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.