Trip update

LONDON

The nonstop flight to London on British air isn't bad at all. 7 hours. We paid extra for economy plus which has more legroom and footrests. We ate before we got on because they serve their awful dinner around 10:30.

We stayed at The Royal Horseguards hotel which is surprisingly around the corner from the changing of the royal guards. They have some kind of performance every day at 11. They weren't doing a royal change for the king which we saw the last time we were here but they did a small performance in the field. The hotel used to house the guards or maybe the horses, not sure. It's in a row of old, elegant hotels. They're so old, they don't even have atms. They do have doormen though. 

Sorry. You have to turn your screen. The pics are coming in sideways and it's beyond my abilities to fix it.

Of course OH Mary was great. The Trafalgar isn't a large theater but I've never seen the crowd take their seats so quickly.  They make you stand outside until a few minutes before the performance.  Then everyone rushes in, sits, and the show starts. 

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

We took a train to SUA. There are sometimes taxis in front of the station but school had just let out so there weren't any and we had to get an Uber. Luckily we were entertained by an old guy who told us back in his day, no parents would have ordered taxis for their kids. 

We had a nice cottage around the corner from the main street.  The town is adorable.  Lots of restaurants,  shops, Shakespeare souvenirs.  We were going to tour Shakespeare’s house but the next day 50 school children were there. Then we decided we didn't want to go. It's not his house, it's his parents for one thing. The tour starts in a museum and then you walk through the house. It seems it's all about stuff from the time period, not stuff the family owned. There's also his school but again it was about education in the time period. The reviews mentioned how much fun it was for people's kids to try on school uniforms and write with quill pens. 

A celebrity...and Shakespeare 

The next night we went to see Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare theatre. It was excellent. Interesting staging, great actors. Wasn't set in WWII or outer space. I had messed up the timing because I assumed the show started at 7:30 even though the tickets clearly said 7:15. I booked dinner at their restaurant at 6:15 because that's all I could get. They have a 2 or 3 course pre-show meal. We made it by demanding the check as soon as we were served. 

In every restaurant we've been to, even coffee shops,  you're asked if you have allergies. Usually twice, once by the host, then by the server. Every menu item has initials that show things you could be allergic to, like g for gluten, m for milk, c for celery. Really. The Brits eat a lot of bacon. We tried bacon, brie and cranberry sauce breakfast sandwiches which were great. The cranberries were served on the side and were perfectly sour. Lola is upset by the fact there is no coffee in England. Every coffee drink is made with espresso.  They have all the fancy variations but no plain coffee. Every place we stay has nespresso machines. I have always hated those. They do give you a French press but that would require buying coffee and making it.