Sigo Journeys-- Where to Next?

London, thou are the flower of cities all!
~ William Dunbar

It was a last minute trip to London. E was going there for work for a week. Midweek, he determined that he needed to stay until the next Wednesday, and suggested I fly up for the weekend. We used miles to book my flight, leaving that Thursday night.

Fri, 10/26: I arrived in London on Friday morning, getting to the Park Lane Hotel at around noon.

I got a crayfish & rocket sandwich and mushroom risotto soup at Pret, before heading to Leicester Square to see what half price theater tickets were available for that night. E really wanted to see Billy Elliott, but it was sold out for the entire weekend. Based on the recommendation of the sales agent (and a couple ahead of me that purchased four tickets), I settled on We Will Rock You, a musical comprised of Queen songs. I then headed to Harrods in Knightbridge.

Their Food Halls comprised of multiple rooms that each had different offerings from a patisserie to a seafood and oyster bar. I got a brownie and crème brulee to take away. I went back to the hotel and took an almost three hour nap, resting up for the upcoming weekend.

We Will Rock You began at 7:30 PM. The musical was written by English comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. It was rather an enjoyable musical, with various generations of attendees singing along to the music, from ages 10 to 60. It felt like we were at a Queen concert, complete with arms waving in the air. It was entertaining just people watching. The voices of the performers we so amazing, being able compete with a soundtrack in its quality.

Sat, 10/27: We decided to return to Harrods to have lunch. We headed directly to Harry Morgan’s, a “Kosher style” deli situated in the boucher (butchery) area of the Food Halls.

The bar stools were packed yesterday when I stopped by, but we were able to grab two stools. Henry Morgan’s chicken noodle soup was voted best in London, so I had to order that. E got a chicken special sandwich which consisted of chicken, avocado, carmelised onions, and sour cream. It was served on garlic French-type bread accompanied by white cabbage salad (kind of like vinaigrette cole slaw with rye seeds) and a pickle. The chicken soup was served in a large bowl (similar to a pho bowl) and was quite brothy-- with a wonderful flavor. The noodles reminded me to egg noodles in the shape of spaghetti. I washed it down with a glass of Herrod’s champagne. It could only be best described as a decadent meal for the working class-- I mean who has champagne with chicken noodle soup on a bar stool? The entire experience was very enjoyable for a pricey 40 pounds, or $80. We skipped to the patisserie room and E got a chocolate chip cookie and I got a fruit tart—take away.

We needed a walk after all that good food, so we headed to Waterloo to begin the “heart walk” which would take us past many of the wonderful and historic sights of London, including: the Eye, over Kensington Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Trafalgar Square, and ending at Leicester Square. It was a nice brisk day for a walk.

We went back to the Park Lane to relax and gear up for the Purdue game. We have a little gadget called the Slingbox that redirects the signal from our cable box in our home in the US to our laptop anywhere in the world! It allows us to watch all of our cable TV shows as well as operate our Tivo remote to record and watch shows as if we were at home. We love it! To accompany the game, I ordered afternoon tea service complete with scones, French pastries, assorted finger sandwiches, jam, marmalade, clotted cream, butter and peppermint tea. (What a very “civilized” way to watch the game sipping peppermint tea.) We saw Purdue beat Northwestern at our Homecoming game. It was a sweet victory.

We went to a late dinner at a neighborhood bar, Henry’s (E likes to pronounce it Anh-Rees) Café and Bar for dinner. E got the fish and chips, which we swear was an entire half of a fish) and I got the Thai chicken curry. For a bar, Henry’s offered a great place for ambiance and food. The bar was back splashed in a red crimson paint, with framed mirrors on the wall and stained glass windows on the ceilings. E commented that based on our surroundings, we could not immediately tell that we were sitting in a bar in London instead of someplace in the US. And in fact, I couldn’t.

Sun, 10/28: It was my last day in London and I was growing quite sad. We headed out to Convent Garden adjacent to the Soho area, a neighborhood that we haven’t spent any time. It was an enchanting area, with little corner pubs and a marketplace that sold everything from luggage to custom made rocks?!

We headed to the game at around 2:30 PM. Kickoff was at 5:00 PM. The underground journey took only 35 minutes, and the train was slowly getting filled with football fans. The fan base was very diverse, probably around a 70/30 ratio of British to American fans were present. Though you could probably not call it until they spoke. Many folks who I thought were Americans wearing their favorite team’s football jerseys from the Saints to the Steelers were speaking with British accents.

The game was being held at Wembley Stadium. It opened just this year in March. With 90,000 seats the stadium has the second largest capacity in Europe, and the largest in the world with every seat under cover. The stadium is also the most expensive stadium ever built.

The Miami Dolphins were playing the NY Giants during a Dolphins home game week. It is the first time that a regular season game has been held outside of the US. The field was painted as if it were a home game at home, with “Dolphins” painted on the end zones.

It was a good game, though low scoring game-- the Giants beat the Dolphins 13-10.

We have been to London previously, and I think that it was most enjoyable this occasion as I think it felt more leisurely. My fondness for the London has grown and we look forward to another trip back…Cheers!