London day 3 - Sunday - Speakers' Corner, Transportation Museum and Covent Garden

Sunday we got up at 8 again. This morning breakfast was bacon, sausages, toast, eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and tea; Kathryn was feeling better. Pearl the cat came in to say "hi". Breakfast took awhile; we left the house around 10.

We went to Speakers Corner first. Several Christians were speaking, and someone else was speaking against farmers – he got a lot of heckling from a couple of guys. The mad cow problem is growing, and the government is going to have to spend a lot to control it. There were several people speaking at once; they were far enough apart so they didn't override each other, but close enough for listeners to walk from one speaker to another.

We went to Marks and Spencer for tea and cookies, and did some menswear shopping for Randy. Walked down Oxford street, which is the pricey shopping street. We learned there had been a subway bomb in the early morning, which disrupted service in some areas, but not too much in our area.

We went back to Covent Garden Market. It was packed today, and there were several street musicians and performers working the crowd. 

We did some window shopping and bought a little at Crabtree and Evelyn. We went to the Transportation museum next; they have old carriages, trams, busses and underground. I bought a mug here to help me remember the place.

Back on Covent Street where Randy bought us a jacket potato (baked potato) with beans – it was really good.

The weather was cool; we ate sitting on the curb, listening to a good sax player. When we were done, we walked around and found a juggler doing a big show in front of the church; he had a good show and stayed to watch him for a while. Then we went to the covered shopping stalls and I bought a pair of earrings.

Singers who work in the covered eating area are really good; we heard a very good tenor, and a trio of musicians/singers.

Then we went to Tower Hill and walked around Tower of London and over Tower Bridge. There will never come a day when I don't love this beautiful thing.

We walked to St. Katherine’s Dock, where some nice boats were docked there.  We had some good pizza at the dock’s restaurant – ham and cheese, with fottica bread as an appetizer. Then we walked over the Tower Bridge, up the Thames and around to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were tired by then, so we took the Underground to Victoria and caught the train home again. Got back around 9:30 and had tea.

London, Day 2 - Saturday - lots of Markets

Saturday we were up at 8 again. Our bedroom was fairly cool in the morning. For breakfast we had cereal, toast and tea; Kathryn was still sick.

Then we went to Brixton Market, which is a series of stores set in the arches of an old bridge, plus stores across the road, offering fresh fish, beef and clothes. Then we went to the market on Old Compton Road. 

We bought tickets to see the Mousetrap, and walked around Leicester Square. We also went into the Portrait Gallery - it was a nice building, but the artwork wasn't that interesting. 

We were in the mood to explore more markets, so next we went to the Camden Market. 

In one stall we bought some ground chickpeas; Randy had these in Israel and enjoyed them there, but here they weren't very good. So at another stall we had some crepes filled with Nutella and bananas, and they were great! We continued through the other markets, snacking on chips and bread pudding. 

We walked back to Piccadilly Square around 6:30. Since we just snacked for lunch, we were ready for dinner, but we couldn’t find a restaurant there that wasn’t totally smoky or packed. Finally we found a place to get fish and chips – they were OK but a little greasy and pricey. We walked over to Buckingham Palace next, to see it after dark. But it wasn't it lit up very much, which was a surprise; we thought there would be a lot of outside lights on. We were getting tired by then so we went to Victoria Station to catch a train home. A couple of guys got on the train along the way, singing for tips. We got out at our stop and walked home, stopping along the way at a bowling ally/pool hall to buy some Guinness. It was 10 o'clock by the time we home; time for tea and cookies.

London, Day 1 - Thursday, which merged into Friday

On Thursday I picked up a poorboy sandwich for us at Schnucks over lunch. Then after work I picked Randy up at 4 and drop off car. We took the airport bus to the airport and had our sandwich for dinner while we were waiting for our flight. It left around 8:00 pm and we arrived in London at 4 am, their time. Then we took the Gatwick express to Victoria Station where Randy exchanged $100 to pounds, at 15.308 rate plus 9% commission.

Next we took a taxi to Kathryn's house. Unfortunately she has a bad cold. They have been in this house about 1 year and are redoing everything; currently they are plastering downstairs and the stairway.  Upstairs the plastering is partially done; I assume they are not working on it now because we will be there for a few days. She brought up tea and cookies and we unpacked. We walked to the corner and bought soda and subway tickets at an Indian shop, then went from Brixton to Marks and Spencer. Marks and Spencer usually has the best exchange rate; this time it was 14.97 without commission, so we exchanged more cash. We also bought some cookies and cheese for a snack with our soda, which we ate as we walked a long way to the Lebanese area. There we bought a lamb sandwich to share, then walked back to Marble arch to catch the metro home to Brixton.

