The Meliza Girls Do London
Last Thursday my aunts, Lili and Shirley, arrived in London for the first time ever. My job: to play tour guide. From past experience I know my tour guiding abilities are somewhat... shaky. To say the least.
Also, let me point out, Lili and Shirley are my dad's older sisters. Now, I haven't any experience in the realm of having sisters, so I wasn't entirely prepared for the, ah, ahem, er... enthusiastic discussions. Though I should have expected the stubbornness. I come by it honestly.
Thursday was a sort of "free" day. In other words, we weren't following any sort of plan. So after some enthusiastic discussion about what to see first, we headed for Trafalgar Square. I will hereby admit my sins and let you all know that while I got us on the appropriate tube line, I managed to get us on one headed the wrong way. Don't ask. I've no idea how I did it. It's not the first time, though it's not a regular occurrence.
Lili announced her disappointment at it's size. Trafalgar Square is not much bigger than Pioneer Square back in Portland, but at least it has a cool fountain and lots of statues. Last time I checked, Pioneer Square did not have a 30 foot tall statue with Admiral Lord Nelson on top. Though, granted, Pioneer Square does have a waterfall and a very cool weather vane which my own father did the electrical whoseewatsis to. That is, he electrical whoseewatsised the weather vane, not the waterfall.
We next trotted off to St. James Park. We never actually went in to St. James Park. We sort of hovered on the edge having an enthusiastic discussion about where exactly we were on the park map and what exactly each building around us was or was not.
At this moment let me point out one of my failings as a tour guide. When one or the other of my aunts would ask what a particular building/statue/monument was, I'd give her a blank look and say, "I have no idea." In my defence, I did know Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I also knew not only how to get to Trafalgar Square by the easiest route (though admittedly I headed in the wrong direction at first), but also how to get to St. James Park from Trafalgar Square and how to get to Buckingham Palace from St. James Park. Even better, I lead us all through London without once getting mugged. So, I guess they decided I could keep my job.
By this time it was approaching dinner time and there was grumbling in the ranks, so we headed through the Duke of York memorial thingy (I've no idea WHICH Duke of York it was, but apparently he needed a very large memorial involving lots of stairs.) and up the road (don't ask which road), past the Florence Nightingale monument (Yes, I know who Florence Nightingale was. I even know why she was called Florence.)and on to Piccadilly Circus. I don't think they were as impressed as I was. Shirley compared it to Times Square. I supposed she's not far off, but I always thought Piccadilly Circus was much cooler than Times Square. Lili sniffed at it, but took pictures anyway.
On up the road we trekked (we had to take a side trip to McD's for a potty break) to Covent Garden. I think by this time the aunts were too tired to be impressed with anything, much less Covent Garden. They were, however, impressed with dinner at Masala Zone. Masala Zone (http://www.masalazone.com/) is a gorgeous Indian restaurant with super yummy food, friendly waitstaff, and a rather reasonably priced menu. Puppets dangle from the ceiling and I swear every single person that works there uses Colgate Whitening toothpaste. I'd love to take credit for the discovery, but I can't. One of my co-workers suggested it. Kudos to Sanjay.
Semi revived by the lovely, spicy food, we were able to make it back to the hotel. When I say make it back, I mean we staggered back. I'm fairly certain Lili was asleep on her feet. The only reason I wasn't was because mine hurt too bad.
So while the aunts went off to bed in the world's smallest hotel room, I hit the tube station for a ride home to my own bed. I slept like a baby. Imagine that.
I apologise for lack of pictoral evidence of our journey, but being sans camera, I left picture taking to the aunts. They've done me proud, but the pictures are on their memory sticks to be shared with the world at large later. Will post said pictoral evidence when it is made availabe to the public.
Next stop, Friday and the Tower of London, Shirley drowns, and we close down the British Museum....
Also, let me point out, Lili and Shirley are my dad's older sisters. Now, I haven't any experience in the realm of having sisters, so I wasn't entirely prepared for the, ah, ahem, er... enthusiastic discussions. Though I should have expected the stubbornness. I come by it honestly.
Thursday was a sort of "free" day. In other words, we weren't following any sort of plan. So after some enthusiastic discussion about what to see first, we headed for Trafalgar Square. I will hereby admit my sins and let you all know that while I got us on the appropriate tube line, I managed to get us on one headed the wrong way. Don't ask. I've no idea how I did it. It's not the first time, though it's not a regular occurrence.
Lili announced her disappointment at it's size. Trafalgar Square is not much bigger than Pioneer Square back in Portland, but at least it has a cool fountain and lots of statues. Last time I checked, Pioneer Square did not have a 30 foot tall statue with Admiral Lord Nelson on top. Though, granted, Pioneer Square does have a waterfall and a very cool weather vane which my own father did the electrical whoseewatsis to. That is, he electrical whoseewatsised the weather vane, not the waterfall.
We next trotted off to St. James Park. We never actually went in to St. James Park. We sort of hovered on the edge having an enthusiastic discussion about where exactly we were on the park map and what exactly each building around us was or was not.
At this moment let me point out one of my failings as a tour guide. When one or the other of my aunts would ask what a particular building/statue/monument was, I'd give her a blank look and say, "I have no idea." In my defence, I did know Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I also knew not only how to get to Trafalgar Square by the easiest route (though admittedly I headed in the wrong direction at first), but also how to get to St. James Park from Trafalgar Square and how to get to Buckingham Palace from St. James Park. Even better, I lead us all through London without once getting mugged. So, I guess they decided I could keep my job.
By this time it was approaching dinner time and there was grumbling in the ranks, so we headed through the Duke of York memorial thingy (I've no idea WHICH Duke of York it was, but apparently he needed a very large memorial involving lots of stairs.) and up the road (don't ask which road), past the Florence Nightingale monument (Yes, I know who Florence Nightingale was. I even know why she was called Florence.)and on to Piccadilly Circus. I don't think they were as impressed as I was. Shirley compared it to Times Square. I supposed she's not far off, but I always thought Piccadilly Circus was much cooler than Times Square. Lili sniffed at it, but took pictures anyway.
On up the road we trekked (we had to take a side trip to McD's for a potty break) to Covent Garden. I think by this time the aunts were too tired to be impressed with anything, much less Covent Garden. They were, however, impressed with dinner at Masala Zone. Masala Zone (http://www.masalazone.com/) is a gorgeous Indian restaurant with super yummy food, friendly waitstaff, and a rather reasonably priced menu. Puppets dangle from the ceiling and I swear every single person that works there uses Colgate Whitening toothpaste. I'd love to take credit for the discovery, but I can't. One of my co-workers suggested it. Kudos to Sanjay.
Semi revived by the lovely, spicy food, we were able to make it back to the hotel. When I say make it back, I mean we staggered back. I'm fairly certain Lili was asleep on her feet. The only reason I wasn't was because mine hurt too bad.
So while the aunts went off to bed in the world's smallest hotel room, I hit the tube station for a ride home to my own bed. I slept like a baby. Imagine that.
I apologise for lack of pictoral evidence of our journey, but being sans camera, I left picture taking to the aunts. They've done me proud, but the pictures are on their memory sticks to be shared with the world at large later. Will post said pictoral evidence when it is made availabe to the public.
Next stop, Friday and the Tower of London, Shirley drowns, and we close down the British Museum....
posted by SheaLuna | 3:31 PM
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