The tower holding Big Ben with the London Eye in the background. London.
February 14
It was another early morning wakeup call for us. We had to be at the airport by 7 A.M in order to catch out 9 A.M. flight to London. Fortunately, we had packed most of our items the night before. With a quick shower and a final check of the room, we were out the door. The Hotel Adrian’s staff had arranged for a taxi to pick us up. As was the case with the first taxi that picked us up at the Adrian, the driver was waiting for us (and running the meter) when we came down the stairs. We quickly paid our bill and got on our way to the airport.
It seems appropriate to say a quick word about the Hotel Adrian. I was thoroughly impressed with the Adrian. The hotel was conveniently located to all the major attractions in Athens. Also, the rooms were quite comfortable and spacious. I particularly enjoyed the balconies, which allowed me to experience the “neighborhood” aspects of the Plaka. But, I was mostly impressed with the very helpful and friendly staff. They seemed to do all they could to make the stay an enjoyable one. I highly recommend the Adrian Hotel if one is staying in Athens.
Because the traffic was pretty light at that hour of the morning, our driver made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. The trip cost 3,500 drachma, which was reasonable (per Lonely Planet). In all honesty, it didn’t seem that any taxis that we took ripped us off. All of the prices we paid (other than the first trip from the airport to the hotel) were within the boundaries that Lonely Planet specified. Does that mean that the stories of crooked Athens taxi drivers aren’t true? There are too many stories for them to not be true. But, I can say that we didn’t seem to have any problems. Perhaps it was another benefit of travelling out of season.
The British Airways staff at the airport was handing out candy in honor of Valentine’s Day. Of course, I didn’t eat mine because I was getting on a plane. We quickly made it through the check-in. Before we knew it, we were on the tarmac bus headed for our plane. Shortly after that, we were in the air speeding away from Greece. While we were physically departing, we both felt that a piece of Greece would always be in our hearts. Yes, it was crowded, desolate, and even depressing in parts. But, the friendliness of the Greek people, the powerful historical presence, and the amazing understated beauty of the place made us feel justified in selecting Greece for our honeymoon.
We watched CNN while we packed that morning. A weather report came on at one portion of the program. The forecaster said “If you’re working in London today, take the day off. It’s going to be a beautiful 50 degrees in London today.” We both looked at screen and exclaimed “50 degrees?!” We had been use to the low 70 degree temperatures that had existed throughout most of our trip. Compared to those temperatures, 50 sounded very cold. However, it became clear on approach to Heathrow that 50 degrees would be just fine. While we could see evidence of the flooding that had accompanied the heavy rains of the previous two weeks, the London area was bathed in a brilliant sunlight on that morning. It looked like it would be a great day in the City.
We landed on time at Heathrow. After going through the usual thorough body cavity search by British immigration officials, we boarded an Airbus to Russell Square. Our hotel was just off of Russell Square, because we wanted to go to the British Museum. The Airbus had gone up in price since the last time I had used it. It was now ₤6.00 to go from Heathrow to Russell Square. However, the service hadn’t changed. The last time I rode the Airbus, they failed to drop me off at Russell Square and instead took me to St. Pancras station, where I had to get a cab to bring me back to Russell Square. This time, the driver said that he couldn’t go to the drop-off point on the south of Russell Square because the south side was undergoing some road construction. Instead, he would drop us off on the north side and we’d have to walk to our hotel. We managed to trudge our luggage around the square and to the hotel. It certainly wasn’t an easy task, but it was made better by the fact that the weather was so nice.
We got to the Repton Hotel after a 15 minute walk. I finally got to meet the head clerk, Patricia Clement. I had been corresponding with Patricia for a couple of months before the wedding. She had sent me several e-mails in an attempt to make sure that the room would be perfect for a couple of honeymooners. It is always something of a surprise when one finally meets someone that they have been e-mailing, but Patricia turned out to be as charming in person as she was in her letters. She expressed a lot of happiness in finally meeting us. After the pleasantries, she told us that she had reserved one of the larger rooms in the hotel for us. We were happy with the room, but it was on the second floor. Since there’s no lift in the Repton, we had to drag our luggage up two flights of stairs. With the walk around Russell Square and the climb up the stairs, it was no wonder that we collapsed on the beds once we got everything into the room.
Patricia had done a wonderful job of reserving a great room for us. It was on the backside of the hotel, so we didn’t have to hear any traffic noise from the street. Instead, the room overlooked a small park and some of the London University’s buildings. Others may not enjoy looking at row houses, but I love it. It just reminds me that I’m in Great Britain. Anyhow, back to the room. The room itself was cheerfully decorated in yellow, which gave it a spring-like feel. The bathroom was also rather large and comfortable. I’m not sure if it was the biggest room in the hotel, but it certainly seemed to be one of the larger rooms.
After a brief rest, we headed out the door and down the block to the British Museum. Walking through the streets just made me feel alive. The world seemed right because I was back in crowded, dirty, classy London again. The temperature was a little cooler than what it had been in my previous visits, but that didn’t seem to take away from the charm that exists in London. Even Dianne noticed that I seemed a little happier and a lot more confident being in London.
