Wednesday, July 18

This was the day we had planned to spend at the British Library. We left the house a little late and stopped by Starbucks to grab some internet time, reserve a Paris hotel, and scarf a quick lunch and lattes before we headed to the tube station. We traveled to Euston station and became riders on the longest escalator ride ever.



The British Library is enormous and a stunning structure. Michael was directed to the registration to get his reader’s card. He was granted a three-year readers card and we sent him off to the rare books & manuscripts room for what must have felt like a research party. He spent hours identifying 23 documents that he wants to request a look-see in one of their reading rooms – he’ll definitely be heading back next week.

Grace & I explored all the floors and settled in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery to see the treasures exhibit with more than 250 historic documents. We strolled through sacred texts, historical, science, music and literature manuscripts, including the Magna Carta, Shakespeare’s First Folio and Beatles’ song lyrics written by hand. They have amazing computer programs that let you “turn the pages” of rare notebooks and journals. We looked through Mozart’s journal while listening to a few bars of music through the audio files. Next we turned the pages of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Underground with his beautiful hand-drawn illustrations. We couldn’t wait to tell Michael about the poetry and manuscript pages from Virginia Wolfe, Dickens, Henry James and Bronte.









By the time we rendezvoused it was practically dinner time so we consulted the trusty tube map & our favorite “cheap eats” guide to identify a few places in Soho that sounded good. I really wanted to find Yming, a Chinese place around the Soho theatre district. After a few missed turns and a double-back we found it and despite no reservation, we were seated at a window table and treated very well.

As we sipped drinks, we heard the owner great someone at the door and welcome him back to London. Grace paled a little and her eyes were wide with excitement. She turned to me and said, “I swear that’s Tim Curry!” I assured her Tim Curry was much taller than the guy who just walked in. But she continued to look in the direction of his table and we asked Michael to discretely turn, look and give his opinion. He said, “I think that is Tim Curry.” It appeared he was eating alone but it wasn’t long before he stepped outside and I panicked thinking my chance to get a picture had just slipped away. As I was trying to shoot a photo from my seat the people seated next to us were realizing something was going on. The man looked toward the window and said “Oh, that’s what is happening.” He & his dining companion said we were actually sitting at Tim Curry’s preferred table and they had momentarily thought Michael was him when we sat down. Tim should be complimented!



Anyway, I grabbed a notebook and headed to the door as Tim smoked a cigarette and waved to a few people on the street. I asked for his autograph and he graciously agreed, asking for my name. I headed back to the table, triumphant and smiling. Still, we figured no one would believe it without photographic evidence. The restaurant’s owner came over and said he could take a photo after Mr. Curry finished his dinner. Michael figured this was the owner’s way of telling me to leave him alone to eat! So we ordered a pot of tea and Grace ordered dessert just to make sure we didn’t leave too soon. Mr. Curry stepped outside and the owner gave us the signal. I handed over the camera and turned back to make sure Grace & Michael were coming too. No, those ninnies decided they were too shy! Grace said it was “my moment.” So here’s the proof and what a night!

Tuesday, July 17

We maneuvered our way through the tube, Circle Line to Westminster, and emerged from underground right at Big Ben. Even after all the pictures you’ve seen of it, the sight is still incredible. The weather was beautiful, sunny but breezy. We headed down Millbank to Westminster Abbey, snapped this shot of Michael with the statue of Oliver Cromwell. As we walked down the sidewalk, Big Ben started ringing out the time and we realized it was noon so we stopped to listen to all twelve clangs.








After crossing the street Michael & Grace studied the sun dial of sorts. A Shakespeare quote is engraved around this calendar.

At Westminster Abbey we found out there’s no photography allowed so we don’t have any shots of all that we saw. It was very crowded and single-file lines through many of the tomb rooms. Michael was thrilled to stand in the Poets Corner where Chaucer’s tomb was constructed in 1556. Browning and Dickens are buried here too, and monuments to many other writers – Keats, Henry James, T. S. Eliot. Altogether there are more than 120 writers, actors, poets and artists buried or memorialized. We sat in the quiet Cloisters and shot these photos.








As we returned out to the street it was raining and we headed in a direction that we hoped would hold lunch options. After consulting our trusty map we decided to move by tube to a different area. But right across from the tube station we discovered The Feathers, a lovely pub with a great menu of sausages. However we were ready for our first London fish & chips. With lots of squirts of malt vinegar and we devoured lunch. Michael washed his down with one of their ales, a Timothy Taylor’s Landlord brew, that they claimed was Madonna’s favorite. Home for an afternoon nap and/or reading time.

That evening we at an amazing place called Giraffe, an eclectic place with vegetarian options but fantastic mexi-exotic dishes. We ordered some delicious tostado and enchiladas, then sat and discussed our train trip to Paris on Saturday.

British Museum

Most of Monday we were at the British Museum. We'll add more about our experiences and musings but for now here are the photos:

Our View

Here's what we see out the windows of our flat.

Saturday became Monday....

Our trip across the pond went very smoothly, no delays, no problems. The only challenge was dragging our suitcases through the tube station and then up some pretty steep stairs. Probably wouldn't have seemed like as bad if we'd had any sleep. We made it to the flat and then down to Kensington High Street for a quick meal. Amazingly we were able to get a few groceries before we all collapsed and slept through Sunday. Michael did pull himself out of the fog long enough to get some coffee for us to make the next day. Grace & I emerged around 9:00 pm LT(London Time) and we feasted on bagette & brie. So that's how Saturday became Monday.