Month: August 2018

Less than one week ago I was in full vacation mode. It’s been five days since the return and the grind of work and every day life is back. No decompression for us, just jump right in. Maybe I should travel anti jet age, train and boat only. Just to slow things down. Maybe a five or six Day Atlantic crossing followed by a five day rail trip across the US. That would help with jet lag and settling back in to the usual. Is this likely? No. But I think it a great idea, as I think of most of my ideas.

Today is Emily’s first day with kids. So she is in a mood. Stay away from the claws and teeth. She had to get out early, she didn’t, I got yelled at. No, not a surprise. I am always left wondering what the hell I did. I still made her lunch, she forgot it. I will drop it off. Even with my new claw marks.

Morning normal as it can be with extra animals, people and a wife in a hurry. Emily gets to do everything first -shower, breakfast, coffee. Tradition.

Emily out by 745. We all relax. Marika realized all the souvenirs she bought are missing. One bag of trinkets. It was in the hallway, and after a thorough search, I think gone. Most likely scenario, Emily cleaned a couple days ago and prob threw them away. Marika is very upset and angry. Not much to do but scream and yell in spite of that not helping. I see a meltdown x 2 coming when they are both home tonight. Maybe I can go to a hotel?

Michael is getting ready to leave. Packing the car. Back to LA for some reason. He graduated and has no job. He could stay. But he and mom butt heads hard continually. He is headed home. With Kona. We will miss our granddog. The boy, a little less. Just kidding!

The house is really quieter now. Without Kona far less hair is dropped too. Roomba says thank you.

I got myself ready and off to work. I made a stop at the German Bakery, local coffee pastry place. Actually, the only place of any kind within three or four miles of the house. I wanted to try their cappuccino to see if I could get the Italy level from them. In a word, no. I have to keep looking I guess. Someone has to have European style coffee. I am really not satisfied now with what I have to put up with in this country.

Got to work at a reasonable hour. Had to, I have an appointment. With a Yelp referral. It’s funny, I get 2 to 3 Yelp referrals a day. This one is the first to respond or set an appointment. I think all the Yelpers are probably price checkers and expect a Costco price of some sort. I don’t know. But she is coming in this morning.

Other than that, no scheduled duties. I am still going through the mail, slowly, and paying the bills, slowly. I have some returns to do but all are incomplete. One I could finish actually, but that’s it. I will need to spend time reconciling several accounts as well. All the ones I couldn’t get too while away.

And, btw, I should mention that my Yelp appointment went well. Nice lady and it appears we can do business together. At least one tax return and maybe two if we incorporate her. Yay. Yelp works. Poorly.

I worked till 530 or so and headed home. Em called as I was leaving, and she is going to Sams. She wants to celebrate Marika’s new job with a nice dinner and has an idea with something they sell.

I got home about 630, Em not home. Marika was there. Emily arrived a few minutes later. Turns out the special dinner included 2.5lb Tomohawk rib eyes. That’s one for each of us. It looks like a Fred Flintstone Dino steak. Huge bone with huge chunk of beef attached. Ok.

I stated the BBQ. Turns out, I can’t fit the meat on the grill without partial stacking cuz they are just too big. I can get them cooked but my god they are gigantic.

We added broiled asparagus and sliced sweet potatoes. I opened a bottle of Pinot from Marika’s winery and we are off.

The dinner was filling, to say the least. I came close to eating my steak. No one else ate 20% of theirs. These things were massive. I know I keep saying that but they are shockingly large.

I had called our house sitter, Isabella, and asked her to drop by. I need to pay her. She showed up during dinner. I offered her some steak, we have lots. She demurred. No wine either. As always Bella has lots to talk about. She is very good at talking. We did have a nice visit and I gave her a large wad of cash for watching house and dogs and cats for a month and a half. No vacation is free. Bella left soon after.

We did not have dessert. None of us had room for anything else. I did have a small piece of watermelon. Hey, it has no substance.

Full and bloated, we all went to bed. Satisfied as it is.

Off to work. I am still looking for my work keys. They have been lost on the trip. But it’s ok cuz I have staff there to let me in.

