Our short jaunt from spain to london and paris started off like an italian/spanish film.
and then it got really weird!

We arrived at valencia airport to join into an already serpintined line for ryan air to london (so we thought).

Several ahead of us said they were going to stansted.

Then, after not progressing for over 30 minutes, the shouting began.
Three police were already at the check in counters ready to handcuff any hysterical passengers should they get violent.

in the meantime, an anti establishment passenger to stansted let her dog run loose with no lease, instigating an exagerrated scarey scqueal from a young girl who claimed to be afraid of the dog as she followed it around until it turned and looked at her, which constantly provoked her shrill SCREAM.

The check in counter agents were flustered among themselves, on the verge of tears, it seemed.

What on earth was going on??

Between the itlaians and the spaniards, there was a lobby in place to force ryan air to do something that we, the stansted observers, had no idea what it was.

I then realized the flight to rome had been cancelled the previous evening, and those passengers were mixed up inadvertently in with others now going on the morning flight.
room for all???? possibly not, it seemed.

It was quite a confusing scene for all, and none of the rome passnegers, re-booked or now from today´s flight, seemed to know which line(s) to be in or who to yell at to get a boarding pass.

Territorial pushing and screaming kept the rest of us entertained until we were finally all checked in, delayed departure one suspects will be the result.

We had our chuckle after security. But the real delay now came once we were on our plane.

The hostesses and stewards were talking to someone just out of our sight at the airplane door.
The female passenger accompanying him was also discreetly pleading with him.

The hostess went back and forth to the cabin, returning to insist they had to close the plane´s door for departure.

We realized they were unable to try to close the door as this terrified, claustrophobic, afraid to fly passenger was gripping the door frame with his now visible fingers, hoping to suddenly overcome his intense fear so he could go on this, i suppose, long-awaited/dreaded journey with his friend/mother/therapist?

it really was quite sad. i was thinking how horrible it must be to have this kind of phobia and felt very sorry for them both knowing how much planning goes into any trip, andhis personal disappointment of not being able to overcome his fear that day despite his intentions.

after about 30 minutes the female passenger deplaned with his things, They removed their luggage from below and we finally began our lovely 6 day journey to london and then paris.

More later.

Wow casanova - what a start to a trip - i suppose it can only get better!

the rest of the trip was uneventful, pleasantly so, but we still have a laugh over the start!

I won´t bore you with the typical tourist things we did, but will add some input on a new restaurant i had read about in the paper the previous trip.

It is called GALVIN, on 66 baker street, about 2 blocks "south"? of madame tussauds. This was an upscale bistro with a menu of the day for 15.50 GBP. The service was excellent, and a delight from the norm.

We were lucky at lunch ( 2.30 pm)with no reservation but advised that it is quite busy.

We also had tea/early lunch at the Orangery on Kensington Palace grounds. This is a lovely place to rest after wandering around the kensington area whether you visit the palace or not. No entry fee.

Nice soup, teas, coffees, and i had a fabulous muesli bar that was so big i couldn´t finish it. This place will give you a luxurious setting without breaking the bank. I tend to like those types of places!

We were also happy with our convent garden area choice before th theater. Zizzy's . It is a chain and an italian eatery without the pizza smell. Very nice salad ( rocket and prosciutto) and a superb thin crusted vegetable pizza we thought was too big to finish but had us fooled..it was so tasty.

After the theater we always take the RV1 bus that drives you from covent garden across the bridge to waterloo.. great views across the thames. Then goes past the london eye, tate modern, globe theater and ends up crossing tower bridge, no less, and stops at other side.

Disembark for the return trip, get on waiting bus in front of you, and take it all in again.

I never get tired of this route.
It is so convenient to a normally mundane, dark tube walk to these sights (IMHO).

Several skating rinks were still up so my mom was able to enjoy watching the adolescents at somerset house at night, which in itself is a beautiful building to admire, especially lit up.

after three nights we were off to paris on the eurostar. what a lovely experience. it was raining most of the way as we left and crossed the channel, preparing us for what we would see later on telelvision about the storms in the U.K. and northern europe.
We were blessed with the luck of just missing it all.

Interesting things we did in Paris:

I have been several times, and my mom can´t walk well, but i managed to take her on some very nice jaunts around the city.

Les Gobelins tapestry manufacturers. open three days a week for two tours a day.

This was a highlight for her, but it is VERY DIFFICULT strenuous walking over at least a block of cobblestone road, and then around the warehouses/studios, etc. the tour was supposed to last 1.5 hours but turned into more than 2, and it finishes at a lower level street that is very confusing on how to get back to where you started from.

keep this in mind if you go. i made a BAD decision to walk downhill with her, hoping to come to a cross sreet to find a taxi, and it just made matters worse.

