Tuesday, October 9, 2007

London in Summation












OK, so our London adventure was not seamless. One could say it was disastrous, but I would not. Humor forbids it. But the trip did improve in every respect, and that’s what I remembered after it was over, when I began this blog sequence.

Yet London was full of laughs and delights — the live-like plague-rat puppet purchased from The Globe gift store, which Jan used to torment her younger brother into fits of laughter; The absurd justification by the owner of our expensive Kensington flat as to why he did not provide soap, shampoo, tea or sugar; The British Museum’s Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles (pillaged from Greece and still controversial); Discovering architect John Soan’s surprising house/museum; The view from the Tate Modern’s restaurant, where we walked in without a reservation, just before it opened at 6pm, and were seated at the window; Westminster Abbey after it was closed to the public; and, most especially, the company of friends:

Di and Andre are an artistic English couple living in Wales who, in 1992, took a shower at our mountain home west of Denver (since the distant relative they were visiting had no running water) and drove the three hours from their hilltop farm to spend the evening with us in London. “It was the least we could do,” they said.

Jonathan, a man I met via the internet only a few months before while attempting to rent a flat in Paris — of which he has a gorgeous one in the Marais but it was not available for our dates — drove from the northeast side of London to meet us for a drink at a Kensington pub on our last evening.

Ben, a friend-of-a-friend who came through Santa Fe three years ago and stayed at our home, guided us with brilliant narrative through Soho, Trafalgar Square, St. James and Green Parks on a Friday night, after pints and great Indian food. Then, he spent Sunday afternoon with us wandering Southwalk amid street performers, big bronze statues and riding “The Eye,” a bird’s eye view of the sprawl of London.

To have better appreciated the history and architecture, we would have needed more time, more guidance and a more-comfortable bed. Four days, including two in the daze of jet lag, is not enough. For people traveling to London (or any major city you do not know) for just a few days, I recommend a tour — it’s more cost effective and less stressful than my do-it-yourself approach.

No comments: