Tom Blake - Love in London
Jan. 9, 2003
Traveling together -- the give and the take
By TOM BLAKE
For The Register's South County Weekly Newspapers
LONDON -- Couples can recharge their relationship batteries by traveling together.
This Christmas, instead of buying presents, Greta and I treated each other to a trip to Europe. We booked $319 roundtrips on the American Airlines
Web site.
On the day after Christmas, we flew from LAX to London, arriving 19 hours after leaving our San Clemente home.
When couples travel, there has to be plenty of give and take and sharing in making decisions.
When we arrived, we were exhausted so we agreed to take a taxi to the InterContinental Hotel, near Hyde Park.
I squirmed in the cute little English cab as I watched the meter rack up a 50-pound fare, about $80.
If you go to London, take a bus or a train downtown.
We needed to stay awake until evening so we ventured out.
Traveling by the "Underground" (a.k.a. "Tube") is the best way to get around, an unlimited one-day pass is $5.80 per person.
A stop at the National Gallery was a romantic way to begin our visit, even with tired eyes. It has one of the great art collections in the world,
including works by my favorites, El Greco and Rembrandt.
An early dinner -- it gets dark by 4:30 p.m. -- at an Indian restaurant, put us to sleep the first night.
Compatibility is important in deciding how to get around, which streets to take, and which museums, galleries and restaurants to visit. We were both happy
walking six miles a day and riding the Tube. You hold hands a lot in London -- it's not only romantic, but necessary to not get separated in the crowds.
A trip tests a couple's patience. Women love to endlessly window shop and enter stores. Harrod's, the famous department store, was mobbed. I've
never seen so many purses and handbags. I lasted 10 minutes in that madhouse. And women must tolerate guys checking out every British pub, about four per block. Most
are too smoky to enter.
Of course, we watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. London is on a high security alert. Normally, the bobbies don't wear guns,
but on the sidewalks outside of the Palace, they carry automatic pistols.
Our favorite activity: The musical "Bombay Dreams," one of the hottest shows in London. We predict it will be a huge hit in the United States, with its spirited
dancing and exotic music of India blended with a powerful drumbeat.
On Sunday, we attended a church service at Westminster Abbey, where people have worshipped since the year 1065. Sixty of us who got there early on a
rainy and cold morning were fortunate to be seated in the royalty pews, only a few feet from where Princess Diana's marriage and funeral took place.
The British railway system is the backbone of the country. We took a train to Oxford University -- a collection of 28 different colleges -- to stroll around and
admire the old English architecture.
We finished our London visit with a fish and chips dinner in a smoky restaurant on Piccadilly Street.
The next morning, we took the eurostar train through the "Chunnel," under-the-English-Channel tunnel, to France.
Next week: the ultimate romantic date, New Year's Eve in Paris.
Weekly comments:
Stacey Jones, Laguna Niguel: "If I hadn't known that last week's column was about me, I would have felt sorry for the woman. We 50-something
women have a lot more to offer than maturity." Response: Re: the latter, no argument from me.
To comment on Middle Age Relationships, e-mail TPBlake@aol.com or write
P.O. Box 442, Dana Point, CA, 92629. Please include your full name and city of residence.
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