"Good puzzle would be cross Dublin without passing a pub"

It is Friday morning and very early.
We have a flight on Aer Lingus out of Gatwick to Dublin. There is a complacency in visiting a city for the second time. Then, something happens and you realize how little you know.
"How do I get to Gatwick?". "Where is Gatwick?" "What if I screw up and we miss the flight?"
I have done research and it is two underground rides and one train. Sounds like Gatwick is not close. In fact, Gatwick is the second largest airport in the London area.
I have decided after consultation with Caroline that we can remove some of the turmoil by taking taxi or Uber to the train station instead of the Underground.
I have been using an app called Mytaxi and it works, but I am not confident. We need to leave the apartment @6 AM. Our flight is 10:10. I am allowing an hour plus to the airport and an hour for security. Yes, this means that I am one of those people who get nervous waiting for a bus.
The decision is made easy by the fact that no taxi appears available on the screen. An Uber driver is five minutes away.
Let me explain - telecommunications and Internet are not truly worldwide. For US telecommunication companies, it is a patchwork of technology and agreements. Because of that, use of your cellphone is not inexpensive. If you do not work at it, it becomes very expensive quickly. The short lesson is turn off cellular data and use WIFI whenever you can.
All this planning goes out the window - when access to the WIFI ends at the street. Our recourse is to turn on our limited and precious cellar data and try to locate to locate an Uber driver.
He is 3 minutes away. Caroline states the obvious - what if the Uber vehicle is too small for the four of us and our luggage. I am running out of prayers. Is there a patron saint for this situation. I am now angry at myself for limited research.
A Citroen Grand Picasso (comment - why would a car company named a van after Picasso) turns the corner and moves slowly toward us. He smiles and I am relieved.
Our experience this trip with London Taxis has not been the best. Over our six day stay, I have begun to notice that the drivers seem to be padding the tap by increasing the number of occupants from 4 to 5 and sometimes 6.
Based on this apparent mistake - I find Uber more reassuring. Also, I note on this trip to London that Taxi drivers seem not to be as knowledgeable about addresses as previously I can see why Uber is very popular.
The driver drops us off at the train station. There are a number of public transportation systems in London area about half are public and half private. We are experienced Underground users. We have not used the bus system. We have used the train system from London to Oxford and London to Paris and back. We now learn about the Metro Train system.
It is efficient - Underground above ground. It is also crowded which is reassuring. People with luggage - I have got to be going the right way.
Two stops and more people. It is Friday and long weekends. Gatwick is the home of many of Europe's low cost airlines. The airport is jammed with people moving forward. And, I am suppose to know where and what to do. I bought the tickets.
We locate Aer Lingus and their terminal. You move with the masses.The signs are explanatory. "Security this way". I am not familiar with the system, but seems to be easy. Find an entry gate, flash your boarding pass on the reader and smile at the camera above you. I have all the boarding passes so I have to flash as Betty, Caroline, Bill and myself pass approvingly through the gate. No pressure - there are only thousands in front of us and tens of thousands behind us. All moving at you with crushing confidence - hell, there are only seventeen of the gates.
I fumble through and we move onto security. Shoes, Belts, Computers, Body Scans - it is Orwellian.
I am pulled out and given a pat down and screening. We all fumble. It is 8 AM in the morning. Short of sleep, disoriented - strangers in a strange land.
I start to look for gate information. There is none. In Europe (yes, the UK and Ireland are Europe), they do not post your gate until about a half hour before takeoff and, more importantly, about 20 minutes before final boarding.
Leaving security, you are forced to enter the maze of "duty free" shops. Think IKEA. You literally are forced to walk by liquors, perfume, handbags etc. The path is "S" shaped. You can see the end. There are no shortcuts. Five minutes and you are dumped into large food court with hundreds of people standing in front of the two hanging monitors announcing that your gate is not posted yet.
At Gatwick, you have to take an escalator to the food court. We have little over an hour to wait before the gate announcement. We find seats. We lay out our carry-on and backpacks and try to relax. Get a cup of coffee and something to eat.
Seating is barely adequate for the number of passengers. The seats with a table require purchase by Nanda (A London Portuguese oriented fast food chain - no earthly reason why they serve breakfast).
So we find chairs and spread out. Coffee and breakfast are eaten out of our laps.
Finally, our gate is posted - B17. How far away can B17 be? It is a long way. I will never, never complained about O'Hare again. We walk and check. It cannot be this far. Oh, yes it can.
We arrive 10 minutes later with priority already boarded. The number of those precious overhead spaces has dwindled. I never figured out in 32 days how we always got beat so badly to the assigned gate. There is a trick.
The gate attendant looks at our boarding pass and flashes across a screen. Chaos.
I am told that when we entered security by flashing our "check in boarding pass" and passport that I failed to coordinate the specific boarding pass with the photo being taken. Gatwick security is high tech. Apparently, they track you through the airport by facial recognition.
I am watching the "gate keeper" eyes glisten as he sees that he is about to prove his superiority to hopeless tourists. Fortunately, the security person beyond the desk is more sensible and a few cliches and she has corrected the problem.
Most importantly, our carry-on luggage passes the test. Betty was confident since she had gone out of her way to assure conformity. I was not as confident having heard stories and read "traveler tips" about European airlines curse on carry-on and as a true revenue source.
I did hedge my bets slightly by paying a few Pounds Sterling more for carry-on and priority boarding.
We move to our seats; lift our carry-on and stow our backpacks at our feet.
The Aer Lingus plane is new and seats are better than US carriers. The cabin staff are efficient and polite for the one hour flight to Dublin.
I have found that the most trying part of arriving in a new city is how do I get from airport to hotel or rental. And, how much is it going to cost and how much will I overpay.
What we have come to expect - we walk about a quarter of a mile to exit airport. Dublin does not have an underground. It is buses or taxis.
We locate the Taxi Station; hire a cab and try to help the driver find the address. The driver is a great guy. He makes a cell phone call and locates directions. Now, in this age of google maps and GPS on phones - why commonly, the drivers always seemed to get slightly disoriented - I have no idea. Not all - but about 40% of the time. Several times, Caroline had to open up her app to assure the drivers had not gotten lost. Of course, there are no discounts for mileage while lost.
Betty has done a great job scouting and booking a rental. We are in a great neighborhood. It is a house with a great little kitchen and two bedrooms.
We settle in. Betty has forgotten one of her prescriptions and Bonnie has Fed Ex to the owner's supplied address. It should have arrived prior to our arrival. It has not. The Fed Ex driver could not locate the address given (sounds like everyone has this problem).
Betty confidently resolves the problem with Fed Ex (who were great) and arranges delivery Monday. We leave Tuesday. If we miss, it will be almost impossible for the prescription to catch up with us.
We have been on the road for seven days and some laundry needs to be done.
We locate on Google one self service laundry. Bill and I walk there. Closed and it looks like "to infinity and beyond". Returning, Caroline locates another laundry but not self service. We leave our dirties. Tomorrow they are open to 2 PM and close on Sunday. So it is Monday.
Bill and I go food shopping. Great location. A market is down the street. It is the typical European Grocery store - all the necessities and nothing more. This store has a small deli section which is well used.
We return with food, wine and desert. Television is upstairs. The room is small but it is great way to end a long day.
Tomorrow is Guinness and Teeling Whiskey.

