Days 118 - 126 (July 2 – July 10, 2013): London, England

The Quick Facts

* Our last port of call: the familiar London, England
* Had an impressive week, I must say: went to Wimbledon, saw the Book of Mormon with front row seats for $30/each, and had dinner at a 2-star Michelin rated restaurant
* Stayed at the apartments of two friends who were gracious (and patient) enough to host us, to whom we are exceedingly grateful: Alissa (Carrie’s childhood friend, see our time in Berlin) and Andrew (another old friend from my high school days)

The Good:

* Wimbledon, by far the highlight of our time in London.  I have wanted to go since I was in grade school (which, sadly, was a long time ago) so feel very lucky that Carrie was able to snag tickets online during that ~3 nanosecond window a small number of tickets become available for sale to the general public each day
* Book of Mormon – yep, we saw that too.  How?  Carrie won tickets in a lottery the show holds every day before the show (she’s on a roll, don’t think I didn’t entertain of the notion of stealing her away to Monaco for a run at the craps tables!).  Front row, center.  $30 each.  If you’re ever in London, it’s free to enter the lottery and you just may win seat too!  I think they may do the same thing in NYC too.
* Stonehenge – it’s a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere, but for me it was still cool to see.
* The beauty that is London – from the regal buildings of Westminster to the exciting-the-kid-in-everyone coolness of Windsor Castle to the serenity of Hyde Park – London continues to show why it is one of the greatest cities in the world

The Bad:

* The USD/Pound exchange rate…my gosh, have you checked that thing lately?  Ouch.

With somewhat heavy hearts, we took the Eurostar train from Brussels to London for what would be our last port of call on the trip.  We did have good friends to see, and some cool days ahead of us which made the fact that our trip was coming to an end a little easier to accept.

 

The coolest thing, for me anyway, was being able to go to Wimbledon and watch a match on the famed Centre Court.  The experience was everything I hoped it would be and more.  Why more?  Because the staff at Wimbledon are off-the-charts friendly.  Truly.  When I went to take our picture in Centre Court back where our seats were (which were literally in the back of the stadium), a security guard not only offered to take our picture but encouraged us to move down closer to the court so we could have a better shot.  That’s just one example.  It really made for a pleasant day, not to mention the great tennis and, of course, strawberries and cream!

 

This is Fred Perry...at the time I took this picture, he was the last Brit to win Wimbledon (in 1936).  Andy Murray changed all of that a few days later.

 

And, as I mentioned, Carrie won us tickets to go see the Book of Mormon.  Here she is outside celebrating her triumph….she may want to speak with you about a great book that will change your life!

 

We also got out to Windsor Castle (with Carrie's friend Alissa), which I had been to before but still inspires the boy in me – it’s just really cool with its grand halls, moats, and medieval weaponry.  No pictures inside, which is a bummer.

And what trip wouldn’t be complete without taking in the traditional sites?  “Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.”

Buckingham Palace...

 

Trafalgar Square

Looks who's on a Lion!

 

We also took a boat ride down the Thames which provided the opportunity to see some cool stuff.

 

The boat ride ended in Greenwich, which is where the Prime Meridian is….here’s me straddling between two hemispheres!

 

And I went to Stonehenge, just because I had to see it.  It is what it is, a pile of rocks, but to be out there trying to imagine what they used it for is kind of cool.  I’m glad I went.

 

 

There is a bit of a “Field of Dreams” aspect to it too, since it’s truly in the middle of nowhere in a field with one road leading in and out.  Here’s the scene, it reminds me of the last minute of Field of Dreams as people are lining up to come watch “the baseball men” in Ray Kinsella’s corn field.

 

To cap off our trip, we had dinner at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (which offers a decently-priced pre-theater menu).  Two Michelin stars, and deservedly so.  A wonderful dinner to top off a wonderful trip.

 

And that’s that kiddos.  Stay tuned for one or two more posts on the trip in the days/weeks ahead.  Thanks for coming along with me!  For now, I’ll end this blog as it began: with a picture of Carrie, the best site in every city and without whom this experience certainly would never have happened.  Thanks for inspiring just a little bit of crazy (uh, the good kind!).

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