We did enjoy the tour and detailed explanation IN FRENCH. I think if you have a group there MAY be pre-arranged tours in english. not sure.

We had lunch at FINDI on George V. I thought the restuarant was IN the georges V hotel, so we went there. so glad i had made that mistake. What a luxurious setting. Fresh orchids in every room, by the bouquet. the music begins in their beautiful piano bar every day at 3 pm til closing. This is my next hangout when i want to feel pampered.

Lunch at findi was very, very good, and it boasts a great atmosphere, however it is a down about twenty steps into a cellar. such a complication, but mom was a real trooper. the reservationist was very sweet to help her down the steps.

menu of the day includes glass of wine ..25 euros.

I will say that we were very impressed by the concern bus drivers, passengers and restaurant owners had for the elderly. It was very comforting everyone was making sure you were on, seated or off the bus.. and helping you get around the parts of this historical city that cannot easily be adapted to the challenged everywhere.

A free recital ( donation at end of concert) at the reformation church on rue madame with a soprano dramatique and piano was excellent. I bought the pariscope magazine and read it front to cover to plan our activities. We also attended a family concert of Nutcracker at RADIO FRANCE with an extremely talented story-teller, accompanied by the philharmonic orchestra, coaxing the children into the fantasy world of clara and her nutcracker soldier. 5 euros.

both these almost free events were a real treat and i encourage you to look into them if you have the time. each was only one hour of our time, and are always located near some nice restaurant or monument it seems!
easy bus service everywhere.

The petit palais was a delight as it is totally handicap adapted. They gave me a wheelchair and accompanied us to the cloak room and into the elevator . They were very gracious and the renovation of the building is spectacular.

There is a lovely café there with views of the interior garden/patio.

our hotel was very convenient,(timhotel palais royal) with the 29 bus next door,and gallerie vivienne , too! two blocks to the louvre, and usually no more than a 6-8 euro taxi ride from most monuments.

Besdies the boat ride and our 1.5 hour stay at the top of tour montparnasse to relax over a drink, we said good bye to paris on an evening flight back to spain.

as our plane rose in the dark sky from orly, leaving the city of light spread to our right, the eiffel tower twinkled once again, as the perfect ending to a memorable trip.

my mom repeated several times.. "I should have done this 15 years ago",

Encourage your parents/spouse to travel while they/you are still able-bodied as it really can get more difficult for all in just a few years´time.

forgot to mention that don johnson ( miami vice) is doing a secondary role in "guys and dolls" in london.

We enjoyed the show although it didn´t "blow us away". but it was well sung, danced and portrayed. the other actors/singers were very good, too.
1/2 priced tickets at tkts, leicester sq.

d.j. has gained quite a lot of weight, unless they were trying to make him look that way.

We also happened upon the "evensong" service at st. paul´s in london at 5 pm. It is a lovely sung mass in the QUIRE. sitting there amongst the wooden stalls was so impressive.

The young boys reminded me of the vienna choir boys. It was a very memorable 60 minutes, to say the least.

We later ate BEHIND the cathedral in a newish plaza at the "pater...??? chophouse". Another great meal.

I see you two really had a good time , Lin !!

Nice beginning at the airport...there are always big crowds for the Ryanair flights (and not very much order) and I'm not at all surprised that they had problems with the Rome flight the night before...we were just about not to fly , you know. That happens when you mix us spaniards with our italian "cousins" , hahaha.
Let's see what happens with the new terminal, my friend asked me if it was also from Calatrava.... it really looks like !!

Now that you talk about the RV1 route, I've always been curious about it but never had the chance to take that bus.
Maybe I should enforce the visit booking a hotel on the route I really like Southwark.

And you're right. Everybody should travel while they can if there's a chance...no one knows how the future will be

i just noticed that i had previewed and corrected some typos in my first post that later did not get corrected.
oops!

it really was a memorable trip.
the RV1 in london is great. the only question is WHERE in covent garden you catch it. the last stop i think says for drop off only.

so i don´t know where exactly all the options are for getting it there. it must be around the corner from the drop off stop.

we used it alot. i love that route at night. the views are great. unfortunately the london eye was closed the entire time we were there so mom didn´t get to see it in movement.

you still have to walk down a street to the tate modern, of course, which BTW has a wonderful café on the 7th floor with plate glass windows across the entire facade from which you stare out at the entire city spread before you.

when are you off next? any chance your coming down to valencia soon for anything?

i don´t think the airport extension is calatrava. i´ll find out who it is.

bizzare.

this just came up in my "recent activity" box.

this site is nuts.

regards, ann

i just sent my reports to be tagged. maybe they are sending them under your profile, too! I hope you don't get them all!

I for one am glad it came up, since I missed it the first time around. Thanks for the interesting report; it sounds like you had more than your share of excitement.