"Please Mind the Gap between Station and Train"

It is Wednesday.
We have been looking forward to our next tour of the British Museum. An intelligent person or people like me, must have the British Museum on their bucket list.

We are up early. The weather is not bad, a little cooler and breezy. This morning I got up early to get a cup of coffee and a biscuit.

I note in my travels that there are more and more coffee shops. Small business people - usually, young - opening their concept of the prefect shop. You do not see tea shops. London, the whole of the UK and Ireland have returned to Boswellian times. Only Starbucks has brewed coffee guaranteed. It is called filtered and only skimmed or partial skimmed milk.

In Italy during our first adventure, I found that the closest to brewed coffee was Americano. Now I find that I have to order Americano with milk. Obviously, it is more expensive. In Italy, "caffe" (expresso) price is set by the government. In the UK and Ireland, you are paying latte prices for a shoot of expresso and hot water. Starbucks works for me.

A note for travelers and investors in Costa (large coffee shop chain in UK) avoid and only as last resort. It is expensive: their internet is open and,therefore, unsecure) and open at 8 AM. The only consistent coffee shop open at 7 AM is Starbucks.
Actually, the common opening time for all business is 9 AM. There are exceptions - Tesco Express (small grocery) & Gregg's (small sandwich shop). Try to find a cup of coffee before 7AM - walk.
Another issue is I now understand  and the price of coffee beans and its volatility.

Every day hundreds of millions cups of coffee. And more each year. Coffee is raised in only a few places in the world. I also think about chocolate. Makes you think - plastic coffee bean.

We take the Piccadilly Underground to the Station a station near the Museum. Last time, we came via the District Line - different station. I have now learnt that like streets - it is easy to get disoriented in London. The walk looks different. Actually, this is a good thing. Same trip - just different.
The museum looks the same. It is free and immense. There is no queue.