Work was work. I had a couple catch up appointments, one of which was over an hour. Another client came in. He has been waiting, breathlessly I am sure, for my return in order to get some tax work done. Common type appointments. Within a couple weeks all the pent up work will be gone and it will be back to the normal pace. I still have a foot and a half of mail to open too. It’s last on the to do list.

Writing about my work day, even one day later, is difficult. I really can’t remember the mundane tasks I accomplished that day. When I say I say I can’t remember I mean nothing is there. I can recall if I have to work on the clients file but otherwise it is as if it never happened. If I am lucky my retirement will be the same.

Got a call about 4. Emily, it turns out, had taken her box of school supplies to school. Not exciting. She had purchased them in Maine and shipped. I dropped a couple things in as well. Those things? My work keys and a bag of change. I have my keys.

I left work about 530. No real traffic to speak of. Beat Emily to the barn, which surprised me. She had called at 530 on her way to pick up a few things at he store so I figured quick. Wrong.

Michael had taken steaks out of the freezer to BBQ. Great deal, half price rib eyes. I seasoned them up and let them sit. Emily sliced up some sweet potatoes to bake. Made a salad. Nice dinner. I made a cocktail for Marika, a Buster Brown, pre prohibition recipe.

Marika did have a phone interview at 6, via FaceTime, with a winery in New Zealand. And got offered a job. So I broke open the fancy whiskey and we all had a toast to her good fortune. She starts in February next year. Now we have an excuse to go to New Zealand.

Michael got tired while we were fixing dinner. He went to bed. Never up again till morning. So he missed the steak. But, made steak and eggs for breakfast. Not a loss. He and Kona leave Thursday for home. Gonna miss the dog.

We sat around a bit after dinner chatting about things. Solving the worlds problems.

Cleaned dishes and stowed leftovers. Went to bed

Today is Tuesday. Nothing special. I have two personal appointments at 1130 and 4. This means I have a very short work day. Not such a bad thing. I only need to finish one tax return and I think three hours in the office is enough to get that done.

So this morning I did the usual feed dog/Em/me and coffee for all. Got myself ready. Still have things to take care of from vacay like putting away laundry. At about 10 I went out to get dog and cat food for my army – currently 6 animals with the visitors. There is always something to do.

Got home near 11. Gotta move, have an appointment with Becky at 1130. And, strangely, today I was early and she wasn’t ready on time. One point for me. THe haircut was long overdue and really felt nice. She trimmed my eyebrows and ears too. Full service.

Off to work. I am still looking for my work keys. They have been lost on the trip. But it’s ok cuz I have staff there to let me in.

Work was work. I had a couple catch up appointments, one of which was over an hour. Another client came in. He has been waiting, breathlessly I am sure, for my return in order to get some tax work done. Common type appointments. Within a couple weeks all the pent up work will be gone and it will be back to the normal pace. I still have a foot and a half of mail to open too. It’s last on the to do list. I did finish the tax return I mentioned prior.

Writing about my work day, even one day later, is difficult. I really can’t remember the mundane tasks I accomplished that day. When I say I say I can’t remember I mean nothing is there. I can recall if I have to work on the clients file but otherwise it is as if it never happened. If I am lucky my retirement will be the same.

Left by 3, or wanted too. I got stopped because of some client request that one of my staff decided for me would be done today. So finished that. And another task. Gotta go. So left by 330. I called Rachel, personal appointment, said I would be late.

Traffic was light and I was only 5 mins late. I think she can forgive me. Rachel was the tenant at our farmhouse for five years. We go way back. I met her when she was in my sons kindergarten class. Way back. We got done quick and I was off.

It is taco Tuesday but it’s too early to stop at our fave, Lupitas, and get food. So I figured head home and get required comida at Baldos. We have gone there a few times and it’s good. The adult kids thought it ok as well.

Got home round 430, everyone was there except Emily. We sat around, fed the animals, put out the garbage, usual stuff. Emily got home after 5.

