hard cider at a pub, then decided to ride a bus over to West Kensington, near the flat where we stayed in 2010 (and they still are working on the same construction they were doing then), looked about, then rode the bus back.  We live such exciting lives, but it was fun.  Below are some pictures of Covent Garden that we took today.

Entrance into Covent Garden

Thursday Food Market at Covent Garden

Well that's it for today.  Will check in again tomorrow.

Day 1 - We've arrived, and we're ready to collapse

United Lounge in Chicago

As a follow up from yesterday, we did make it to the airport lounge and I was just sitting down with a glass of wine along with some crackers and cheese when they announced our flight was boarding.  Never one to waste a good glass of wine (Cabernet), I drank it rather quickly, picked up our snacks and headed over to the gate with hubby in tow.

I did slip my video camera out and filmed portions of the lounge, which I will watch to select a still frame I can share here. Every time we arrive in London Heathrow airport, we tend to forget that no matter what airline you take from the USA, you have to walk at least 3 miles to get from the gate to Immigration.  Then you need to stand in a never-ending, slow-moving line of people, who, just like you, are waiting to show their passports and landing cards so they can enter the country.  Since we're staying for 8 weeks, the immigration officials tend to look at us as if we're daft, because we're visiting during their off-season.  But we like cooler weather.  Normally, we're here through Thanksgiving to mid-December.  This year we arrived earlier, and we're leaving earlier.

Floor Plan and Stairs

Our flat is on the first floor, that means we had about twenty stairs to drag our very heavy luggage up, because when counting floors, the Brits start with the ground floor, which in the USA is the first floor.  That means if a place is listed as being on the first floor in England, it is actually on the second floor as far as we Americans are concerned.  Hubby and I knew that.  Honest.  Even so, the moment we were faced with all those stairs, we groaned.  Literally.  Will try to take a picture of the stairs tomorrow.  (Sorry, didn't get a picture of the luggage.  Even though we had two less cases, which is a good thing since United charges $100 for a second case, we still had a hard time of it.)

Living Room

The place is small, but well-equipped and clean.  I'll share a few pictures here, and more later.  Hubby is already taking a nap.  Lugging around two pieces of luggage that have a combined weight of 71 lbs and have to be lifted up stairs and across some sizable gaps between the underground train and its platform, can wear a person out.

Flat is on the right, above Paul Smith

Also, my cell phone ran out of juice, so we had to beg a sales person at Paul Smith for permission to use their phone in order to let our landlady know we've arrived.  She gave us a quick tour, showed us how to use the oven and clothes washer, as well as what they use to clean the hard wood floors and hoover (vacuum) them.  The place is small, but very conveniently located, despite the three thousand stairs, so I think it will work out well for us.

Okay, I think I'll have a bit of a lie down myself.  Be back on later this evening.

TTFN

I'm back.  We rallied around 9PM GMT, got dressed and went to Cafe Rouge for dinner (very continental of us).  It's one of our favorites.  (Forgot to take picture of our dinner - just not used to photographing food.) After that, we walked through the Leicester Square area to the neighborhood Tesco grocery store and purchased some staples, then limped back to the flat and unpacked.

We're acting like we're 80 years old with all the aches and pains both of us acquired in the last twelve hours.  It's a little after 1 AM, London time, so I think I'll close down for tonight and post more tomorrow.

Travel Day, or "Honey, do you remember where we put the...?"

You can fill in the blank for the title.  The missing item can be everything from batteries to the portable umbrella, and the "we" usually translates as "I."

This is the day when we (both of us, really) second guess ourselves and discover we've missed something important.  Like that pocket-sized travel umbrella "we" put in a "safe location" so "we" wouldn't forget it.  Which reminds me, bumbershoot is how the family I nannied for (when I was a blushing twenty-year-old) referred to an umbrella.  I learned a lot of different words back then, like cot for crib, and push chair for stroller, and pram for baby carriage.  So, I'd take the baby in a push chair for a walk carrying my bumbershoot and wearing my mackintosh (raincoat).  Oh, and by the way, jelly is the British word for a gelatin dessert like Jello, so you really don't want jelly on your toast in the morning, and when they ask if you'd like a salad with your sandwich, they're referring to some lettuce, tomato and sometimes onion on the side, for your sandwich, not a tossed salad with dressing like we Yanks would expect.  Did I mention it's like learning another language?

However, I think the Brits have gotten used to the Yanks messing up their language, so if you do order the wrong thing they'll probably ask to make sure you understand what you're ordering.  They are amazingly patient with us, and friendly, too.  So, I'll update this later, once I get a picture to add.  Just wanted to jot off a quick note while "we" are off shopping for some forgotten items (one of which I confess is mine).  We hope to be able to relax in one of the airline lounges during our hour and half lay over in Chicago, so I might be able to take a picture there to share with everyone.

So, ta ta for now....  

Packing Day - or "What do you mean no kitchen sink?"

How we packed in 2010

It may not look like much, but those suckers were heavy, and Londoners use stairs more than they do lifts or elevators.  We had to take rest breaks just to get from the tube to our flat.  Though the lady in the picture is smiling, she is not looking forward to lugging those items up 5 flights of stairs, I can tell you that.  Yup, definitely not.

It's early October, so the weather was a little chilly on that day, but sunny and bright.  If you're interested in seeing what that trip was like, visit my blog on The Virtual Tourist at http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/145611/

We are packing today, so not much to show yet, but should have some pictures tomorrow and Wednesday.

Wish us luck.

P.S. - We weighed our suitcases and they both came in at 48 lbs.  Limit is 50 lbs.  Phew.  We each have one suitcase, and one carry-on, and I have a personal item as well, as all ladies must.