We gave the family the presents we had brought from home; Barbie dolls and other toys for the little girls Florence and Teddy, and a bottle of wine for Richard and Kathryn. We  went out again and had a baguette sandwich – salami with olive oil, tomatoes, egg and bacon.  Back on the train to the bus and walked home.  Tea around 8:45. Randy went to bed and I read until around 9:30.

8th day and time to leave Rome

Saturday 2/27 The wake up call did not come (again!) but Randy woke up at 6:10 anyway. Breakfast at the hotel - and we were tired of it by now! Mario drove us to the airport (cost 74,000 lira, paid to the hotel). We bought soda and candy and around 9:30 we got on the plane, even though there were police at the boarding point. We never learned why they were there but nothing bad happened. We did had to sit on the plane almost an hour because another plane was waiting to be towed off the runway. Glad we weren't on that plane! We left around 10:30 and got to New York by 2:30 (6 hours behind Roman time). We walked over to check out the terminal next door because it had more stores, got Pizza Hut pizza and picked up some Evelyn and Crabtree lotion. At 6 pm we left for St. Louis. The movies were The Mighty, Men in Black, and Ronin (again). Got home, picked up Runt, and finished the day around 10 pm.

7th day in Rome

Friday 2/26  Up at 9:14, breakfast at the hotel.  On to the metro, and to the Marcus Theater.  It’s the only complete one left, and unfortunately for us, not open to the public yet.  Walking around it, we ended up in the Jewish ghetto.  We stopped at a shoe store but they didn’t have the right size.  We found a square with an statue of marble elephant with an Egyptian obelisk on its back. Don't know what this represents, but we liked it.

Near it was a church named Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It’s a really nice church, well decorated and very colorful inside but not as gold-leafed ornate as most. They did a good job with the stained glass windows here - they are very bright and well placed so the church was well lit inside, and the afternoon sun shown through to make colored circles on the interior columns. One of the church's claim-to-fame is a beautiful Michelangelo sculpture called Christ the Redeemer.

In the church are the usual memorials and one unusual one - a glass coffin with a saint's relics. She is Santa Wittoria and here she is, posed in a surprisingly flirty manner with her left hand on her hip and her right hand supporting her head...or rather, supporting her skull, which is covered by thin gauze. We couldn't get very close but it was clear we were looking at her bones.

Next we went back to the Pantheon, to get it burned into our memories for when we are back home. Then we got dinner at a pizzeria - I had a spinach pizza and Randy had a calzone, and we both got ice cream for dessert. Randy found a shoe store and bought a couple more pairs of shoes. He has learned that European shoes fit him so much better than USA shoes. We walked to Trevi fountain again and then went to see the Colosseum at night. Randy bought some more shoes, then we went back to the hotel to pack. We decided to see St. Peters at night so got on the metro and went there. Cashed $40 in travelers checks for the next day. We looked for the restaurant we bought drinks at the first time we were there, but when we finally found it, it was closed. So we stopped at a nice restaurant and ordered appetizers; brochette with tomatoes and mixed antipasti (prosciutto , olives, salami, artichoke hearts), beer and water. The break sticks were very, very thin. While walking around afterwards we stopped at a pastry shop and bought a cheese tart and a cookie with chocolate topping. Went back to the hotel, and on the way Randy got a ham and cheese sandwich and I bought a candy bar. Left a walkup call for 6 am and called it a night around 10.

6th Day - Shopping in Rome

Thursday, 2/25: Up around 8, breakfast at the hotel, and out to the metro. We were looking for Salaria Road because we saw some nice stores there on the bus ride to Florence. We found it and bought some more olive oil in one of the stores. We also found a good fresh market in that area.

We walked though more stores and bought some Italian cook books. By then we were a long way from a train, so we took a bus to the nearest train station. We looked for a bus that would take us to the Appian Way, but they only went there on Sundays, so we couldn’t do that. We went shopping in a nice grocery store with some unusual items; one of the things they sold was frozen octopus. While we were there an older gypsy was also there, and he was being followed and watched every minute by a store employee. Next we went back to the Coliseum and the Forum ruins.  We went into a large building nearby and saw an exhibit about “150 years of the republic”. For dinner we found a restaurant by the Pantheon, where I had spaghetti with clams, and Randy had pizza with prosciutto, mushrooms, olives and artichokes, washed down with 1/2 liter of white wine and cappuccino. Then back to the hotel for the night.