I took Emily with me to Baldos when we finally went at around 630. We chose a range of things. Michael got the menu off their website. I ended up with a chorizo burrito, based on Rachel’s recommendation. That was prophetic, at best. It did taste good. Unfortunately, the next day it destroyed my insides. I am sure most of us have experienced the type of sickness I speak of. It’s now Thursday and I feel fine.

This evening, we had enough extra time to watch some TV. But all of us are still on the 9 hour time difference. I find I can’t stay awake past 9pm. I am sure it will pass. I wake up at 4 am. Not ideal.

Anyhow, to bed early. It’s a good thing. Ask Martha.

Just a note, forgot to post this one. Sorry.

Big vacay +1. Got up late around 9am. Had breakfast. Emily starts schools tomorrow so she went to work today.

Michael, Marika and I went shopping. All day. Epic shopping. We probwent to 6 stores prior to our last stop at the grocery.

We drove home, dropped Michael off so he could get started on the Brisket. Marika and I went back out to finish the shopping.

We got home near 5. Emily came home. I made cocktails. We ate dinner. Brisket, salad, etc. Delicious.

After dinner we all watched tv. In bed by 930.

Work in am and dr appt.

You really know vacation is over when you have to return to work. Sucks.

Emily was out of the house by 730.

I had the usual morning. Got up and fed the dogs and cats. Made a large pot of coffee. Made brekkies for Em and I.

Marika and I got ready to go and went to our Dr appointment. We share the same doctor. We were on time for a change. Nice chat with the doc. Back home by 10. I got my crap together and went to work.

Oh yeah, an aside, we did stop at the German Bakery on our way. Em has called, the Bakery had made rhubarb danish. And Marika informed me that an Americano was cheaper than a regular coffee. Who knew? Her, not me. Will have to try the cheap Cappuccino tomorrow. Still seeking the better coffee I had all over Europe.

Drive to work seemed longer than usual. Or is that just dread? I made the office by about noon. I really hate work. I don’t want to do it. I should retire. So in the office I go.

Everyone was there. Crazy. Even had two kids in today. After I got settled, that would be five minutes, I was accosted by Walker to get two tax returns done. Then Katrina with her list. Then Carol. Then Cara. Tell me again why I come to work? Later in the afternoon all the phone calls started. All the nice people who have been waiting, patiently, to call me my first day back. I hate this. But it does remind me why I go on vacation.

The work day from noon to 6 was the usual. Though the only work I finished was one of the two returns Walker needed. Everything else was me digging out of a pile of shit. I mean work. And talking to people. As I had said, the usual.

Well all good things must end. I headed home about six. A peaceful drive with few interruptions. Those days are few.

We BBQd country pork ribs for dinner. Corn on the cob and a salad. Cocktails before and after. A nice relaxing day.

Everyone went to bed early. We are still suffering from jet lag. I have been unable to stay up and read or even blog. I get tired early. So, off to bed.

We had a miserable night. The terminal floor was not conducive to sleep. And, to top it off, the airport is really busy. We were trying to sleep in arrivals but there was a plane landing every 20 to 30 minutes to keep us awake. I got zero sleep. At about 330, the cops went through the terminal rousting all those who were sleeping there. Seems they wanted us all to move because the airport was opening at 4. So where do we go? We go thru security and sleep in departures. We moved upstairs.

The departure lounge was nicer because there are benches and comfy chairs. We managed to find some chairs we could claim. We slept very fitfully and got 4 ish hours of sleep. The departure lounge was empty when we lay down. When we woke up it was crowded with people. Some seemed rather annoyed people were sleeping on all the benches. Tough.

Time for breakfast. This was my first opportunity to discover the cost of being in Iceland. It’s expensive. I mean costly. Very. A bottle of water is $4. Everywhere. There were four restaurants in the airport. We planned to eat. After checking out each we found prices about the same at each. A cup of coffee is $5. A sandwich is 10$ – 15$. We thought this crazy. We figured it was the airport. But, we did eat. 50$.

