From the goat we headed right away to the TKTS booth since I decided that, although I really wanted to take a side trip to Bath, I really was quite tired and knew Rosemarie's legs had just about all the major walking they could take. Once I learned there was a production of The Crucible at The Old Vic, I hoped against hope, that one of London's hottest tickets would be available at the booth. And, it seems the vacation gods were with me as the maitnee was on the boards - but as I suspected - not the evening performance. That suited me perfectly. By this point, we know exactly what exit to climb out of the underground so we're in the right spot and within seconds we were at the front of the line. After doing a quick survey of the people in front and behind us on their first choices, I felt pretty confident that seats would be ours. Imagine my surprise when not only did we get tickets, but we got seats in the stalls that were four rows from the stage. After pocketing our afternoon prize, I opted to take us to The Natural History Museum.
"We go this way to the station," Rosemarie said turning us around.
"What's this?" I asked incredulously. "You know where to go?"
And, sure enough, she led us to the right spot.
Once our train ride brought us across town, we exited and were just in awe of the museum. The facade could be any Ivy League college in its stature. It sits majestically on the corner as erudite as any institute of higher education. Surrounding us were children of all ages, marching like ants towards the museum to merge with the hundreds of toursits and Londoners who were all in line. I love how the
museums are free, and I deposited most of my loose change into the donation box at the entrance.
Now, my motive for choosing this plan of the day was because of the Dinosaur exhibits. The second
we passed through the Cromwell Rd entrance, we were in the massive main hallway that featured a massive fossil of a prehistoric beast. The stained glass windows on the staircase overlooking the foyer were as beautiful as any I've seen in any church and the light coming through bathed the corridor in fantastic light.
With so many people coming at us in all directions, and ones of all sizes, I felt the grip on my arm just a little tighter. What we Ioved about the museum is that not only is it full of great exhibits, but it's also a wonderful interactive learning experince for kids. I was disappointed that most of the dinosaurs were recreated models with some fossils scattered throughout, but they still were pretty inspiring. Especially the build up to the T-Rex. Funnelling guests down a hallway of information with the frightening roars of the beast echoing through the room, the path turned you around the corner until there it was in front of you - a huge replica of the most popular of all animals. When the little girl in front of me burst into tears, I knew the museum had done its work well. My mom and I took a few of the interactive quizzes - did you know the pterodactyl is not a dinosaur? Dinosaurs did not fly. Even at this age - there's a lot to learn.
We still had plenty of time to explore more of the massive halls, so we headed over to the mammoth exposition. That was well worth the extra pounds to get in as they had a complete fossil of a baby wooly mammoth on display.
"Oh, you know the religious fanatics do not like this evolution exhibitions in the least," I commented.
With the temperature in the museum rising from the sheer volume of guests, we took off our jumpers and continued through some more rooms. Most of the animals on display were from the museums archived collection of taxidermy. You could tell which ones were the models from their mouths. We didn't spend much time in the bird hallway - real or stuffed, I have no time for the creatures.
As we walked on, the two little boys with explorer hats just made the two of us laugh.
"Oh, I just love little boys," Rosemarie said. "Look how cute they are. I'm so glad I didn't have girls."
"Ah..well...think about that again," I replied sitting down because the stuffiness of the hallways were getting to me.
"You're not funny."
Au Contraire, Rosemaire. Au Contraire.
Looking at the time, we couldn't believe that it was close to 12:45. I wanted to get over to Waterloo and grab a quick bite to eat before our afternoon show. As we walked out at a much slower pace than we arrived, I knew I'd made the right choice to forgo Bath.
Once we got to the massive station, it took me a few minutes to maneuver to the correct exit. The Old Vic was easy to find and I was so thrilled to be going to one of London's most famous theatres. Being a huge Salem Witch Trials fan was only going to add to our experience. We took our seats that were literally almost on top of the stage and settled in for an intense three hours of theatre. When the two mobile phones when off, although not too loudly, I could not believe my ears. What kind of person can't figure out how to silence their phones? Theatre stupidity is world wide, it seems.
