The Marvelous Journey Home - Wednesday, Dec. 20
Alright. More forward progress with the final chapter of the England saga. It's now 9:27 p.m. on New Year's Day and I'm sooooo sleepy. I'm trying to stay up later than my current bedtime of 8:45.
All house guests departed today along mostly clear roads. All children are in their own rooms, in their own beds. The husband is playing Nintendo. The cat is in nirvana because we're all home...she doesn't care what we're doing.
Ok...
Wednesday morning we all get up and Steve and I advise Mom on how to take a bath. I know this sounds weird, but if you recall, our bath taps only have 2 temps of water: burn-your-skin-off hot and burn-the-skin-off-anyone-in-the-vicinity hot. We gave her my little tip on using the sink and kettle to its full advantage. Of course, she actually kept tabs on her water temperature, unlike somebody we know who runs the water then goes around checking on her children, her husband, her cell phone, her sudoku book, etc. That's how I ended up with the "soup kettle" temperature water and Mom ended up with "nice hot bath" temperature water.
Enough about the bath...we took our time getting ready this morning because all we had planned for the day was a trip into the heart of London (about 30 miles) to Trafalgar Square; the home of the National Gallery.
A short interjection here. We had been hearing that flights had been cancelled and delayed because the fog was still thick. Mostly the flights affected were at Heathrow, not Gatwick (our airport), so we were aware of the problem, but not worried.
We decide just to drive due north on an "A" road after we pass over the ring road around London (ring road = loop). We though that the A road would be a fine choice, since A roads are roughly the equivalent of "US" roads here, and "B" roads are like state roads. The difference between traveling along US84 or NM4. Except all roads are 1/3 narrower. And there are no shoulders. And everybody drives on the wrong side. But you get it.
So after we get across the ring road, we have about 12 miles to go before we get to the place we're going to park. It takes us 1 hour and 45 minutes to go the entire 30-ish miles. We drove through Chinatown, Little India, Afro-Caribbean land, plain English suburbs, and I think a Halal neighborhood. We would go about 100 yards then have to stop at a stoplight. Steve was *not* pleased.
We got to our parking destination, the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre/tube station/train station. Elephant & Castle is probably a derivation of "Elanor of Castille" who was somebody's wife. Anyway, we got parked, got kids out of the van, and then had to climb up 2 flights of stairs to get to street level. Of course we had 2 strollers, so this was such a joy. We were all so hungry when we got up there that we decided that those silly little sandwiches they sell at grocery stores sounded fine for lunch. So we hit the Tesco for our fancy sandwich lunch. While everyone was sitting shivering on a bench (because this shopping centre was open-air and it was around 33 degrees), I set out to find a baby changing facility because Julie was ripe.
We all had to traipse upstairs for the loos, but at least this time we got to use the escalators. We took the girls out of the strollers and while one grownup held Julie, the other 2 had empty strollers and the other 2 kids. It's not pretty but it's easy.
Ran everyone through the restrooms then headed out and down a handicapped ramp to the tube station. All we had to do was get on the Bakerloo line and ride 4 stops to Charing Cross Station/Trafalgar Square. Not a big deal. Done easily. The only thing that was a bit weird was the fact that we had to ride an elevator down to the train level. Usually it's escalators if it's a long distance or stairs if it's shorter. So we herded on the lift with the 2 strollers and we were on our way. There was a lot of walking after we got off the lift and lots of stairs. Not more than 20 at a pop, but still - carrying a stroller (full in Steve's and my case and empty in Mom's) is a hassle.
By the time we got off the train and hiked back up numerous stairs and escalators, the 3 adults were rather tired and I think we all harbored secret musings about the wisdom of this little side trip. But when we came up out of the underground IN Trafalgar Square we knew it was worth it. The day was crisp and it was exciting to be back in the city again.
We walked the short distance to the National Gallery and began our fine arts portion of the day. If you've never been to a major art gallery, know this: it's overwhelming. It will blow your mind. Doesn't matter if you know art or not. It's big. You either marvel at all the fabulous sights or you marvel at the fact that you don't marvel at the fabulous sights. I fell into the latter category. I knew that I was in the presence of history and greatness, but it's all just pictures. I know there's imagery and symbolism and meaning, but all I see are ships or fruit, or lots of Jesuses.
