What interesting days we've had since returning from York. The first two days, we were so utterly exhausted, we did little more than eat and sleep, but the second night was action packed!
The weatherman promised rain, and boy, did he deliver. The rain started about 9:00 PM, first on the outside, then on the inside. Why limit a good thing to the outside? First into the bedroom where it was pouring in so fast I had to place a large bowl under it, then the "living room" (if a boat has such a thing), then the kitchen, bathroom, dining area... you get the picture. Did I mention the windows were closed? Before I went to bed I covered everything in plastic bags. In the morning I sent an email to the woman I was renting from, informing her. I got an email back that led me to believe (incorrectly) that someone would be by to do something.
We went out in the morning to look and see and do, but after museum overload in York, I had to be extra careful how I presented things to Hannah. We bought our train tickets to our next place, Harwich. The ferry station, where will catch the ferry to Amsterdam, is in Harwich, and rather than arrive at the train station in London at 6:30 in the morning, I've made an executive decision to stay overnight in Harwich so we have plenty of time to get to the ferry station.
Hannah was extra hungry and wanted pizza. She wanted me to ask everyone we saw where a pizza place might be. She saw two young women sitting and asked them. They said they were visitors and didn't know. It turns out they are from Colchester, which was where I really wanted to go. I had a nice chat with them that really made me laugh. They were in London for a music festival. I shared that my son Michael had just been to a huge festival in the States. I mentioned that Paul McCartney had even been there, and they looked at each other briefly while trying to figure out who he is. They recognized the name, but had trouble placing him. We said our good-bye's and were off looking for that pizza place. Instead we found a dreaded McDonalds.
That's what Hannah wanted. Please don't tell anyone we ate at McDonalds. I'm only sharing this with you because you are a dear friend. While eating, the sky was turning grey and we were worried it might start raining and all our things might get wet, so we hurried back to the boat.
(Colchester is the oldest Roman town in the UK, over 2,000 years old. It has an ancient castle with an interesting history, and it is very close to a seaside town, Wivenhoe, which I've fallen in love with. I really wanted to go there, but the castle is currently closed for renovations, and won't be opened until next year.)
That night brought... you guessed it. More Rain! In the morning I sent this email:
"I hope you slept well last night. I thought of you both, as I was up at midnight covering my things in plastic garbage bags again. As I was laying in bed, trying to fall back to sleep I was thinking about practitioners of feng shui, who suggest we have some sort of running water in our home, to allow our ch'i to flow better (or something like that), but I just don't think they would consider water running in from the ceiling, drip-drip-dripping into a plastic bowl. I also thought about those new-fangled things they have for babies' nurseries that mimic the noise of the uterus, mother's heart beat included. I wondered if the soft, gentle thud-thud-thud of the water falling onto the mattress just mere inches from my head, would work to sooth a tired baby.
When I received your email yesterday I erroneously thought you meant Mike would be by yesterday to assess the situation, I just couldn't imagine why you would be telling me what he would be doing after our departure. After all, why would I be concerned with what is happening AFTER I'm gone, but after more thought, I realized I was mistaken. I have to tell you both though, that I am surprised, perplexed, confused, taken aback, flabbergasted, or as the Brits might say, gobsmacked, that he did not show up yesterday, at the very least to let his tenants know he is concerned about their belongings. Even if he was not concerned about us and our things, he's not even concerned about the state of the boat. Honestly, I'm shocked. I have been a business owner for 20 years in the service industry, and have been a landlord (both short term and long term lets) on and off for about 15 years, and cannot imagine not being concerned about your property or guests. While not attractive, at least a tarp may have prevented me some aggravation and lost sleep last night."
We promised to be out later. Off we went to find a hotel, but in "Diana" style, of course. This means we were taking the tube to Baker Street, where we were to walk to Gloucester Place, but instead I took the tube to Gloucester Rd and got all confused when the hotel wasn't where it should've been. It only took me TWENTY minutes, in the rain, to realize my error. Back on the tube, to Baker Street, where we walked, the wrong way OF COURSE, before realizing it, and finally found the hotel. There were no vacancies! London is full of hotels, but when I walked into one and they told me 220 pounds a night, I literally burst out laughing. I almost asked if I get nightly massages and breakfast in bed by a beautiful man for that price, but I didn't, mostly out of fear she may have said, "Yes." This little road the hotel is on is full of little hotels, so we popped into another one and they had a room. The price is reasonable, and the room is roomy and very very clean. We returned to the boat to pack our things, got a taxi to the hotel. I said to the driver, "Gloucester Place, NOT Road, like I went earlier." He laughed at me all the way to the hotel.
Last night we went to Regent's Park, but on our way saw this sign at a pub right beside the Sherlock Holmes museum, which had a line a block long. I like this sign, and if I ever get a restaurant, I think I'll have one similar to it. Number of days free of velociraptor attacks: 72
One of the cool things about London is that they have signs on homes where famous and infamous people once lived. For example H.G Wells, Author 1886-1946 lived and worked here 1930-1936and Arnold Bennet Author 1867-1931 lived, worked, and died here 1930-1931 But this next one is the interesting one. This one is BLACK, for a reason, I'm sure. Major General Benedict Arnold, American Patriot, resided here from 1796 until his death June 14, 1801.Home of perhaps American's most infamous traitor. "American Patriot"? Huh.
The park was wonderful and had paddle boats, which we did not take, and a great kids' playground. If our experience at the playground is an indication of what the world will see with the next generation, there is real hope for our civilization. Hannah was on a playset, that had a wooden platform. A bunch of little girls were jumping off of it, but Hannah was afraid to. She wanted to, but was having trouble getting over her fears. The little girls surrounded her, encouraged her, gave her all sorts of tips on how to overcome her fears. She asked if I would hold her hand while she jumped and three yelled, "I will," and scrambled to get to her first. There was a lovely little blond girl, a dark skinned muslim girl, a pale girl whose hair was nearly white, and my brown-haired American girl, all working together to accomplish a goal. Our world leaders could learn something from the playgrounds of the world.
On our way back to the hotel we saw this outside the Opulence Hotel. I told Hannah that if I ever own a hotel I'm going to name it the Fancy-Schmancy Hotel. "Anyone can have a fancy hotel, but only I will have a Fancy-Schmancy one."
Today we are off to see the queen. Then we will take a train to Harwich where will stay at a family run Bed and Breakfast, that is NOT called the Fancy-Schmancy Hotel.
