Karin's friend went on her own today, so that left her to go with Bob and me. The three of us have traveled together to St. Petersburg, Berlin, Rome, Florence, and Venice, but none of these provided the lessons she needed in London to fit in.
First, get used to the London tube. It feels as if you're headed to the center of the earth. Then, when we buy tickets to West End shows at the discount ticket office in Leicester Square, be sure to queue up. Wait your turn. We picked up tickets for tonight to "Billy Elliot." Karin got tickets for tomorrow night's "The 39 Steps."
We then went to the National Gallery to visit some old friends--Rembrandt, Velazquez, Caravaggio. Then, after a quiet lunch in the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields Church, we stopped by the gelato shop that Bob discovered yesterday where he found his Holy Grail of flavors, frutti di bosco. Thus fortified, we headed to the National Portrait gallery to visit some more old friends--Elizabeth I, Winston Churchill, Samuel Johnson, E. M. Forster.
On the way to the second museum, Karin, now properly trained, saw another queue and promptly joined it . . . until the headmistress said,
First, get used to the London tube. It feels as if you're headed to the center of the earth. Then, when we buy tickets to West End shows at the discount ticket office in Leicester Square, be sure to queue up. Wait your turn. We picked up tickets for tonight to "Billy Elliot." Karin got tickets for tomorrow night's "The 39 Steps."
On the way to the second museum, Karin, now properly trained, saw another queue and promptly joined it . . . until the headmistress said,
"Terribly sorry, no more room on the bus."
