Little Details of No Interest

We have TWO credit cards cash register slips from Lillywhite's Sports Store that say: "Piccadilly LW Unit A Mansfield Brook Park East. THIS TRANSACTION HAS BEEN CANCELLED." Not one, but two. The person checking us out after we bought the London Olympic tee shirts, had a lot of trouble with the machine and kept apologizing.

On the London Tube Map, on the section CHECK BEFORE YOU TRAVEL it says: "Emirates Greenwich Peninsula: Fare Zone to be Confirmed. I have no idea what this means. I think this is the Jubilee Line that goes from Stanmore to Stratford via Dollis Hill, Swiss Cottage, Bermondsey,  Canning Town, and Bromley-By-Bow. Don't you just love the English place names?

Aoki is the name of the Japanese children's book we bought at Foyles. The author is Annalore Parot.

Richard went to a Peace Sit-In in Trafalgar Square.

This was a huge gathering of Peace Activists. People who are Active in the War Against War. People on fire, who have to cool their flames. And, if you make an anagram of the Zen master's name, it comes out as: Hatch Hah Ninth. This means nothing at all. The master says: "If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace." This has a very non-Jewish ring to it. Where is the suffering we are supposed to enjoy, the guilt? I am reminded of the man who goes to the doctor: "Doctor, I am having trouble pee-ing." The doctor asks, "How old are you?" The man replies: "I am 75 years old." The doctor says: "You've pee-d enough in your life."

In the middle of Soho, there is a restaurant called Nusa Dua, "Pan Asian Cuisine in the heart of Soho." And, what is it really? It is a good, old-fashioned (but up market) Indonesian restaurant, just like every corner of every street in every town and city of The Netherlands. Just like Mirasa Restaurant in The Hague owned by Oom Joop with 7 tables and all the cooking down by his wife, Fani, in the teeny kitchen.  Pan Asian, my foot.

ONE MAN, TWO GUV'NORS. This was the funniest show we saw. Pure old-time slapstick and fast lines and great jokes. We loved it so much, that, luckily, we found out, when we returned home that the National Theatre production for American cinemas was being played here in Miami. Yes, on my birthday, May 19, we will go to the Coral Gables Art Cinematique and see the original cast perform the play. So we get to see it twice, with two casts. Bravo National Theatre!

The Official London Theatre Guide lists all the comedies, dramas, entertainments, and musicals in London. What didn't we see? BLOOD BROTHERS, CHICAGO, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, WIZARD OF OZ, or MAMA MIA in the musical category. HAY FEVER, NOISES OFF, or THE LADY KILLERS in comedies. THE WOMAN IN BLACK, THE MADNESS OF GEORGE III, WAR HORSE, THE PITMAN PAINTERS in dramas. STOMP or MIDNIGHT TANGO in entertainment. We didn't see THE LION KING, ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, or BEYOND BALLET RUSSES; PROGRAM 2.  Okay, next time, maybe.

Judy had come to London from Vienna, where she stayed for two nights at the Ibis Wien Mariahilf hotel and one night at the Hotel NH Vienna Airport. She had such an early flight to London that it was smarter to be at the airport that last night. She did have one shopping adventure, on a rainy day, she stepped into a neighborhood market store (the kind that sells everything under the sun) and looked for a cheap raincoat. There was a pile of raincoats in a bin that said, "5 Euros". She rummaged and found a lovely red short raincoat that was not only good, but cute (and cheap). She took it to the cashier, but it was really Euros 29! What?? But, she needed it (and it was cute) so she bought it. Now, here in Miami, everyone says, "Where DID you get that cute raincoat?"

My wedding ring. Here's the final story. Richard contacted Pieter (the apartment owner) and they met. Pieter gave Richard the ring. Richard photographed the ring on his pinky and brought it to America on the airplane. He mailed me the ring from Cornell somewhere UPS. No worries. We are good friends with the UPS delivery man here(a nice, friendly guy). It didn't come. I called UPS tracking: "Where's my package?" "Oh, yes sir," the lady said. "There was NO apartment number on the package so the delivery man could not deliver it." Yikes. I gave her the apartment number and because of the miracle of modern communications, she contacted the driver IN his truck and gave him the number. Later that afternoon, he knocked on the door and said to us, "I knew it was you because you told me about the loss of your wedding ring, so I was coming back here anyway. Here's the ring." Thanks UPS and a big thanks to Pieter and a bigger thanks to Richard.

