London Blog

Our last night in London (our only night in London!) was spent at the Shafesbury Kensington Hotel in a very small room. It had an unusual bathroom set up—a large wooden bowl was the sink under a large u-shaped nozzle. The bathtub-shower had control in the center of the left wall of the tub that showed you the degrees of heat in Celsius as to how hot the shower water would be. I scaled myself until I figured it out. It is good to shower after long bus rides I have found.

We ate dinner at Masa;a Café and the menu helpfully pointed out that Masala meant “spice,” as helpful as knowing that Chutney means “mixture.” Anyway, I ordered the Masala Vegetarian Soup with Noodles and Nan; mom got the chicken enbroildega (or something like that). From there we had to get change to ride the underground to the airport so we bought cherry-almond croissants and made tea in our room.

As a nightcap we watched episode one of Sean Bean in Sharpe’s Challenge. Shrapre is a character Bean has played 17 times in British TV movies and he is fun to watch. Basically he is an ex-British officer who served in India in the 1820s, spreading the Empire, but has a conscience and behaves like part-Mal Reynolds (Serenity) and part Indiana Jones. If I see these coming to America I will get a few.

We skipped the continental breakfast (which actually pretty good in Cambridge) and headed to the airport at 6:15AM. We got the Piccadilly Line for £3 each, expecting to pay twice as much. So more pounds to get rid of at the airport, which we did on coffee, croissants, candy bars—but splurged for midAM lunch from Pret-a-Manger. I like their ginger beer (like ginger “ale”) and their All-Day Breakfast Sandwich. I bought the t-mobile one-hour internet access, trading mail with Mike at 5AM (!) his time, and checked out the standings in Fantasy Baseball, the MLB, and the NBA playoffs.

I noticed in the overseas USA Today a special feature on Chloe from 24, so she must still be alive! On the plane I watched and cried at Nanny McPhee, and watched the end of Syriana. Not much else left to watch. According to the little airplane on my screen, we are over the Atlantic, and flying just south of Greenland.

When we arrive (and of course if you are reading this. . . . it means we have!) we will got see what the house looks like, get some supper, watch some Astros, Cavs, Prison Break, and 24, the sleep late, and try to enjoy what’s left of my “leave” (till next Tuesday). Thanks for praying for us. Xoxoxoxox