At the interval, I'd felt like I'd just been put through a tumbler. The acting was so intense, we could feel the heat of the performance in every word spoken. When the performance resumed and two people were sitting in the vacant seats next to my mother, I was shocked.
"She said the a/c was so cold in the back, she saw these two seats and moved up," she told me.
"Oh, she's full of shit. That is seat hopping pure and simple. She just wanted to move closer."
With no more electronic interruptions, the play ended with a thunderous standing ovation from the crowd in every direction of the theatre in the round. I can't remember a time when the applause was that well deservered. I can imagine that the wash of that praise must make the cast feel on top of the world. How they could do this performance again in less than two hours was stupefying to me.
Back to the hotel we traveled and with it being rush hour, if you can imagine, there were even more people in the station.
"Watch yourself, here," I said as I helped my mom onto the train. The gap at this station was more of a chasm and I couldn't help but wonder how many people actually injured themselves here.
Once again, my mom was treated with the utmost respect on board. In fact, this entire week, only three people did not give up their seat for her - all of them young girls.
"One more reason I like boys better," Rosemarie said over dinner when I brought up that fact.
Before we did get back to the hotel, though, we had one final Oyster card adventure. Before we arrived in London, I purchased two 30 pounds cards for our tube use and only had to top it off once as we really took full advantage of the London Underground. Tonight, however, it seems I miscalculated how much was left on the card, so when we arrived at Marble Arch, the gate did not open for her. With no place to top the card off and no Tube security, I ordered my mom to follow the woman behind us and nearly pushed her through before the little shutter doors closed. I did the same and we were out and above ground. I wasn't about to add more money to a card that had run its course. We felt like London criminals and laughed all the way back to the Hilton.
When we got back, my mom took a look around the room.
"Oh, we just got here and it's time to go," she sighed.
"It is not, let's go to dinner and we'll throw all this crap in the suitcase later."
And then we were off again to try our luck at a London evening meal. It wasn't a long walk to an area called St. Christopher's Place near our hotel where there are a lot of places to choose. The first one we looked at was Moroccan food and right away I could tell my mom was not happy with the choice.
"Don't just eat here because I want to," I said, and even though she said she wanted to after we took a walk around the block, I knew she was lying. But when the food came, I knew she was enjoying it by the speed in which she ate.
With a mock cocktail for her and two real ones for me, our dinner tonight was just as special as our first in Paris so long ago. We talked about a million topics, reminisced about the past and could have stayed all night chattering like old girlfriends for hours if we didn't have to pack.
I did, though, ask her for her five favorite things of this trip. A little exercise I like to do on all our vacations. Harry Potter, The Pajama Game, Straford-Upon-Avon, Kensington Palace and ice cream at Harrods were on the top of her list.
"This whole trip has just been wonderful," she said, making me a bit verklempt. "Paris, Rome, London, how lucky am I?"
We talked some more over the richest hot chocolate (this being a July evening in London, it's now cold enough for hot chocolate) and a rich, sweet baklava before we took the short walk back to the hotel. We've got the semi-final game of the World Cup on, but she will be asleep before the game has a winner.
Tomorrow, I haven't told her that I've upgraded us to business class. It just didn't feel right to return to Boston in Economy when this trip for her started so magically.
There have been moments along this past week where I've looked at Rosemarie and felt a small pang of how much time has passed since I've moved to California. The clock has made us both older, but it's also been a friend to us. And having the means and opportunity to treat her to the places in the world that I love so much has filled my heart with so much pride. Having her arm protectively wrapped in mine has been one of the joys of all of these trips. Taking care of her on the underground, on the streets and just being able to show her the world will be something I will cherish forever.
For those who have followed us on, not only this journey, but all three European adventures - I wish you this experience in your own lives. In a way, I almost didn't want the vacation to start because I knew that when it did, it would be over in a flash. But in that flash, I have captured the most beautiful memories imaginable.
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