Enough relaxing and London Day 2...

I have been sick and I have been "relaxing". Although now I am sick of relaxing and can not wait for the New Year to start so that I can get busy again!!

I am a bad relaxer. People tell me to "try and relax" and they genuinely mean it, because they know that I will have to try, it will take effort and in the end, I will be so exhausted and at my wits end from trying that the only cure will be to tackle some monumental project! My idea of real relaxing is doing something that I love and then basking in the exhaustion of my efforts. My idea of relaxing is going to a new city walking for 5 hours and seeing 3 different monuments and museums, and then relaxing with a glass of wine and a late meal and crawling into bed with aching feet and a big smile on my face.

Day Two London...

Jeff and I brave the bus and the scowling faces of our fellow passengers and head to Leister Square to buy tickets to a Pinter play starring the terrific Michael Gambon. We wander over to Covent Garden, roam the streets, and grab a bite to eat at a "Pret a Manger," a salad and sandwich shop that has taken over London. They are like Starbucks...everywhere, and a lot of the locals miss the tiny sandwich shops, which they have replaced. I however LOVE the "Pret a Manger", as they are clean, delicious and I get a rocket (arugula) and crawfish sandwich with avocado and a mushroom risotto for under 10 pounds. They also make salads...which is nothing to be overlooked as a green salad was hard to find in London, and when I did find one, it was the price of 2 pints of beer. Salad...beer...not an easy choice.

After we fuel up we head to The Tate Modern, which is fantastic. They have this great exhibition of famous sculptures from all over the world that have been congregated into one place, with the soundtrack of rain behind it and a creepy premise that is written at the beginning that explains that all the rain in England has made the outdoor sculptures grow and now they must be housed inside, lest they take over.

There is a lot of great modern art here, and we drag our jet lagged selves from one painting to the next and eventually stop and snooze in front of a film documenting the aforementioned exhibit. The second picture is of a little girl who sat down next to Jeff and waited for him to wake up. He was her exhibit, and people were taking pictures of the two of them while he napped!

After tea and cookies overlooking the Thames from the top floor of the gallery we made our way over the the theatre district. We hit a packed pub and have a pint and some crisps...it was an hour and a half walk after all...and after all the rain and the damp, I can see why the pub with it's reasonable prices, and warm fireplaces and cheerful faces is an English tradition. If I lived in London, it might very well be in a pub.

Dinner at Masala Zone...outstanding Indian food, and a dessert called a fool. I got the Mango fool. Fool is like a pudding, and hours later, I would feel like a fool for eating one, as it did somersaults in my stomach!

At last in the theatre...Harold Pinters "No Man's Land." For the first time, I am in a building that is warm. Too warm. I watch the play and start to feel my head nod. Oh no, I have spent 25 pounds on these tickets and that is Michael Gambon on stage! Michael Gambon talking...slowly...in a low voice...on a dimly lit stage....zzzzz.

At the end of the play, which was beautifully executed, if not thrilling, we cabbed home. No more rainy bus, no more smell of pee, no more aching feet which felt like slabs of meat...just an easy going cab with televisions in the back.

Back at the flat we collapse...again...and I dream about sleeping, while sleeping...must have been the Pinter play.