End Notes from Doug

We are not going to let the evil folks WIN by changing our travel Habits.

Well, I am home and figured out the cost.

Eating:
At home, Beulaville, NC, we eat out a couple of time each week and we spend $27.50 per day on all of our food cost.

On our Buenos Aires month trip, we ate out every lunch and dinner and we spend $37.00 per day

On this London trip, we ate all of our meals in house except 3 light meals and we spent $37.00 per day

We live GOOD all of the time.

Transport:
The $180 monthly bus and subway pass is the best deal if you are not living downtown. Center city is small enough to walk around. We had to allow one to 1 1/2 hours time for each performance.

Housing - We hit it lucky. I am going to try for behind the British Museum on our next trip.

Admissions:

The cheapest tickets are at the box offices and not Leister Square! Standing ticket or restricted view are part of the fun. You can sit at the intermission and usually find an empty seat. We spent $36 per day. Each admission averaged around $40.

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16 food thoughts

1. Bagels from the 2nd bagel shop south of the head of Brick Lane

2. Filled pasta from Mr. Christian's at Islington - Camden Passage

3. Pasta Sauce from Camisa at 61 Old Compton St.

4. Raclette and other French cheeses from the French man at Chapel St. Market

5. New little potatoes from any street market

6. Fish and Chips from Fish Central on Central Street - Islington

7. Any prepared food from Selfidge's food hall

8. Organic Hereford beef patties from Marks & Spencer

9. Montgomery Cheddar cheese from Neal's Yard cheese shop

10. Gold prepared soups & everyday items from Sainsbury's

11. Cumberland sausages from Murray's at Dalston Market

12. Good fresh fruits & vegetables at farmer's markets all over town such as Notting Hill, Plimlico & borough Hall.

13. Freshly prepared meat pies

14. McDonald's ice cream cones at 49 pence

15. Turkish bread and desserts from Yasar Halim Deli in Green Lanes

16. Gazzanos Deli on Farrineton Road in Islington

Fifth Week

We went to see a Brazilian dance show at the Sadler Welles theatre that evoked memories of the Carnival celebration we attended in Buenos Aires last March. We also went to see Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" at the Globe theatre. We found a new Italian deli for fresh hand-made pasta-Gazzanos on Farringdon Road. We bought some pasta and a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce-um, good!

We went to see the musical "Billy Elliott," a favorite British play about a young boy from a working class family who aspires to be a ballet dancer. His father wants him to be a boxer. It was so good and the cast is extremely talented. There is a movie called "Billy Elliott," made several years ago that I would recommend, if you haven't seen it. The music was by Elton John.

The Brits seem to eat a lot of wild game mean-grouse, pheasant, quail, etc., as evidenced by so much of these meats available in the butcher shops, grocery stores, and Farmers Markets.

We have observed that Brits don't seem to get as much "junk mail" as we do based on the minimal amount of mail our landlord receives daily. The postage on "junk" must be higher.

I went shopping on Oxford Street on Saturday and Doug went to a soccor game. He wasn't able to get a ticket, but he held a 20 pound note up in the crowd entering the stadium and a guy told him he could get him in. Doug gave the guy the money and he pushed Doug through a side gate into the stadium. Doug didn't have a seat, but he was able to watch the game from several different angles while standing and had a great time. The shopping on Oxford Street was probably as crowded as the soccor stadium. I have never seen so many people shopping, anywhere in the world, it is amazing. One shop especially called Topshop was unbelievable. It is a relatively low priced shop that sells clothes that mirror designer labels and is frequented by the 20 to 30 year old crowd. They have nice stuff, but not that cheap for us Americans. Those Brits must have more money than us based on all the people I sawn shopping and buying stuff!

We went to see the musical "The Boyfriend" on our last night in London. It was held at Regents Park, a beautiful park in London that has outdoor theatre. The play was really good and it was nice to be outdoors on our last evening. It is an old play but good.

We flew back two days early, on Sunday, August 20, from Gatwick. We got our tickets changed. The lines to check-in at the airport were horrendous and the security check-in lines were just as long. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get checked in, but we made it. Our plane was one hour late leaving. We made it to Philadelphia around 2:00 p.m. and drove to Beulaville, arriving at 2:00 a.m. Of course, our body time was 7:00 a.m. We had a great time in London and would go back again and again!

Fourth Week

Regarding expenses, we spent £370 two weeks ago on fun, food and miscellaneous. We have been averaging about £110 per week and we budgeted £140 per week. This past week we spent only £251-more on groceries, but less on the theatre. Just double the £ figures to get dollars. About money, there are a lot of rich people in London-possibly more than NYC. There are a lot of very rich people from Arab countries and Russians who maintain homes here. It is easier for many nationalities to buy property and live in the UK than in the US.

