A great start

Very graceful Rob, you missed your calling
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Today is day 5 of our trip already. We are on the train from London to Newcastle. London is definitely a cool, hip city. Alive, crowded and jam packed with people, all in a hurry to get somewhere. Not very polite or particularly friendly, but cool. Robin was very impressed by the hairstyles but not so much by the fashion. We managed to see all that we had planned with ample time to spare. Even the weather Gods smiled on us. We started off with the British Museum (the guided tour was brilliant). Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard was a spectacle. We bumped into another couple from Texas there and exchanged notes. Sometimes it felt like the only people in London were tourists, no one can afford to live here  or eat or drive anymore. Then we worked our way down the list: The Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, a play in the West End, and the zoo (aka. Madam Tussauds). Harrods is by far the most impressive store anywhere in the world. I can’t think of any other store where you can listen to the chef singing opera while tossing the pizza, buy tiny bottles of caviar d’escargo for a gazillion bucks in the food hall, then wander upstairs and check out the collection of antique maps while wondering who can afford the £4000 designer dresses in the women’s section. Perhaps they are the ones who pulled up in one of the three Rolls Royce waiting at the entrance. We met a couple my friends from the days I lived in England and had dinner in Chinatown. Yesterday (and today) was our first anniversary. One year and still going strong!! We celebrated by going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant with a spectacular view with my best friend from medical school and his girlfriend who is still one of the few people who live in London. It has been a blast so far and if the first five days is any indication of things to come, oh boy I can’t wait.

London is definitely a cool, hip city. Alive, crowded and jam packed with people, all in a hurry to get somewhere.