Went to town via taxi. Downtown Keflavíc, a city of 18,000. The 3 1/2 minute taxi ride 34$. No kidding. We wandered through the very unimpressive downtown. Visited a few stores. Prices, very high. Nothing very exciting going on. We stopped at a cafe. If had coffee, 5$. I can’t remember what Emily had. There wasn’t much to do there. We checked Trip Advisor and the place to go in town appeared to be the Viking Museum. So we called a taxi. $25 later we were at the museum. The museum was fine though not stellar. Kind of amateur really.

Back to airport. Where we hung out till we left for Boston. We did not have another meal in Iceland.

Sadly, our flight to Boston, was on Icelandair. I hate them. They do not serve meals on the flight. Though you can buy snacks and sandwiches if you desire. A six hour flight, yes, I desire to eat. NONE of the food on Icelandair is free including snacks. So eventually I bought a sandwich. $10. And it wasn’t very good. Other than horrible cabin service, nothing much to say about the flight. They did run a special cart thrubthe cabin selling merchandise like jewelry, etc. I thought that strange. Though people did but things. Not me.

We did finally arrive in Boston, an hour and a half late. Customs was insane, took 90 minutes. I can’t say that Boston customs was efficient. I can say slow and inefficient. We have a flight on southwest tomorrow to Sacrmento. We got a hotel in Saugus for tonight. We fly out at 5am.

The flight on Southwest was great. No food offered but snacks are free and unlimited. It was a very pleasant flight even not in comparison to Icelandair or even Vueling. We arrived a little before 10am. Got our bags, Marika picked us up and we were off. We stopped and did a couple errands.

Got home about 1130. Michael had made breakfast sandwiches (not $10) for our brunch. Homemade meal. First one in 45+ days. I love it.

We had the whole day in front of us. Even though we. Had been up for a long time. We stayed up. We did laundry, some light shopping and made dinner. Another homemade meal. Nice.

We stayed up till bedtime, trying to reset our body clock to California time. I went to bed about 10. I tried to read. Instead I fell asleep almost instantly. Maybe I am tired.

Today is the day. Day 47 of a 45 day adventure around the known world. I need an echo effect on that sentence. It would give it the proper gravitas. And, again, I miscounted the days. I’m no Magellan, explorer or Nav system. Remember the Magellan?

We have an easy start to an absolutely horrendous day. Check out time at Clink 78, our fine hostel, in London is 10am. We all slept past 8. Kiddlings plane leaves at 3 ish from Heathrow. So no real hurry. We are flying out at 9pm yikes so even less hurry.

We got up, got packed and headed downstairs. The hostel stored our luggage for a small fee. We headed out for breakfast. Breakfast being the only meal the Brits can do right. We found a place a couple minutes walk from the hostel. And we did what we should, 4 orders of traditional English breakfast. Plus coffee. Bad coffee. Oh well. Tea is British. Coffee is Italian. The service was excellent and so was the food. Hurray. Save best for last. We lingered quite awhile over our meals. It is the last breakfast.

After breakfast it was close enough time wise to go to the airport. Want to be there 2 hours early plus an hour transit to Heathrow. So we called the last Uber and loaded up our gear, all of us, and headed to the airport. Our thought, store Em’s and my bags at the airport, kids fly off, and we go do something. Idea is good, in thought.

Took more than an hour to the airport. £42 fare. We got our crap to terminal, hugs and kisses, they are off. Things eased up nicely.

I did a couple calculations and realized going back to London would not work. Too costly and we would get only a couple hours. So I did a little search on the area around Heathrow. Ya, nothing. Maybe a little less than nothing. Now what? Hang out in the airport for 8 hours till our flight leaves. That’s what we did. I would take the time to tell you about our exciting day but it wasn’t and I won’t bore you too. Waiting in an airport is awful and tedious.

8 hours later, we are waiting at the gate. Hey, wanna hear something funny. Icelandair (loser assholes) called for boarding. Everyone at once. It was like festival seating at a rock concert. A mess. I truly hate these people.

When I finally got on the plane, the only overhead bin space was 8 rows up in first class. That’s 8 rows in front of the mid fuselage exit/entrance door. Know what that means, I have to wait for the front of the plane to exit to get my bag and go. Where am i sitting? Right NEXT to the exit. It’s not important, I can wait to deplane. But it is damn ANNOYING.