British folks are very friendly and always stop to ask if we need help when we are on the street corner and reading our maps. And, the men often offer m e a seat on the subway or bus when it is crowded. Of course, I hope turning 60 (on August13) doesn't have anything to do with it! But, we have received some discounts on theatre tickets and museum entrances by being at least 60 years old.

We went to see two plays at the National Theatre this past week-"The Life of Galileo" and "The Royal Hunt of the Sun." Both were very good. "Galielo" was written by Bertolt Brecht and told of the life of Galileo, the astronomer. His life was quite extraordinary, but sad as well. "Royal Hunt" was about the Spanish taking over the Incas in Peru and the play was written by Peter Shaffer, same person who wrote "Equus," another good play. We also went to see "Sunday in the Park with George," a play about the French painter George Seurat. It was not as good as it was on Broadway with Bernadette Peters in the lead female role, but it was okay. Doug went to see "Canterbury Tales" one afternoon and I went shopping. Clothes are not cheap in London, but I have bought a couple of nice cotton T-shirts and a beautiful white blouse at a thrift shop. I also went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw a wonderful exhibition of "Beetle" photographs. These were photographs of the Beetles taken in their early years and just after they became famous. Some were taken by Paul McCartney's deceased wife, Linda and were very good.

We found a neat section of town called Green Lane where there are lots of Turkish and Middle Eastern shops and grocery stores. We went to a wonderful deli called Yasar Halim and bought good Turkish bread and desserts. Also, stopped in a nut shop and got a small bag of warm cashews and almonds-so good and the prices were extremely reasonable! We went to Borough Hall on Saturday and browsed throught the market. They have really nice food stalls there. We bought steaks at "The Ginger Pig," one of the best meat markets in London. We cooked the steaks at home and they were delicious, but at $16 per pound, they should have been! We also bought some Italian ham for sandwiches that cost $20 per pound. We make sandwiches each day and take them with us to eat for lunch rather than eat out and spend lots of money on ordinary food. We always find a nice place to sit and enjoy our lunch. Today, we went to the Tate British Museum to see an exhibition of "Constable" paintings and sat out front on the Thames River and enjoyed our lunch. Last Sunday, we went to Southwark Church, the only remaining example of Gothic architecture in London. We walked along the South Bank of the Thames and walked across the Millenium Bridge in front of the Tate Modern Museum over to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Yesterday, I bought a piece of chocolate that cost $5 at LaMaison Du Chocolat, a fancy chocolate shop that also has locations in NYC,Paris and Tokyo. The cheapest box of chocolates, about 5 pieces, cost over $40. The piece I bought was so good and worth every penny (pence). That was my 60th birthday treat!

We are still planning to fly home on August 22 from Manchester, England on US Air. We feel everything will be fine, even though the news lately has been somewhat threatening as related to flying between the US and UK. We'll update the website one last time after we get home. We're off to see the Bolshoi Ballet tonight at the Royal Opera House at Covent Gardens.

3rd week

The weather has finally stabilzed and cooled off this past week. It was in the 90's, now is in the mid-70's and even the 50's at night. So nice to enjoy the cooler weather, although I hear you are all sweating back in the USA !

We went to see several performances this past week. Saw "The Donkey Years," a British play about older men who attend their 25 year college reunion. Also, saw Chekov's "The Seagull" at the National Theatre. And, we saw Patrick Swayzee in "Guys and Dolls"-it was a good musical and he is a good dancer and can sing too. Also, saw "Rock and Roll," a play by Tom Stoppard and directed by Trevor Nunn. It is very popular here now and is about the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe in the 70's-80's and it includes lots of rock and roll music. Also, saw Tom Conti, a famous British actor in "Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell." Also, attended a classical concert at Prince Albert Royal Hall, one of the BBC Proms concerts.

Went to a beer festival at Earls Court last Tuesday evening. It cost us $28 to enter and then we spent about $12 sampling beers, but it was lots of fun. By the way, if you smoke, don't come to London. A pack of 20 cigarettes (Marlboro) cost $11.50!

We ate at a chain Japanest restaurant called Wagamama's last week and it was very good. We had a coupon for "two for one" dinners so it was somewhat reasonable-$18 for two dishes-curry chicken and ginger chicken with uden noodles.

We have found some good Italian Deli's here in London and bought fresh-made pasta and sauces to cook at home. A really good one is Camisa's at 61 Old Compton Road. We have been enjoying good vegetables-french-cut green beans, cherries, grapes, fabulous English cheddar cheeses, fresh-made Cornish meat pies. All of this is available at speciality stores and local groceries like Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury and Waitrose (my favorite). We get really good organic hereford beef at M&S for hamburgers. And, we found a deal on 2 liter diet coke bottles at Waitrose so we carted home about 12 bottles one day. The regular price of almost $2 is ridiculous so we try to find them on sale for about $1 when we can. We have still been doing a lot of walking, all day, every day.