5th day - the Vatican Museum!

Wednesday, 02/24/99 - Up by 7:30, breakfast at the hotel, and left by 9. We changed another $100 at the cambio office near the train station, then took the metro to Vatican City and walked to the Vatican museum. I think it may be impossible to see all of the museum in one day, but we went through most of it, and stopped at the Sistine Chapel twice. Photos are not allowed there but there are so many pictures of it that it doesn’t really matter. I just stood there and stared up. Couldn’t take it all in. Stared and stared until Randy gently suggested I should let someone else have a chance. Stared some more, then finally (sigh) had to move on.  

There are rooms and rooms and more rooms of artwork, covering centuries of artistic styles. We did not care much for the modern art, although it hardly seemed fair to display them anywhere near works by Michelangelo and Raphael. Actually, the works in the Raphael rooms were not his best work, and they were displayed very high up, in a way that made it difficult to really see and appreciate them.

One of the courtyards had some wonderful ancient sculptures, like the Belvedere Apollo. I don't know if photos were allowed there although I tried to take a few. It didn't matter, none of my pics turned out. Apparently my hand was shaking; probably just overcome with the thrill of seeing these famous works. I could hardly believe I was standing in front of these legendary statues! 

All of the ceilings were painted, even the hallways!

Some were painted to look like sculptures overhead. I just kept walking around and staring, although I did use a CD player for a description of the more important works.

And we were able to see the Pieta by Michelangelo. It’s in the main church and is as wonderful as we imagined it. How beautiful! Another place to just stop and stare, trying to sear it into my memory forever. I couldn't believe I was standing in front of it. If I had a bucket list, this would be on it. I could have stood there for hours.

Personally, though, I couldn't help thinking that I would display it differently. The background is made of gorgeous dark marble and while that makes for a very luxurious setting, it does not really show off the beautiful lines and cool surfaces of the Pieta. Just my thought, and they didn't ask me. 

Well, eventually we had to leave. So we walked around the outside, where were street markets were set up, selling everything from jewelry to underwear. We didn’t get anything there but we did go into a store and bought some kind of alcohol in a cute star bottle and some olive oil. By then we were hungry; I got lasagna, Randy had cannelloni (pasta with egg, cheese and olive oil), plus some beer, soda, and one of those hollow bread rolls. We continued shopping near the train station, where Randy bought 2 pairs of shoes and I bought a purse.

Then we went to the Spanish Steps. There were a lot of people there. We climbed the steps and went into the church awhile, and when we came out, Randy bought a line drawing from an artist. We walked down a street with some very nice stores and looked at some of the jewelry stores. There were a few people on the sidewalks who were dressed as statues, standing immobile and  hoping for contributions. At a very small store we bought two pieces of Venetian glass, one for Mom and one for Leah, and a small statue of Davis for Krista. The proprietor worked very slowly and very carefully; he wrapped each item in paper, selected just the right size box for the item, wrapped the box in paper, carefully folded the paper edges down around the box, and finally stuck on the store’s seals. Then he picked up the next piece and did it all over again! We were not in a hurry so was enjoyable just watching him. Later we found a shop that sold good leather items and Randy bought a jacket. The saleslady there was an older woman, originally from Egypt, who had learned English by watching American movies for years. As we left the store, she warned us to be careful of the pickpockets in the area. Time to eat again, so we found a pizzeria and got a pizza with prosciutto ham, a sandwich of salami and cheese, and 1/2 liter of white wine. We stopped at a store and got a few chocolates for dessert, then went to see the Trevi fountain at night. We sat there awhile and learned that although marble seats will transfer the heat right out of you, they will never get warm; they just keeps taking heat away! There are always a lot of people at the Trevi fountain and it is always full of coins. While we were there we watched a woman walk around the fountain, trailing a piece of string in the water.  At the edge of the fountain she quietly lifted the string and removed the magnet attached to it, as well as all of the coins it had picked up. Next we took the metro to see the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. It started raining so we headed back, but we got off one stop early and ended up a long way from the hotel. We eventually got back to the terminal, bought some soda, and called it a day by 10 pm.