No fire alarms on this day, so we were a little late in getting day 3 underway. No problem, though, we had worked our way through most of the big touristy things and had settled on a quiet day of shopping and Hyde Park. I think the full English breakfast had a hand in slowing me down ...
We took a quick tube ride down to Kensington/Chelsea and set our sights on the Harrods, the tourist trap disguised as a venerable department store institution. This part of London had us thinking that a move into the city wouldn't be too bad, until we saw the prices of some of the flats. What we thought were incredibly pricey monthly rents were, on closer inspection, weekly rents. Nice place though, with green areas, shops, museums (the Victoria and Albert Museum will be on our list for a future visit) and open boulevards.
Harrods was a temple of excess, with floor upon floor of high end and luxury goods that nobody really needs but most people want. We made it through relatively unscathed with only some new sunglasses and a few cigars, and a long conversation justifying our actual need for those items.
After Harrods we ducked into Hyde Park, which was relatively busy. The long ponds were full of boats and ducks, and people were spread out all over the grassy fields taking in the sunshine. It's a nice place to walk around, but we found St. James' Park in front of Buckingham Palace more scenic.
After a quick stop at the hotel we made our way back into the West End for some dinner. This time we were more prepared and had a good local guide. Our friends in Aberdeen had introduced us to Darren, who kindly offered to show us a good place before our show that evening. As he expertly guided us through the maze of West End London, we received the kind of tips that only locals can give: don't eat at any restaurant with the words "bella" or "steakhouse" in them, etc ... He took us to a great Irish bar called Waxy O'Connor's. The inside of this pub was interestingly decorated with a large tree, lots of carved wood and gnomes hiding in the corners. It was pretty authentic, serving only Irish beverages and with real Irish bartenders. We had a really good time - many thanks to Darren!
Our last show of the weekend was Fiona's old favorite - Les Miserables. Unfortunately, of the three shows we saw this weekend, it was the most disappointing. The theatre, Queen's, was small and warm. We felt it was undersized for the production. The show was good, but it felt a little mechanical, lacking in soul. We kind of had the feeling that maybe after 24 years, it was starting to show its age. Even with all this, we still had a good time.
We had another chatty cab driver on the way back to the hotel. We continue to be impressed with the London cabs. Efficient and plentiful, and relatively cheap to boot. It also represented one of the few service industries in London still worked by Englishmen. Without a word of a lie, our entire hotel was staffed by Eastern Europeans. Eating establishments and most stores were similarly staffed. Plenty of complaints about immigrants in the paper and on radio, but, just like in Houston, the entire society seems to be built on the work these immigrants are doing.
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