We went to the British Library yesterday and the British museum. Again, we saw the Elgin marbles at the British Museum. They have so much stuff, lots of mummies from Egypt, carvings from thousands of years ago, and the Elgin marbles from Greece. The British Library had a very interesting exhibit on newspapers and they had papers from the early 1920's to current time with interesting headlines, like when the Titanic sank and when Churchhill died. It was so interesting to go back in time and see these old newspapers with the actual headlines of what we have learned in history classes.

Doug is catching up on his detective shows as we have only five TV channels, but they show those great British murder mystery shows that he likes. They even have some that are American that don't show on our networks in the US.

We went to the London Aquarium one day and enjoyed seeing all the fish. And, we toured the House of Parliment, which was most interesting. We saw where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet and do their voting and where Queen Elizabeth opens the session each year. The building was quite impressive.

We went to church on Sunday at Westminster Abbey. It is a beautiful church and where Prince Charles and Lady Di got married many years ago. We walked through Hyde Park and past Buckingham Palace after church.

We are going to see the Bolshoi Ballet perform Cinderella tonight at the Royal Opera House.

Check in next week for this week's news!

2nd week

We went to see "Fool for Love, " a Sam Shepard play with Juliette Lewis, an American actress. We had balcony tickets, but were upgraded to orchestra. The weather has been so hot, the theatres are not sold out, so they don't open the balcony. Needless to say, we are carrying water bottles with us wherever we go. But, the weather has just gotten cooler this past weekend and is very nice. It was the hottest July ever in London, with the day we arrived topping 95 degrees, the hottest ever.

We went to an afternoon chamber orchestra concert at St. Anne's Lutheran Church one afternoon. It was located on Gresham Street. The average age of the concert goers was 65 plus. Very good concert and only 4 pounds each.

We went to see the musical "Avenue Q," which is also playing on Broadway. It was so good. Also, went to the big Auto Show and saw all the latest in cars. It was not as big as the Paris Auto Show, but good.

We have found our favorite dessert at McDonalds. They have the ice cream cones, just like in the USA for only 49 pence, about 99 cents-same price as home. We sometimes have one during intermission of the play in the theatre district.

Doug found a microwave on the street being thrown out by someone. We carted it home and it works just fine. So, our kitchen is now complete. We have been shopping and cooking for food here. So much organic food and great fruits and vegetables. We have especially been enjoying fresh cherries and raspberries.

We went to see the Marinsky (Kirov) Ballet based in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was wonderful music by Shostakovich and the ballet had 3 acts, like a play, with a story and magnificant costumes and stage props. Only 15 £ ($30) for tickets.

Went to Ben & Jerry's Sundae in the Park festival last Sunday and ate all the free ice cream we wanted-all different flavors. Bailey's Irish Cream was the best! We have also been shopping at Selfridge's Food Hall. Selfridges is a very upscale department store. We bought a prepared salad that cost $18 p/pound. We didn't buy a pound, however. They had a box of regular Kraft macaroni and cheese that cost $8. Their food is not cheap, but we get small portions (200 grams) and it is affordable.

We went to the National Gallary museum yesterday and admired many famous paintings. The museums are generally free, but crowded. We have a Tate Modern Museum membership card from the lady we rented from and plan to go there before we leave.

Plan to see "Guys and Dolls" with Patrick Swayzee in the coming weeks. It is very popular as Patrick is well liked here in Britain. Also, going to see Chekov's "The Seagull" at the National Theatre. We are doing a lot of walking, as well as riding the buses and the tube. We're learning different routes to get us to where we want to go.

We spent £328 this past week on food, fun and miscellaneous, very close to what we had budgeted.

Look for next update next week.

First week

We lucked out in Philadelphia. Our original flight was two hours late leaving and US Air put us on a non-stop flight to London Gatwick Airport so we didn't have to fly to Manchester and take the train. No additional cost to do this. Ms. Williams at US Air was so helpful and made sure our bags followed us to London. What a great airline! We took a bus to London and walked a few blocks to our apartment. The apartment is very nice, two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bath on the 7th floor of a 16 story building. We got membership for a month to swim at a nearby pool, Ironmonger Club, and it is free because we are 60 plus. They allowed Nancy to get the membership free even though she won't be 60 until August 13. The pool is very nice and a great way to cool off. Speaking of hot, it is HOT here, but cools off at night. The apartment is cool with lots of breezes and lots of windows to open. The hottest places are the buses and subways. Nothing is air conditioned, even most of the theatres. The hottest day was 91 degrees last Friday. It is supposed to cool off later this week-to the low 80's. At night, it gets down in the low 70's and high 60's. The newspaper had a picture of Hyde Park on the front page the other day and called it the Sahara Desert as the grass here has turned very brown due to the heat.

