Our flight was uneventful and all the transfers worked as planned.
The traffic coming in from Heathrow was as expected, hideous. I’ll take LA rush hour – At least you are not driving on the left although what we were doing could hardly be called driving.
Our check in time was noon and we arrived at the hotel at 9. In a totally zombie state we set off to reconnoiter the area around our hotel – Lime Tree Hotel. Our first objective was to walk to Sloan Square Underground Station as that would be our most likely jumping off place for our tours. Along the way, we passed Victoria Coach Station and found a stand with a young man selling SIM cards so I have a new temporary phone number 07445719345 while in England (and Scotland) or you could send email.
Eventually we got our room and had a chance to clean up and rest a bit before taking a cab to the Shard View. This may be the tallest building in the UK or maybe even Europe at 72 stories. There is an excellent 360 degree view of London, weather permitting. If I show you the pictures you will be none the wiser, its a large city with a large river winding through it. Having had a large breakfast and a reasonable lunch we elected to skip dinner and get some sleep.
Day 2 we had breakfast at the Buttery in our hotel and caught a cab to the Royal Globe Theater for a “Behind the Scenes” Tour. It was more like sitting in the theater while a very talented tour guide tells us the history and stories about the theater and Shakespear. Carol and I got a bit of actual behind the scenes as she elected to get a wheelchair and part of where we went was not accessible and a manager took us very much behind the scenes to access a large elevator intended to move props.
We left the theater (or should that be theatre) for a short walk to the Tate Modern. We spent a couple of hours in the galleries and had lunch in their lovely cafe. From there we set out to take the Underground back to the hotel, but we were both so tired I caught a cab for the return.
Cabs are PRICEY! They seem to be running from 25 to 40 pounds depending on traffic. Meals are pricey. However there are no tips. Restaurants add in from 10% to 15% for service and cabs do not have a means to tip on their epay system.
The hotel is small. Our room is compact. It is comfortable and if we were not used to our RV I think we might be unhappy. It is clear that at some point they took a nice sized room and built a bathroom into a part of it. It is on the first floor and is the first room one comes to after leaving the lobby, two steps! The staff are very pleasant and helpful. The Buttery is an attached restaurant serving breakfast and lunch. It is not included in the room rate. We are in Belgravia which is adjacent to West End which is a high end part of London the theaters are all nearby.
Today we came back from the gallery and fell asleep for a couple of hours. When we woke it was too late to book a restaurant so we took a walk down Ebury Street to Chucs where had immediate seating and a delightful meal. Carol had a bowl of vegan pea soup and I had a chicken dish. Also some Irish Whisky – West Cork.
We walked back to the room and are making preparations for tomorrow witha tour of the behind the scenes of the Royal Opera and seeing Hamilton in the Victoria Palace Theatre. We will fill the afternoon with a gallery or museum and maybe a nap.