Let’s pop ‘round to the pub for a pint and have a chat about it, shall we?
Cas and I got up in the morning and headed to a spot that promised good brunch. He ordered something called Red Eggs, which were basically scrambled eggs, spiced with a sauce that was red in color, and I ordered bubble and squeak. It’s called that because of the sounds it makes while cooking. There are sausages that fry up, causing the bubbling and/or squeaking of cabbage, potatoes or whatever vegetable you add. This one was a brunch dish, so there was a fried egg crowning the whole affair. It was a good way to start the day. Full disclosure: We got a later than usual start because we had no commitment until the afternoon. It was actually great to start with brunch rather than a rapid pastry and coffee in a paper cup while racing to the first bit of adventure. Now, I don’t mind hustling, but yesterday was a nice change of pace.
With the bubble and squeak out of the way, we made our way to Waterloo bridge. That’s where we caught the red, double-decker bus. Cas mapped out which local route would take us where we wanted to head next, so with that information, we hopped on a tall, red bus, climbed to the top and sat as it rolled over the Thames on a bridge named after a British military victory over the French.
I know, right?
When it was time to get off the bus, we were in the West End district. We had tickets to a play at the Noel Coward Theatre. We walked in and pre-ordered our intermission drinks- a very smart accommodation the theatre makes- then headed to our seats. The play we saw was called The Comedy About Spies, and it was one of the funniest things either Cas or I had seen in ages. I won’t give the plot away, but there are Americans, Brits, Russians and one self-important actor, all at a hotel at the height of the Cold War, and tremendous intrigue ensues. When intermission came, we followed a column of people to the bar area, where our pre-ordered and pre-paid drinks were waiting. I showed a receipt and said my name, and Bob’s your uncle, the nice attendant handed me two glasses of prosecco. Lovely jubbly.
The play was a matinee, and we did, in fact, get out in time to see some of the performance by the London Symphony Orchestra. We were near the back because we walked in just as the performance was beginning. Had we shown up hours earlier, we may have scored a seat, but we wandered in to standing room only. It was fine, but I am not a tall woman. Every time someone in front of me shifted or moved, though, I saw something different. I scooched past the really tall guy to see the violin section. I shifted over to one side of the lady with the rather large bun in her hair and saw a drummers banging away. Someone decided to leave, and that’s when I saw cellos and basses. I watched as all their arms moved in unison. All those bows gliding across all those strings at the same moment. The song took a turn for the more energetic. The music became more rapid. Just when that happened, I literally saw a bumblebee in front of me. It was flitting around from one person’s head to the next, and none of the people seemed aware of its presence. The erratic flight path and the frenetic music kind of belonged together. We walked away after just one song, because standing at the way-back wasn’t great, but I was chuffed to bits that we wandered into the once-a-year free outdoor LSO performance.
The next thing on our list was a bit of food. We decided to pop ‘round to a pub for a pint or two, have a look at the menu and see if any of them might serve fish and chips. Cas had a cider and I had a beer.
We shared a fish and chips, and I even tried the mushy peas they seem to consistently place on these plates. They did have the decency to put it in a little cup on the side, so as not to upset Cas. That was kind. The pub just looked right. It was full of dark furniture and there was wood flooring. There were taxidermied animals on the walls, and we sat next to a non-working fireplace where the mantle was dotted with old books, tchotchkes and a broken clock. Fancy a pint? I thought so.
Cas had located an art display he wanted to check out after our pub adventure. It was a very, very large room, open on a few sides for people to just walk in off the street, and the walls were covered in moving images. Different artists designed different experiences for the visitors. We walked in to a mountain scene on all sides, and it turned into several other scenes. There was a massive Tetris game that allowed seven viewers at a time to participate. There was a “shower of emojis” There were cartoonish things, things that looked like moving paintings- a few photorealistic items. It was in constant flux. We stood a while, sat a while, took it in a while, then decided to head back to our hotel via the tube.
The public transportation in London has gotten easier, too, as you no longer need to purchase a ticket or anything like that. You can use the Apple Pay or Google Pay or Samsung Pay feature on your phone. If you have a credit card attached to your phone, you can just aim the phone at the payment card reader and you’re on. You just paid the fare by waving a phone at it. Makes you feel like a character in a sci-fi story.
We picked up some Jaffa Cakes, which are basically little, flat rectangles of sponge cake topped with jam and dark chocolate, and we had a few of those when we returned to our room and called our dads. And by a few, I mean the whole package. Yeah, we can’t have Jaffa Cakes around- they disappear too fast.
So it was the most British day we could conjure up. Today, we plan to take a tourist bus around the city and see what there is to learn that way, then we’ll cap off the day with a dinner cruise on the Thames, which we booked back in Dallas. Should be smashing!
More to come…
And here are our photos: tinyurl.com/dunlap-pl
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