Leicester Square in London is being renovated. It is filled as usual with thousands of tourists. There is a large construction fence blocking off the main square, so you have to walk around the fence and through the people and it is crowded like an elevator. What saves it (a bit) is a brand new store: The M&M Museum and store. A huge two story building with nothing but M&M products in every size and shape you can imagine. Except the normal little M&M packages, of course, y buy a pack that weighs two pounds. But there is a London Bus.

"Gee, I didn't know that was in my suitcase." "It's not a crime to bring a wedding present into England is it?"  A TV show that was fascinating was the reality show: Sydney Airport or Luton Airport. In Sydney, Australia, people tried to bring in all sorts of things, but no serious smuggling. In Luton Airport in London, serious smuggling went on. It was fun to watch the people being caught in the act. One man and his wife (in their 60s) returned from a weekend in France with two suitcases FILLED with cigarettes in cartons. The man got angry when the Customs officer confiscated the 20 cartons. "What's wrong? We smoke a lot of cigarettes." When the ladies purse was opened and the man's little travel pack was opened, there were no cigarettes or lighters at all. "I thought you were heavy smokers," the officer asked. "So where are the cigarettes or matches for your personal use?" The man said, "I dislike that question! It is not your business when or how I smoke." This was the wrong thing to say, right? The choice given is simple: either pay a hefty fine or abandon the booty. They argued, but abandoned the cigarettes. In another case, a man with a Turkish passport had FIVE LARGE duffel bags filled to the brim with cartons of cigarettes. He had no excuses, no reason. He just stood there not speaking when asked: "Did you bring these cigarettes to sell here?" He just stood there and finally signed a paper that he was abandoning the haul. The officer said to him, "We now have copies of all your official documents and a report of today's incident, so if you reappear at any British Customs Office, with a quantity of cigarettes, you will face criminal charges." And, the last funny scene was a man from Hong Kong who was bringing a wedding cake from China to his family in England for an upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, the cake was a Birds' Nest Basket, and it is absolutely illegal to import this to England. He was given the choice to abandon it, but it was very very expensive, OR to pay to have it mailed back to Hong Kong to his family. Guess what he did.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Our three alarms woke us up at 5:30 (our two cell phones AND my travel alarm clock). What had to be done?
Shower, shave and all that for both of us.
Empty the fridge of left over cheese, orange juice, and who remembers what. Wash and dry the glasses from last night. Wipe down the sink area. I had purchased garbage bags for the apartment and so we could load up our last bit of trash.

The suitcases needed a final PACK of the toiletries and zipped and bolted shut. The bed made. The bathroom checked. A final look around for my wedding ring (no luck). Check the closets another time. And everything done and it was 6:28. And we had until 7 to wait for the cab. Can we sit down and wait? No. We have to decide how to get the suitcases downstairs quietly. Although Judy said, "I really don't care if we have to bump them down stairs, I don't want to fall." And I agreed it was death to fall with the suitcases. The question is: do we let them go ahead of us in case they fall, or do we go down backwards with the suitcases UP the stairs? It seemed crazy to keep the heavy suitcases behind us. So we would let them go first and we would follow them. Okay, easy, BUT do we go together downstairs and then let one person wait at the bottom inside the door to the street to guard them. "Oh, no one will be awake so early on Sunday," I said. But, what if someone comes IN the door and sees two unguarded suitcases? What if? Do we leave Judy there, vulnerable to an attack from some hoodlum? What to do? What to do?

We finally decided to take them both down at the same time and leave them there. What the hell! And then go back up for the carry on bags and the garbage and make a final look around.  So we did that. Bumpety Bumpety Bump. Twisty turny. SLOWLY SLOWLY and a bit noisily down the stairs. I had the garbage with me so I opened the door to drop it on the street in the city trash collection space and THERE WAS THE MINI CAB, early! We said hello to the driver and gave him the suitcases and told him we had to go back upstairs. No problem he told us.

No problems at all. Breather. Back up stairs. We were getting strong like mountain goats now so the trip up was much easier with each passing day. Into the room. Get everything out into the hallway outside the apartment door. Back inside for the final look around. Whew! Everything clean and everything we own outside. Leave the keys on the table by the TV with a thank you note to Pieter, the landlord. (and a secret thanks to Airbnb, the organizing company). Close the door. No going back in now.