I should mention, Icelandair’s stellar cabin service. Being where I was seated, their is a flight attendant seated directly across from me. Facing me. 3 feet away. During the flight she never spoke to anyone in the row, never made eye contact, never smiled, till we left. Then she smiled. World famous Icelandair customer service. She is not special. No flight attendant on the plane made eye contact. That would be the end of the world for them.

As usual cabin service is bad. Awful. I will give you a description. The attendants push the drink cart down the aisle. Making eye contact with no one. And not stopping. I actually reached out and grabbed the cart to a stop. And asked for a bottle of water. It was free!!! I still hate them. But watching the cart I did wonder why they bothered. Do they treat first class passengers like they are economy? It’s a rough form of service.

The flight was fine and I eventually fell asleep. Good thing, I could avoid all the fun.

They did a Vueling to us when we arrived. The bus to terminal thing. Always a joy. Go Greyhound!! Finally made the terminal. Only one more Icelandair flight ever for me. I am on my knees praising the Lord.

It’s midnight in Iceland. This airport is hopping! There is a plane landing every 30 minutes. No peace. I had trouble convincing Emily to get a hotel. She seems strangely convinced we should sleep in the airport. I question her thought (lack of) process. Finally she decided we should walk to the closest hotel. Only 100 meters in the cold drizzle. I did mention the two travel sites I checked show the hotel as booked up. No vacancy. She seems convinced there are rooms if we just show up. There weren’t. We just wasted time and now she is really upset.

Back to the airport. We have to bed down in arrivals with one hundred of our friends. Lots of like minded people here.

It’s gonna be a long night on cold linoleum.

Number 45. Well, that brings up an issue. We are still on our grand tour tomorrow. 46. Then we all get in different planes and head home the day after tomorrow. 47. And I have a layover in Reykjavik of 18 hours. 48. Then hit Boston for an overnight. 49. So all along I have been wrong in using the 45 days in the title. So I can either change the title moving forward or, perhaps, ignore this very unimportant issue. Not sure what I am going to do.

Today I was up at 715. I had laid in bed over an hour trying to sleep and finally just got up. The room is bright and very noisy, from traffic, with the window open. You say, close the window, I say sauna. Window stays open. No AC.

Once all were up and ready for breakfast we went to the bottom floor of the hostel for food. £2 each for breakfast. Bargain. We got there and someone said hey we can go to McDonald’s. And that was it. Off to Mickey Ds. It is very close by. Always an experience to go to McDonalds in another state or country. Things can be very different. First, the hot cakes are NOT like those at home. They were only passable. All the coffees were better here and they had some sandwich selections which were, I thought, better. It was an experience.

After breakfast we walked to the British Museum. We went there mostly because it’s about a quarter mile from where we were.

We spent a good 4 hours in the museum. It’s big and lots of exhibits. And, most important, good bathrooms. Both Michael and I have been having gut issues since last nights indian food. So we need to have bathrooms at the ready today. Having said that, we toured all floors, all exhibits and all bathrooms. A good time was had by all.

Early in the after noon we left the museum and went to a nearby Nando’s, a roast chicken joint recommended by a taxi driver. It was good but service was bad. Hard to recommend.

After lunch we Ubered to the Tower of London. Though it was getting late, we still had prepaid tickets to use. The tower closes at 430. We got there at 1115. You know what that means? Speed culture.

We moved through the exhibits fast. Everyone but me went to see the Crown Jewels. I saw them in ‘74 and felt no need to see them again. So I went to see other exhibits while they were in the longest line on the tower. Well I saw a couple things, talked to a yeoman or two, and the others were out. Turns out the jewel exhibit has been sped up tremendously sometime in the last 40 years. They were in and out in well under 30 minutes.

We went to White Tower/castle next. That has arms and armory and is one of my favorite parts of he Tower. Sadly, it has been changed quite a bit since I was here last. Not as many weapons on display and you can’t touch them anymore. A shame.

