"Because My Face Fell Off"

Our First Full Day Touring. It is Monday.

Yesterday we walked through Kensington Garden and Hyde Park to Piccadilly Circus. Several of us have Fitbits so the constant refrain is "how many steps". We exceeded over eleven miles. We finished the day with excellent Fish and Chips at a local shop.

Classic British "Fish and Chips" menu offers various fish fillets. The most common are Cod and Haddock. Preparation is a single fresh fillet lightly battered in front of the customer and then deep fried. The fish fillet is offered in three sizes - small, regular and large. Depending on your appetite, the portions will satisfy your appetite. The "chips" are thicker cut fresh potatoes. They are also deep fried as ordered. The Fish and Chips are then heavily sprinkled with malt vinegar and salt.

As with all foods, there are purveyors and excellent purveyors. The Fish House in Notting Hill is excellent. The owner and his key man understand that even with "takeaway" the experience is enhanced with interaction (friendly conversation) with the customer. In short, a worthy adventure.

Today, I hailed a black cab. Well, not quite black. Under the advertising stencil, it was black. Black cab driver are professional and they use a professional tool - their cab. They know every street and the best method to arrive. These are .not the "mad bombers" of New York. The drivers are quick and efficient. The meter runs. There is no waste. If you are a group of four or more, take the black cab.

The cabs are constructed to be cabs - not modified. They are uniform. They are very well maintained. They are designed to easily handle four to five riders. Ingress and regress is quick and comfortable. Because of the design of the doors and the roof of the passenger area which is slightly elevated, you literally walk into the cab. To add to the convenience, the backseat is set back and with two jumper seats in front and attached to the driver's section, there is abundant floor space.

Even when it rains and during peak hours, hailing a cab for six was easy and convenient. I cannot see why you need Uber in London.

Four of us walked to the Albert and Victoria Museum. .Betty and John took a cab. Still learning to navigate London, we had to begin with something relatively close. It was a great choice.

The Museum is a lot more than you are led to believe in the guide books. The museum works at being a museum. It is free and accessible. It is mixture of old and new architecture. It is not large. You are not overwhelmed. There is no "Got to See" item. Like the museums of Milan, the exhibits are interesting and in some cases, thought provoking.

I viewed the "Reimagining of Botticelli" exhibit. Not what I expected. The first portion of the exhibit was recent artists working with the images of Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". Initially, I was not impressed. Still not. I did see my first Warhol.

But, it was thought provoking. I have seen the original. It is impressive and inspiring. The modern adaptations are clumsy and self absorbed. What I learnt is that in attempting to change the medium of the art, present artists are emotionally and intellectually bland.

The second portion of the exhibit presented several attributed Botticelli and paintings by his workshop. You can quickly see the difference. The lines and the colors in a Botticelli are bright and lines confident.

What I learnt was that Botticelli was talented, but had the unfortunate luck to live in turbulent times. Dependent on commissions, he moved to the rhythm of the contrivances of the wealth of Florence.
First, the church, then the Medici and then the religious intolerance of the Savonarola (think Cromwell, Inquisition and Salem Witch hunting rolled together).

But, when he was good, he was very, very good.

We now have a routine. At the entrance, we go to our specific interests and meet again at designated time and place. With International cell service, coordination has become easy.

John has become our guide with Caroline and Angela our voice of what is reasonable. John is often twenty feet ahead with us straining over the multitudes to see our leader. An advantage of advancing age is that the kids become the decision makers. The pressure is off.

Our first stop after the Albert & Victoria Museum is an Indian Restaurant. I have never had Indian food and the guide books are adamant that London is the place.

We are a few blocks from Herrods and upscale. Haandi is a white tablecloth restaurant, but the clientele is strongly ethnic which is always a good sign. We sample from each other dish. The Naan bread and rice are outstanding. I had a lentil soup with cumin. Fortunately, Angela is familiar and helps us order.

After a very leisurely lunch, we investigate Herrods. Okay, why? The answer is because "you can". Betty mentions that it has changed from her last visit in her youth. It is a temple of consumerism. It has the Egyptian columns on the five story escalators to prove it.

Like the department stores we have seen throughout Europe, Herrods is a collection of boutique designers and brands within finely defined floor space. The merchandise is exceptional well landed out.

Yes, it is expensive. But not as bad as you might believe - it is high retail (no  20% sales here - no house brands). It is,after all, Burberry ,so $400 for a shirt is quite believable - I said
"believable "not reasonable. What makes it "eye popping" is the 20% Valued Added Tax (Sales Tax) included in the price (Ted Cruz's 10% VAT will not be popular).

We finished the day with a black cab ride to Westminster Abbey (closed at 3:30). We walk with a gathering storm past St Margaret's Church, walk across Westminster Bridge, a viewing of Parliament and the London Eye and, finally, a walk in the rain back across the bridge down to 10 Downing Street and to Trafalgar Square.

It is late and the museums are closing. Tomorrow.