We went to a Mozart concert at Royal Albert Hall last week and it was a celebration for the Queen. We got standing tickets, on the floor, and the Queen herself and Prince Phillip were in the Royal Box just above where we were standing. We could see them very clearly and I think the Queen even looked into our eyes. They both look very good for 80 years old. We went to a musical in the West End on Saturday night-an Andrew Lloyd Weber play that never made it to Broadway called "Whisper Down The Wind." The original book was written by Haley Mill's mom, the child actress from the 50's and 60's. Tonight we are going to the Opera. There is lots of culture available and the prices are somewhat reasonable. We have tickets to the Sam Shepard play, A Fool for Love, tomorrow night, starring the American actress Juliette Lewis - $16 tickets. Also, we plan to go see Patrick Swayzee in "Guys and Dolls" in the West End. Also, we are going to the International Car Show here in London in a few days.

We have found some very good grocery stores and have been eating quite healthy and good food for reasonable prices. We did have lunch at a local pub yesterday-beef, vegetables, potatoes, and a beer -$30. We are on track on spending, according to Doug. But, everything is about twice what you pay in the US. A liter of Diet Coke is $2, whereas in the US it might be $1.19. They are having a sale during July on Diet Cokes at my favorite grocery store, Waitrose, so we go by there and stock up periodically. We have a wonderful kitchen at the apartment, but no microwave. But, the gas stove, oven and broiler are modern and nice to use. We even have a dish washer! And, a clothes washer.

We have been checking out thrift shops today-some nice ones in our neighborhood. Went to Brick Lane and Columbia Road market yesterday. They had so many beautiful flowers and lots of odds and ends to buy. We also went to the Islington Farmers Market-that is the town we are staying in. They have so many organic foods here in London. We went to Neals Yard, a wonderful cheese shop, and bought some very good English cheddar cheeses-$18 per pound on average. But, Whole Foods in the US sells these cheeses at about this same price. In fact, Whole Foods is called Fresh & Wild here in London. They have several stores and we visited the one near Picadilly, but it was small. The one in Notting Hill is larger and we plan to go there.

We went to a classical concert at the Barbicon and Grant Llyelwn, the NC Symphony conductor was conducting the orchestra. The Barbicon is a wonderful arts center with musci, dance, movies (like Lincoln Center in NYC) and within walking distance from our apartment. We also went to see the opera "Katerina Izmaylova at the Coliseum theatre. It was performed by the Marisnky (Kirov) Opera Company from St. Petersburg, Russia.

Doug left his knapsack in the restroom at Mark & Spencer (nice grocery store and department store). The bag turned up at the information desk about 4 days later-nothing missing, but a stale piece of bread! We kept checking every few days and it did turn up-amazing!

We spent a total of £400 ($800) our first week on fun, food and miscellaneous. Bus and subway passes (Oyster pass) cost us £181 for both of us. They have been so handy as we can hop a bus or subway or both to get around-well worth the money. By the way, when converting £ to $, just double the £ amount. Everything is twice as expensive here in Britain as in the USA.

pre-trip

I had been looking for a rental away from NC for the hottest part of the summer. Our first choice was Russia but they had too many questions such as when where & how. We like travel with no strings attached. I was checking LA, San Diego & Paris when this London place came up. For years we had wanted to again stay in London but the natural expense and changing exchange rate had prevented our visit. I found it on Craigs list for $55 per night for 34 nights. It appears to fit our wants. Close in and two sleeping areas. The owner warned us that there were 3 running children in the apartment above us. NKO says if it worries us too much then we will just go to the coast of France for a while.

I found a cheap fare from Philideaphia to Manchester for $511 each. I think we can get from NC to PHL by Hertz rental for $120 and from MAN to LON by rail for $22. The return may cost aliite more but we will be saving $500 or $600 for the extra time and trouble over a RDU to LON ticket.

We are planning on getting the cheapest tickets for the entertainment. We think that we can average $20 per ticket. Opera standing is $15, the cheapest PROMS tickets are about $12, but the west end plays will be above $20. I am hoping to cut my addiction to internet & cable as neither are available in the flat. Food buying will be one big form of entertainment.

Food will be the biggest cost! We are planning to avoid restaurants. Hey, it is not France! We are hoping to stock up at CARFOUR or similar; shop the local bread and butcher shops; visit the "farmers" markets; and buy prepared foods at the deli and grocery stores. At home, we spend about $40 per day. We are planning on $80 in London. This is a big change from our spring trip to Buenos Aries where we ate out every meal and only spent $30 per day.

I am planning on the transport pass costing $5 per day each.

So our budget is entertainment $40, food $80, transport $10 or $130 per day total for the two of us. We hope this will result in our over spending only about $1,000 above our normal rate for travel days.