The kids got out before us and Marika went to shop. Michael waited with her. We went to the medieval palace, at 503 which is after close, which shows what it was like inside the Tower back in the day. These rooms led to the battlements which led to other towers and other rooms and more towers. And it was way after closing and we were alone. Then we got to meet a yeoman up close. Cuz he was done for the day and wanted us gone. But he took the time to chat about things. Former Army, retired now lives with his family on the grounds of the Tower inside the walls. Which is cool. As an honorary bodyguard to the ruling monarch, he uses all his weapons – humor, sarcasm, and a loud voice – to protect the queen. Funny guy. Then we got the bums rush. I offered to spend the night in the tower but he declined.

After our Tower tour, both kids wanted to do some shopping. So went over to the theatre district and walked around all the shops. I went off in search of an ATM. Which I did not find.

On my way back I stopped at a Costa coffee shop. It’s a chain from Italy. Think Starbucks only with good coffee I did not go in search of coffee. I needed the bathroom. So I headed over and found three people in line for two bathrooms, one out of order. Looks like a wait. So I had waited a good ten minutes. The person directly in front of me had left. Several had come and seen the line and left. Long line. Anyway, finally, out pops from the bathroom a fifty year old or so woman. Wearing a visor , head low, kinda snuck out. But at least line moving? No. The guy at the front did not go in. So the Japanese tourist lady next in line tried to go in. Man in front of line says, no, three is someone else in there. Japanese lady left. Well, we waited another couple minutes and guy up front knocks on the bathroom door. Muffled response. He knocked again. Out pops another fifty year old lady apologizing and wiping her mouth. She left. Man up front knocks again and opens the door and I say to him “ that wasn’t strange”. He went in. I got my turn and left. I didn’t buy any coffee.

I went to meet up with the others. They were in a pub. Emily told me where she had found an ATM. I went and got cash and went back to the pub. Had an Aperol Spritz.

After a while we decided to get dinner. There was a fish and ship place a couple doors down. We went there. Our first day in London the five of us spent 140$ on a fish and chips lunch. Yikes. Tonite was $36 plus drinks.

Nothing left of the evening we went to the hostel. Kids went to hostel bar. We two cleaned up and to bed. The better deal.

There it is. All in the title. I miscounted. See the cashier for a refund. But, remember, tomorrow is free beer day. And if u get your refund today u miss out. Your choice.

It’s the penultimate (look it up) day of vacay. What to do? Well, eat breakfast. For the first and last time we had morning eats at the hostels downstairs kitchen/bar. Only £2.50. Worth about $1.50. Not bad but definitely not good either. Limited food and what was there not tasty. Too British. They have a rep for bad food. And it’s deserved. I think back to Madrid where the hostel had the same deal @ €4 and it was excellent. It’s wondrous how one place can be so awesome and another so bad. I am assuming a lack of care.

This trip to London, remember we started here, reminds us what we need or want to do. The inability to easily come back focuses what you do. So we went to Whitehall for the changing of the guard. Something I did 45 years ago. It’s better in one sense than Buckingham Palace because you can get very close to the guard and horses at Whitehall and there is no crowd to deal with. Also, you can check it off ur to do list. It’s something people always ask about. And? I will admit, it’s not very exciting.

We wandered to Westminster Abbey to just take a look. It’s .2 miles from Whitehall. Another old church. Enough of that for all.

Marika has an online class. She had an assignment due today. So what to do? Well, go to Starbucks for WiFi. Which we did. And we all sat there for an hour while she finished it. The Starbucks has no toilet so we all had to pop across the street to do our business. Some more than others. Thanks to the pub, The Feathers, for free use of there facilities.

After her scholastic achievements were done it was time for lunch. One thing, while sitting in Starbucks I tried to check in for my and Em’s flight Thursday. I got mine online. Sadly, Emily’s was nowhere to be found. I had to call Icelandairs customer “service” slowline. Those of you familiar know that Icelandair is the antichrist. Unfortunately tickets are non refundable. So I gotta deal with the devil. I called. Last time was a 2 hour hold. I got on hold, I was #32. Sounds good. So Marika finished up. We walked off to find lunch. I am on hold.