After we wandered for a while, we decided to take a restroom break. There was a computer lab sort of place beside the restrooms and Caleb and I went in to investigate. Turns out, they have about 10-15 terminals about the museum in this room - all with touch screens. You can search for a specific painting, artist, or just browse the collection. By this time, we had only seen 3 of the 26 pictures from Caleb's book published by the National Gallery. We were tired and getting hungry, and I think the 3 adults just wanted to have some kind of experience that we could call a "success" at the gallery. Of course, it's hard to have a success when Little Miss Axe Murderer tags along. We all had a time trying to keep her contained/entertained/quiet.
Anyway, back to the computers. Caleb and I looked up the 23 pictures we hadn't seen yet and discovered that 6 are residing at the Gallery. Actually 7 are, but 1 is not out for viewing. Oh well. So we got a printout of where the pictures all were and we headed out. We were on a mission. Granted, we backtracked a few times getting to the right rooms to see the paintings, but we saw them, by George! I think Steve, Mom, and I were all relieved to have a specific mission instead of trying to find meaning and purpose in every picture we passed.
After we saw Caleb's last painting, we went to the basement to see the paintings we really wanted to see: those by Monet, Van Gogh, and Picasso. I know there were more, but these are the names I know. I think there were some Degas works, too.
Anyway, mission accomplished; tea time now. We snacked on fruit, yogurt, gingerbread cookies, and Dundee cake (fruitcake). Then we made a stop in the gift shop because both kids had money just burning through their pockets. I think Caleb bought some writing paraphernalia that had van Gogh's "Chair" on them. Audrey bought crayons and a Money coloring book.
Ok. Back down to the tube. This time we decide to take the Northern line back to Elephant and Castle, because that train was closer than Bakerloo and we had seen the Northern line at E&C. After we walk most of the way to Elephant and Castle, we discover that the Northern line has 2 spurs and this one doesn't go to Elephant and Castle. Great. We're all so shattered (tired) that we decide just to get on the Northern line anyway, get off one stop past Elephant & Castle on the joint Northern line, then get on the other spur back to Elephant & Castle.
The whole point of parking and riding the tube was because E&C was on the outermost edge of the London Congestion Charge Zone. You have to pay to drive in central London. And it's 8 pounds. We decided to skip this and hopefully pay less in parking, to boot. We're pleased with our park & ride scheme, just not so pleased with the navigation. If you care to see a map of where we were, here goes:
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/the-tube-map.php?z=c2&t=84
If you grab the map with your cursor and drag it down just a bit you can see Charing Cross Station 4 stops north of E&C. We rode back to Kennington on the Northern line (black), then got on another Northern line to get back to E&C.
Anyway, back at E&C, we all avail ourselves of the facilities and I get a cup of coffee because I had a screaming headache. I'm so glad I got the coffee in hindsight because our trip back to the hotel was far worse than our trip in.
Two hours to go 12 miles. It was painful. It was slow. We got cussed at once by a guy out the passenger side (my side). That's always pleasant. But we did see a funny sight: there was an eatery (we think it was an eatery) called the Dixie Chicken. That was good for a laugh.
Then we finally got to the part of the road we were wanting: the 2-lane divided highway. It was heaven! We were happily zooming along until we got to the off ramp for our exit. It was where about 29 roads met, merged, mixed, and separated. If we hadn't been behind people who knew where they were going (the same way we were going), we would have ended up in unnecessary gridlock for the other roads. Seriously. These people in front of us zipped across stopped traffic and around lorries (semis) and made their way (all legally) to the ring road.
Whew. It was only about 20 minutes now until dinner at Burger King. We were all tired and hungry and Steve was on his way to getting a headache.
Everybody fed. Back in the van. Back to the hotel with the lousy parking. I was driving and was dismayed to see that cars were parked outside the hotel's parking lot along the street. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I pulled in the lot and I was in a foul mood at the thought of having to drive halfway back to London to park. I was in the midst of trying to turn around when a portly hotel-employee-looking man started gesturing at me. I was prepared to yell at him that I was just turning around and not trying to park in the "not parking zone." In fact, I think I *did* raise my voice at him and almost missed him saying that he was going to double park us behind some "long-termers." Remember me mentioning those people who stay, park, and fly? We parked behind them. It was very satisfying.
Back in the hotel, but not in the room. None of our keys work. Steve has to go to the front desk and he and a porter man come back and hash it all out. We get it sorted. Then I get all the luggage sorted. Actually, I get all the dirty clothes into one bag and get things ready for....
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