Tell Me Something Good

In an effort to stay awake Tuesday afternoon, I joined friends for happy hour down at the pool, figuring if I am talking I won't fall asleep. It worked. Launching into some of our challenges, Susan piped up saying, "tell me something good!" And so I shall.

We were most grateful that Michelle was able to take us to the airport and while waiting I asked B to take my photo in my entirely blue outfit. She pulled up, saying, "let me take one of the two of you!"

My blue suitcase was already in the trunk of her car! As you also well know, all of the travel that Bruce did in his work life left us with some perks, one of which is airline miles allowing us to use them for first class seats, something we would never be able to afford on our own. It was very nice although for the life of me I could never figure out all of the buttons in my little cocoon.

We left our home around noon on Monday, and after a five hour layover in NYC, we arrived in London around 11 in the morning. In other words, in spite of our cushy seats, it is still a very long day. Matt had taken the train out to Heathrow, guiding us through the airport maze, and we boarded the train into the city, specifically a Hilton hotel (also points) about two blocks from the Tate Modern which was our first stop after dropping off our bags.

Count me excited to see this in person!

Apparently the trick after such a long flight and time change is to keep on moving, so we did. After a trip on the Underground we arrived near the National Gallery where we saw some fantastic art, a fact that does not even need saying. Matt gave us a bit of an art education while we were there.

Don't you just love the ceiling detail, a theme that would be repeated in all the grand places we visited. After a bit of wandering through the galleries, we made our way outdoors to Trafalgar Square, a place most any visitor to London includes in their itinerary. Vancouver is no London, but seeing so many people wandering about reminded me again of why I loved our time there so much.

Of course the weather was pleasant, so that helped bring folks out.

I think this makes our fifth trip to London so having photographed many of the major sights, on this trip I thought I might try and give a sense of the scale of the city. Photographing the lions gave me just that opportunity.

From there we walked down the street seeing these Stop Brexit protestors adjacent to Number 10 Downing Street. If you are wondering what Matt and Tom think of Brexit, they do no approve.

As we walked I kept lagging behind which is why I have so many photographs of my men from the back, including this shot with

the Union Jack, Parliament, and the iconic red box. Eventually we made our way back to the hotel where the street next to it is this!

Should you not know, my maiden name is Price! Tom met us after work, we had an early supper, and back to the hotel for these tired folks who slept very well Tuesday night!

Another thing I thought might be fun is to photograph the hotel lobbies where we stayed. I watched a woman arranging these beautiful flowers,

and here's the cool furniture.

Apparently while the hotel was being constructed a fox kept hanging around the building site which gave them the idea for a bit of a woodland theme carried over in the lobby bathroom, the doors of which were almost hard to figure out how to open.

That's a theme also repeated endlessly, figuring simple things out, AND remembering where I put my tube card or my hotel card. Honestly, it makes me feel so stupid, but that seems to be the way it is when traveling. Some folks call it part of the adventure, and perhaps that is true, but I just felt like a dummy. 😁

How about this?

It's not every day that I see something with my name on it! Look at these gorgeous baked goods!!!

As an aside, I've just finished making some chocolate chip cookies pre-storm, as well as some blueberry muffins that are waiting in the freezer should we lose power. Don't know what I'm talking about? Hurricane Dorian is allegedly heading our way. Where did they come up with that name? Does not roll easily off the tongue.

Back to the trip.....

Because going to Dover was out of the question, instead we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum spending hours there, but first we had to take the tube and get out of the station. It's crowded my friends. Good thing Matt is a bit taller than some so we were able to keep him in sight!

The first room we visited was furniture which turned out to be fortuitous as we learned about different styles and methods of furniture making. While in Copenhagen this bit of knowledge served us well which I'll tell you about when we travel there together.

Naturally we were delighted by the huge Chihuly chandelier for two reasons: one, it is stunning, and two because during our very first visit to London we saw a large Chihuly exhibit at the V&A, our introduction to his amazing glass work.

The courtyard is nearly as beautiful as the inside of the museum.

Following lunch, Matt took us to the Cast Court, something we knew nothing about. As we entered we watched a woman cleaning an old column which looked like exacting work to me.

This area was roped off as they were working on well, I don't know what to call it. Maybe an altar?

The line shows how far they have come. Honestly everything in there was interesting with great little videos explaining how they make plaster casts, as well as metal casting. This cast of "David" is probably the closest I will ever come to seeing the original.

This is an unbelievable dress made in the 40's we saw while passing through a Korean exhibit. Super cool, right? All individual pieces!

Guiding us back to our hotel, Matt went home to Tom for dinner, but not before telling us about a nearby restaurant he thought we'd like. All I can tell you is it was Italian and very tasty. We walked back to the hotel in a light rain.

After a good night's sleep and we were off to Scandinavia which I can hardly with to share with you in my next post. Should you have missed the first trip post, you can find it here.

In the meantime, I'm thinking positive about the hurricane, more so than my beloved husband. But you knew that already, didn't you?

your friend,

Gail

p.s. I hope I told you something good!