We pass James Smith & Sons Umbrellas. Some day, I am going to order a basic black James Smith & Sons Umbrella.

We stop for lunch at a museum cafe and an orientation. It is agreed to meet again in two and half hours at the Museum's pizzeria.

I am myself. I thought I knew the Museum. I do not. I am lost almost immediately. I am stuck in the ancient world and cannot get out. Last time, I could not find the mummies. Now, I am starting to give them nicknames as a pass the same ones again and again. Next time, no ego - take a free map.
It is interesting. I begin to understand how large of a collection the British Museum has. What they display is a small exhibit of the collections. The British Museum remains a working museum. New collections - research - is going on at all times.

I spend time in the Levant exhibit. How little we know of the Middle East and its past. How much we assume. I realize that Egyptian cultural is totally separate from the rest of what we now lump together as the Middle East. The Egyptian did not look like his neighbor the Arab. His language was different.

We separate cultures. Yet, great - the Sumerians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians - all existed within the framework of the Old and New Kingdoms. We are not taught the Canaanites included tribes of Phoenician, Hebrew, Ammonite, Moabite and Edomites. These small nomadic and settled tribes shared a language, culture and land.

I remember that there is no historical proof for David or Solomon. There is no historical record of Moses or the Exodus.

These tribal battles are still unresolved. They have expanded. We still are fighting over a piece of land in Caanan which by myth has become a battle of good and evil and the End of the World. One tribe's belief in salvation is rewarded by the total destruction of all life by a God who, a few chapter before, is described as merciful.

I am lost in a Museum and I am so happy. I am lost in my thoughts. I wonder the floors looking at exhibits and people. My interest vary.

I decide I have two objectives - the Rosetta Stone and the remains from the Parthenon. I start to work my way logically through the ages- I start at 3,500 BC and keep moving. Left corridor. Then, the right. Oops, been there. Let's try right then left.

I find the Rosetta Stone first. It is not large. It is a dark stone. There are always cameras with people attached. I find the Rosetta Stone reassuring. Science will defeat ignorance - just takes a long time.

I love the Parthenon that Lord Elgin borrowed. I am glad he did. He undoubtedly saved the pieces. Still, he did steal them.

I am back in the center Pavilion. I am early. I see Betty and Caroline walk by. I am confident they will come back. Thirty-five minutes later I am beginning to think they are lost. At forty-five minutes I try to call and text. How can they do this to me?

Answer. I am in the wrong place. I did not listen to the instruction to meet at the Museum Pizzeria. I am flustered. I am embarrassed. Betty, Caroline and Bill are generous. The Pizzeria has closed. But, they have takeaway for me.

It is 4 PM and just enough time to catch a black cab to The British Library. The Library is very much a working library. Only the exhibit room on the second floor is open to the public. That is more than enough. You view Gutenberg Bible (the Chinese developed moveable type about the same time and maybe like pasta - Gutenberg may have taken an idea and made it better), the Beatles, Alice, Schubert, Audubon, Shakespeare and so much more. I am always comforted when I visit.

The Library closes at 6 PM and we take the underground to Barons Court. We want London Curry. There is a recommended Indian restaurant around the corner. That corner is a quarter of a mile away.
The restaurant is remarkable small. Three or four tables inside and two outside. The inside tables are taken. We sit down outside. They ask if we want the heaters on.

I have to run to the Sainsbury Limited across the street. When I return we order. The waiter is friendly and helpful with ordering. There is not as much curry on the menu as I hoped. The menu is interesting. The waiter guides us to our taste and tolerance to spicy and very hot.

Inside table is available and we share a very small table. The food arrives. It is very good. I plan to try Indian food in States for more comparison.
Tomorrow is travel day to Dublin.

"The man who can dominate a London dinner-table can dominate the world"