Down stairs to find the suitcases in the cab and the driver waiting. It was raining a bit and we jumped into his car for the trip. The company is the WEST END CAR SERVICES. "24 hour Minicab -Chauffeurs-Courier-Car Hire. Officially licensed private hire operator. Licensed by Transport for London, No. 04769/01/01. Public Carriage Office. 47 Rupert Street London W1D 7PD." VERY fancy stuff, eh? Impressive. Well, the driver told us right off the bat, "This is the first time I have ever driven to Heathrow Terminal 4. I just arrived in England 3months ago to study English." "Oh, where did you come from?" "I come from Afghanistan." (silent: "Oh yes?") "I studied Accounting for three years in Enschede in Holland. Do you know Holland?" We almost cheered!

We ended up speaking Dutch the whole way to the airport! It was an interesting ride for two reasons. First, because out of the clear blue sky were three people who were NOT Dutch, all speaking Dutch and laughing about patats met. But, second, that the driver had never been to Heathrow Four and so he had his GPS to help him, but there was a lot of road construction and the GPS didn't help. At times, he drove very slowly trying to read the signs for the airport. It gave us a funny feeling that maybe he might miss it. But, at last, he turned onto a highway that said "HEATHROW FOUR" and we were suddenly there. We said our "Tot Ziens" and went into the airport building. Now, the flight was for 9:00 and it was only about 7:45 so, as usual, we had a LOT of time after we dropped the bags. When we checked in, I asked the agent if he could please find us two seats together since it was our 50th wedding anniversary and well.....you know. So, he congratulated us and fixed the deal.

We walked up and down for a while and finally sat down with a pot of tea and some of the delicious Raisin and Oatmeal biscuits. Then the flight was called for boarding.  When we got on the plane, we discovered that it was EMPTY. We were sitting in the two seats on the left of the aisle and the central four seats on ALL rows were empty. Seats in front of us and behind us were empty. I think there were only 100 people on the whole plane. Great for sleeping and eating and drinking and sleeping(I mean trying to sleep). On Delta, there is a personal movie/TV/music screen for each passenger, so I could watch 3 movies easily and then put on a classical radio station and snore away. (Oh, by the way, I collect airplane blankets that make great nap blankets at home in Miami) And then we were home in Miami. Early in the afternoon in a HOT, MUGGY climate. End of the trip.

Busy Last Day After Ten O'Clock

A nice, balmy night and our last night in London. Alice was away and we had to get back to the apartment on Rupert Street.

We walked back slowly. Remember, walking with Richard in London is like entering a maze: it seems impossible to go in a straight line for more than one block. If I am right, we crossed Oxford Street, went down Argyll Street to Great Marlborough Street, down Carnaby Street to Ganton Street, down Kingly Street to Beak Street, up to Lexington Street to Brewer Street and finally we were at the top of Rupert Street. The night was pleasant and we walked slowly. We got to the door at about 10:30 and it was just too plain early to go to sleep, although we had to get up at 5:30 or 6:00 for the minicab.

What did sensible people like us do? We went into the Asian Supermarket and bought a small (we should have gotten a big one) of Jack Daniels AND a bag of pistachio nuts (which disappeared in five minutes). We went upstairs to relax and talk about life.

Well, well, well. Here we three are. A full week of fun behind us. A day ahead in lines at airports and with swollen feet on the long flight. We had a hell of a time at the theater and opera and eating (I gained 2 pounds I found out when I got home) and walking around and UP and DOWN the stairs on Rupert Street. Now we could relax. There were no whiskey glasses, so I got two wine glasses and one water glass. Judy wanted only a little, and Richard and I used the wine glasses. Judy spoke on the phone with someone and we had our first drink: Here's To London! Richard began talking to me about his business plans. He is in a situation now where he is excited about the next step in the development of the business into one where he expands his expertise in advising governments (and small business owners) how to think about and market their products. As he talked and got more into the whole spiel, he ate all the damn pistachio nuts. I had four. Judy had none. They disappeared down his throat like he was hungry.

Judy got off the phone and we had our real first toast (and the two Richard's second drink). Richard had been with me to see MASTERCLASS(where we both cried) and LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT(where the three of us were breathless with the tension) AND for many dinners, lunches and snacks AND for walks at speed around Soho AND laughs. Now it was time for us to ask him a LOT of questions about his plans. So, we began to talk and he began to talk and we continued drinking and it was suddenly midnight.

Here he is. And that's BEFORE all the Jack Daniels.

Richard left and we cleaned up and went to sleep. Up at 5:30/6:00.