We found a street market with several food stalls and decided to each find their own food. I didn’t, I’m on hold, hard to eat and handle the phone. Everyone else got food. And ate. I’m on hold. After only 55 mins I spoke to a nice lady about my ticket. Seems there was a misspelling on her name. So sorry. Fuck you. I did not say it. Out loud. Got it all checked in. She told me they would prob try to shake me down for 24€ for my awesome exit row seats. Fuck them. 15 min call with them tells you why there hold time is so bad.

Off the phone! We went to a small park and I ate my lunch. I felt good.

What to do now? Well, Borough Market was a must see according to many. I have noticed that every town we have visited has a central market like this. Florence, Madrid and Rome. Probably built for tourists I am sure. Though, as a tourist, I enjoy them. It’s loke the one night of the week in Sacramento when all the food trucks park in one place. Only every day. Of course, I’m not here every day so it seems special to me.

We spent much time wandering the market. Lots of different foods and we had sadly just eaten our “late lunch with airlines” at the street vendors. But, there were a few things which were a must. The kids found a cider vendor and his cider, apple, was not sweet. Mostly dry and sour. A much needed change. Another distiller has some rhubarb ginger gin. Win!! Can’t buy a bottle. No room in the suitcase and too much liquid for carryon. They will ship. I have the perfect cocktail for it. Reminded me of the rose gin with strawberries I had in duty free the other day. Actually taste good. There were quite a few bakers, brownies 3 for 5, and meat vendors with sausage and meat sticks. Like Slim Jim heaven only good. A few dry goods stores, we even found a place selling green egg BBQs and accessories. That was weird. All in all, was worth the trip. The open air market shuts down promptly at 5, security actually told us time to go. Just like the Tower. Twice in one trip. We are rule breakers. Well, I am. Emily is a rule follower.

We had decided earlier this week we should go to the movies. 3 of us wanted to see the new Mamma Mia. The fourth tagged along. He can see MI Tom cruise another time. We Ubered from the market to a cinema (not theater) that was close to our hostel. It has taken a full day to figure out how to track down theaters and showtimes. These people are crazy. But we got there. Well, I must say, this was a bit of a shock. The place looked normal, like any movie house. But there was a significant difference. In the US I would normally pay $35-40 for four adults. Here £75.50. That’s $99.13 after conversion. Holy hell. One hundred dollars for a movie?!!?! My god. They could have at least pre lubed with that yellow Pennzoil they put on the popcorn. Wow. The silver lining? Snacks were a little less than back home. And they had ice cream (31 flavors even) which was also fairly priced and generously served. So I wasn’t totally hosed. Only 90%. The movie was a 7 out of 10 if you are an ABBA fan. If not, maybe a four or five. When I was here 45 years ago my Dad took me to a movie in Piccadilly Circus. Starring Lee Marvin and Gary Grimes. Which I still remember clearly. So I gotta go do it with my adult children. Never know what you will remember.

We got out around 10. Had not eaten dinner and I figured home to bed. Then Michael says hey we haven’t had dinner yet. Really. So off to Dishoom Indian. Yes, Indian food. Bowel loosening magical food. This place is the one I wanted to pick when they picked the last place. The one that caused all of us to look for restrooms all day long. Dishoom was .1 miles from the theater. A quick comparison, it’s not run by Indians, it has a bar, and today I don’t have the runs. That’s a win win. Food was great. My cocktail was great. As was Emily’s. Gets no better. This whole past month I could not find a decent cocktail save my daily, almost, Aperol spritz. So this place made me happy. At the end of a fine meal we got kicked out nicely. They close at 11. It was 1130. They had turned off a few lights.

We called for Uber on a cold deserted London street at damn near midnight. It came up, 18 minutes to pickup. So we wandered. Hung with drunks and homeless. It was cold. And waited. Uber did finally show up. And he complained about having to have driven so far for a nine minute fare. To which I say, to myself, too bad dickhead get a different job. Wait, that’s mean. But on point.

Quick drive to home and we really all just passed out. We used up our final day of the Grand Tour from beginning to end. Tomorrow, we all start the big move home.