Today is Tuesday. Bill, Caroline and I tour Westminster Abbey.
I think Westminster is top on Bill's list. I have been once, Caroline twice. Even then, Westminster Abbey is enjoyed.
A little longer underground ride than our previous visit. Hammersmith section is different than Notting Hill and Keningston/Chelsea area. Those city areas are gentrified. Hammersmith is in the process. London is unbelievable expensive, crowded and difficult. I like the city a lot as a visitation  for a short duration.
We cross the street carefully to a waiting line. There is a church service going on and entry is delayed. A short wait, we enter the "q" (not certain, if it is "Q" or "q" or queue) for tickets.
Westminster Abbey has changed. Stephen Hawking's ashes are now buried next to Newton and Darwin. Things have not changed, Mary I still lies under Elizabeth I. All remains as it should be.
We miss so much. Jeremy Irons remains assured on the hand held audio tour. He is authoritative, but lost. The exhibit signs are small and unobtrusive. Invisible was the goal and achieved.
You are forever looking for station 9 and can only find Station 14 the tomb of Edward the Confessor. I wanted to see Livingstone (his heart is in Zambia). There are over 3,300 burials or memorials in Westminster. The last monarch buried is George II.
Again, I am reminded that preparation the night before solves a great deal of the confusion. Download maps or take a screen shot - works.
The tour ends at Poets' Corner. I finish slightly sooner than Caroline and Bill. I fall into conversation with one of the service people. She is new to the job - only a few weeks. She is a very intelligent young lady. She is excited about this opportunity with a degree in Art. Like another young person I met working in a coffee shop who has a University degree in bio-something, these young people are excited and confident about their future. I know I would hire them.
We walk to Trafalgar Square along St James Park. We purchase sandwiches at Pret a Manger and picnic on the steps of the National Gallery of Art. It is sunny and warm. The steps are full of families and students. The neon pink lion is still there.
Finishing, we cross again to the edge of St James Park and cross the parade grounds for Queen's Household Guard. On the way to lunch, the guard had two dismounted guards at the front gate. The horses were remarkable. Children and adults crowding them. petting and taking photos. The horses remained calm. Very impressive.
As we walk up to the Churchill War Rooms, we are surprised by the length of the line. Apparently, there is a rush for touring the museum.
A young museum employee tells us and others that it will an hour from this point. He seems confident.
I decide that I need to find a toilet. With an hour wait, I have expectations that I can find a men's toilet within an hour. I am wrong. A quarter of mile, I find a men's public toilet. There is a turnstile and a charge of 50 schillings. The turnstile neither makes change nor accepts credit card. I now have to enter the Underground Station and purchase a coke to get the correct amount.
As I enter washroom, there are five young men in front of me. The washroom smells. It is old, dirty and one does not linger. On the way out, the turnstile does not turn and I do not wait. I know what do you expect for 50 pence.
I am now forty minutes into what should have a ten minute sojourn.
There is no line. Caroline and Bill are waiting for me at the entrance. They have stepped out of line twice waiting for me. Apparently, the young man was wrong. It was a twenty minute line.
Caroline and Bill are gracious. Their patience is thinner when although at the front of the line, it takes another five minutes for us to enter - as VIP's and advance ticket holders have preference.
Of course, the washrooms are handy and immaculate.
The Churchill War Rooms are better known now because of recent movies "Dunkirk" and "Darkest Hour'. They have improved the exhibits and the experience. The free hand held self guide tour is excellent.
The big chance is that the portion of the tour that focuses on Churchill's life and career is now in the middle instead of the end of the exhibit.
It makes a little more sense - and, I am sure that the reason is to assure that the public learn more about the man than simply look at rooms.
The exhibit remains honest about Churchill. Churchill is a complex person. As I said before, in this period of history, his weaknesses were his strength. His greatest strength was the ability to fail and rise again.
The staff of the War Rooms were remarkable. Difficult living conditions. I am sure that there was pettiness, harassment and discrimination. Brutality. Love. Hate. Injustice. All suffered in a common cause to defeat an evil that would have consumed and destroyed a world that might be better.
Caroline and I decide that Bill needs to enjoy Honest Burger. Caroline finds that there is an Honest Burger near the Hammersmith Station - one stop past our station. It is definitely within walking distance of the apartment.
As we exit the station, Caroline has this great app that works off Google Map without using an Internet connection. We are all limited to 512 MB for 30 days. We are constantly looking for WIFI.
Honest Burger is around the corner in a small two story building with the kitchen. I doubt think Bill understands the attraction - it is a very good burger, but...
Caroline orders a cocktail. Bill and I order a local beer. My burger is a spicy and very good. Bill orders an Honest Burger.
The waitress is not impressed that we are from the US and made a special trip to Honest Burger. I think it has to do with the stairs and a crowded room and only two servers.
We finish. Caroline has ordered takeaway for Betty. We begin our walk back to the apartment. There is still evening light. We know the way well. As it gets darker, we can look into living rooms. The television is on. The lights are on. Apparently, everyone feels safe. Pubs, Coffee shops and ethnic restaurants are the scenery.
At the apartment, I repeat my ritual -wallet, phone, glasses and money.
Britain changed the 5 and 10 Pound Notes - They are plastic and smaller. The problem is that they are slippery and can come out of your pockets. I have to be careful. Also, the feel in your pocket is similar to receipt paper. So you think that five pound note is safe - until you pull out a slick paper receipt. Best advice - all paper money in wallet immediately.
Tomorrow is British Museum.