It doesn’t get much better

Today was arrival and settling-in day in London. We had such a wonderful flight over. Those of us in the “main cabin” were few and far between, so each of us had a row of three to ourselves. Room to stretch and lie down! A lovely quiet flight with no neighbors. What more can one ask for?

We even arrived early at Heathrow and early at our hotel. While we lingered over a pot of tea, our room was readied, and we got to move in – early.

There was a bit of downtime here, we must admit, while we fussed with luggage and grabbed a very few minutes of rest. We’re not hurting too much, but sitting still is a very dangerous thing in our condition. Napping must be avoided at all costs!

Our venturing-out was limited to the environs of our Park Lane hotel, right next to Lord Wellington’s house. Nothing shabby about this neighborhood. A late lunch was spent enjoying fish and chips and a salmon sandwich. I know I am rusty when I forget to take pictures of the food. But never fear – I will try harder next time.

On my own for a few minutes, I had an exciting encounter with Fred, who was very eager to give me directions, as he is deep in the study of “The Knowledge” – the mass of logistical information that all London cabbies must master before being licensed. He knows 1000 routes already, and was eager to share a few hundred with me, but I didn’t have time to test him.

Tomorrow is a very big day for us, but one that probably won’t yield much visual material. We are beside ourselves with excitement for having – finally – secured tickets to a taping of our favorite Brit game show – “Pointless.” For those not in the know, check it out on YouTube. For those familiars, there will be complete agreement that this is a Very Big Deal. It will take most of the day, and unfortunately no photos allowed in the studio. Sigh. But we will always have the memories.

Then we will be off to visit dear friends in Highgate, where our experiences of the day will be properly appreciated and likely digested in great detail. We are hoping to get there in time to watch the show together, and to provide all kinds of insider details. Oh joy, oh rapture!