We made it to the British Museum around 1 P.M. We did see the Elgin Marbles (which were the reason for the stop), as well as some of the mummies. I was thoroughly impressed with the new Great Court, and Dianne enjoyed looking artifacts from China. After a two hour stay, we walked over to the Tottenhelm Court tube stop. We made it over to Charing Cross station, and then walked to the post office (so that I could get some stamps for a co-worker) and the National Gallery. I was thrilled to be in the National Gallery again. I had wanted to revisit it because I couldn’t remember if I had seen Paulo Uccello’s “The Battle of San Romano” in my earlier visits. I wanted to make a point of seeing this masterwork on this visit. I did make it to “The Battle of San Romano”, but I also got distracted among the Raphael’s, the Poussin’s, the Velazquez’s, the Turner’s and the Van Gogh’s. By this time, Dianne was suffering from cultural overload. We left the National Gallery to see some other sights. But, I probably could’ve spent the rest of the day just staring at pictures.
One of my favorite views in London is from the porch of the National Gallery. Trafalgar Square is directly in front, the Admiralty Arch is just to the right, St. Martin’s-In-The-Fields is just to the left, and the clock tower for the Houses of Parliament (usually incorrectly called Big Ben) is straight ahead behind Trafalgar Square. While I was enjoying the view of all these landmarks and the people bustling around them, Dianne was scoping the area for a restaurant. It was true that we hadn’t eaten in about 10 hours, so food was appropriate. We strolled down Whitehall looking for a restaurant. We couldn’t decide on anything until we found a McDonald’s not too far from 10 Downing Street. Since we both felt like taking our chances with mad cow disease, we stopped in for a Big Mac.
After our quick bite, we continued strolling down Whitehall. One can’t help walking down this street and not feel the majesty of the British Empire. Stately government buildings surround the tourist. Tucked away in a nondescript side street (or at least it would be nondescript if not for the large black gates and the police in front of those gates) sits the Prime Minister’s residence on 10 Downing Street. In the middle of Whitehall is the Cenotaph, which is a moving tribute to all those who died in World War I. I was playing mad tour guide for Dianne, explaining all of these items to her. She was still suffering from a bit of culture overload, but the fresh air and food in her stomach recharged her enough to make her attentive to my ramblings.
Finally, we reached our destination: the Houses of Parliament. It was now 4:40 P.M. and the sun was starting to sink low in the horizon. The dying sunlight lit up the gold facade of the building perfectly. We stayed long enough to get a couple of pictures and then walked across the street to Westminster Abbey. The Abbey was closed to visitors, but would have its usual Wednesday reopening at 6 P.M. I briefly thought about staying around until it reopened, but figured we might have trouble making our 8 P.M. play time if we didn’t leave. So, we looked at the new statues gracing the front of the church and began heading back to the Westminster tube stop.
Since we could see it rising over the other buildings in the area, we thought we’d go to the riverbank and look at the London Eye. The Eye is a large Ferris Wheel that was build as part of the millennium celebrations. We didn’t go to the Eye, but we did watch it for a bit. I thought it was closed, but then I noticed the flashbulbs going off in the top cars. It was then that I noticed that the Eye simply moves very slowly. It isn’t an obtrusive presence on the London skyline, but it certainly is unique.
We took the tube back to the hotel. I love riding the tube. It is a microcosm of London: crowded, dirty, and full of charm. Dianne wasn’t quite sharing my rose colored impression of the experience, but she did find it to be a handy way for getting around town quickly. We changed our clothes and headed over to Covent Garden, where many of London’s theatres are located. It took a little while, but eventually we found the theatre hosting the production we were going to see. I had called in advance and had two tickets at the will-call window waiting for us. There was no problem getting our tickets, which was good because the lights dimmed just as we took our seats.
We saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest musical, The Beautiful Game. The story focuses on a boy’s soccer team in Northern Ireland in the 1970’s. The musical follows the lives of several team members as Northern Ireland’s religious strife eventually overwhelms the idealism of their team. I’m not a critic, but I’ll provide a review since no one is here to stop me (I love the uncensored approach of the Internet!!). I would give the play 7 on a scale of 10. The acting was very good, particularly Josie Walker as the female lead. The choreography was clever, especially in the way that a soccer match was turned into a physical dance. The set was also effective, grimly portraying the structural decay that accompanies strife. Lloyd Webber’s score wasn’t his most consistent work, with some out and out clunkers like “Don’t Like You” and “Our First Time”. But, the music did soar on some of the bigger ballads, like “Our Kind of Love.” However, my biggest problem with the play was that it lacked a historical perspective. It seemed like it was trying to make a grand statement about the impact of these events on Irish society, but it couldn’t because that impact is still being developed. As a result, the play falls somewhat flat in the end. I think a lot of other people felt the same way about The Beautiful Game because it closed in September 2001. Still, we felt we had seen a very good night of theatre. Above all, we saw it in London, which was very cool!
We took the tube back to Russell Square and walked to our hotel. We saw several couples walking hand in hand thorough the streets that Valentine’s Day evening, which seem to echo our feelings on this last day of our honeymoon. I was also beginning to miss London, because I knew that we’d be leaving in the morning. We made it back to the hotel and packed our suitcases for the next day’s flight.
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