Tea at the Ritz

Tea at the London Ritz is a sophisticated British tradition.  Black tie mind you, the world famous Ritz is usually booked out one to two months for the most exquisite afternoon tea. The management made a last minute holiday exception for what they called, a very famous American blogger and his beautiful wife Julie. We were honored beyond words.  Delicate sandwiches, baked jam, scones and pastries accompany a classy selection of teas.  You can also celebrate a special occasion with a cake and champagne, which is what we did.  The adventure continues....

Rubber Duck

 

Are you kidding?  Shown here is a giant 1/2 ton rubber duck floating up the Thames River under the Tower Bridge.  It passed the O2 arena and landed here in Canary Wharf for a rest on the canal outside of our flat.  This was a publicity stunt to kick off what was called a 250,000 fundation grant.  What a great way to get a festive holiday smile out of us Londoner's

Dutch Submarine Arrives

 

 

Just when I think I've seen it all, The Dutch Submarine HNLMS Bruinvis arrived yesterday and tied up at our dock.  We have had several Royal Navy ships here in the past which were opened to public tours.  This is the first submarine to arrive here on the Thames River in 15 years.  This diesel powered Walrus-Class sub has just returned from a NATO mission and the crew of 60 are taking a few well deserved days off.  I had a great chat with a NATO officer stationed here in England, who was a fellow American from Texas.  Hats off to all of our military and our allies,  you guys rock!

Scott & Brooke Summers

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Summers.  Our beautiful daughter is now married to a wonderful young man and they start their life together.  The wedding was the best and the party after even better.  We do thank all family and friends who came to share this day with us.  It is a bit emotional for me as I was once the most important man in Brooke's life.  Now I pass that on to Scott with all my blessings.  We will leave the warm Arizona winter sun in a few days for our cold home in London.  The memories of our great time here just might keep us warmer...

Happy 35, Brent

 

 

Happy 35 th birthday to son Brent yesterday.  Now here in the Arizona sun Julie and I are reconnecting with family and friends.  Last night we got to celebrate Brent's birthday and spend time with the grand kids that we only see once a year.  We now are staying with great AZ friends and enjoying the winter. wearing our shorts every day.  We are in the last week leading up to our daughters wedding.  The bills just keep coming in.

York city tour

The old historic part of York is surrounded by the old Roman medieval wall. I walked the entire wall in 2 hours then dropped in to visit the more historic sites.  The York Minster was an amazing cathedral that draws many tourists.  The crowds weren't too bad as I was there mid week with winter closing in.  I enjoyed the York Castle, Clifford's Tower, the York dungeon and the National Railway Museum.  Every attraction I went through seemed to have an old historic pub close by.  I usually don't stop at all the pubs but they do warm my heart on these cold British days.

York, England

 

The city of York is located in the center of England about 2 hours north of London on the train.  The city of 200,000 was founded 71 AD by the Romans but has evidence that people settled there between 7 and 8,000 BC.  That is a really long time ago.  In the earily years York was a major wool trading center and later a huge railway hub.  The city is rich with historic actactions, the most prominent being the York Minster Cathedral.  I do like this English history and have been taking advantage of the senior rail discounts and off peak cheaper train tickets.  Check out the family owned 2 star B & B I stayed at called the Wheatlands Lodge.  For 35 pounds I got a single cot with breakfast and tea served.  I was also invited to have dinner there served at 6 pm sharp.  The food suited me just fine.   Not exactly a honeymoon suite but for the money it was a bargin.

Skyfall

 

The premier of the newest Bond movie, Skyfall was held here in London last week at the Royal Albert Hall.  Daniel Craig stared in his 3rd 007 role and is the 8th actor who's played the James Bond character.  50 years ago British author Ian Fleming created the original 007 character in the movie Doctor No, played by British actor Sean Connery.  Skyfall is the 23rd Bond movie and the premier here last week was the second biggest UK movie opening next to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  All the stars of the movie, celebrities, and even some of the Royal Family attended the red carpet event.  There was huge pressure for me to attend but I was in Liverpool working on another story.  Sincere apologises to my loyal blog fans.  I do love the Royal Albert Hall, which is the only concert hall I've been to that has no bad seats with it's circular design.  The cost for a single seat ranged from 1100 to 1700 English pounds. ($1700.00 to $2700.00) That's a bunch!  We did see the movie last weekend here in London, Outstanding!  He always gets the babes....I'm still a fan after 50 years.

Indefinite Leave to Remain

 

Yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of our arrival into the UK.  As our 5 year visa ended we both applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain.  This is the grant of settlement status which allows us to live, work, or study here in the UK without any time limit or restrictions. The requirements for this status was proof of 5 years of residency, documentation, and passing a life in the UK test.  We both studied several hours a day for a week and did pass the required test.  After meeting all of our requirements, we met with immigration officers who interviewed us, took fingerprints, and of course the required criminal style 'non happy' photos for our residence permits.  These permits will now have to accompany our passports as we travel in and our of the UK.  A huge relief to get this behind us.  If we continue to live here for one more year we then can apply for citizenship if we choose.

Magical Mystery Tour

I took the tour!  My visit to Liverpool was inspired by 50 years of Beatles music that never gets old.   Being a huge Beatles fan, having the chance to see where they were born and lived kinda completes the story.  I didn't expect to find the friendliest UK city I've visited so far and would love to live here. The Beatles, all from Liverpool became the most successful band in pop music.  Brian Epstein, also from Liverpool managed the group for 25 % of all earnings and made the Fab 4 famous. Epstein died of a drug overdose in 1967 at the age of 32.  This was believed to be the beginning of the end, of the Beatles as a group.  The songwriting talents of McCartney and Lennon topped the US and UK charts with sales records that might not ever be broken.  John Lennon said that the influence of Elvis Presley's bad boy rock n roll opened the door for their massive success.  This was a really interesting tour,,,ya gotta do it...

The Cavern Club

 

 

 

 

The Cavern Club is the world famous rock n roll club that opened in 1957.  Being right next to my hotel I spent most of my time there.  The Beatles performed here 292 times between 1961 and 1963 and is still a place that most popular musicians want to play.  Outstanding acoustic guitar players started at 2pm and played until midnight everyday changing acts every 2 hours.  Mostly Beatles songs were played with everyone helping out on the vocals.  I did find my own brick high on the wall of fame to sign my name.  My last day here I stayed in the Cavern 10 hours, from opening to closing.  With every break I would work the tables and met loads of great people, two of which were there in the early 60's.  I tried my best to give all the women a chance to dance.  Major damage was done to my already poor hearing, but was sure fun.  Inspired me to learn a few more Beatles songs.  Album posted on FB.

Liverpool

 

 

Monday I took a 2 hour train ride Northwest of London to the coast city of Liverpool.  This is the 3rd largest city in England and is labeled by Guinness's book as the World Capitol City of Pop.  Made most famous of course by the Beatles which is what brought me here as we all salute 50 years of the Fab 4.
I stayed in the Hard Day's Night Hotel, shown here, which not only was a great hotel but did a fine job using the Beatles theme throughout, even in the rooms.  I had a 'John Lennon, Imagine', theme room and chose to pass on the 'Love Me Do' room since I was by myself. Maybe I'll bring my bride back for that one, could be another story.   I will say it was an absolute pleasure for me to leave the busy London folks who don't have much to say and meet a genuinely friendly city where I had never been.  I must have met 30 people who took the time to have a proper chat and I couldn't find anyone whom I didn't like.  I've realized that the true advantage of traveling alone is you can take the time to blab, which is my specialty.  I could live here, hated to come home!

New London Digs

After 3 years of living in a 3 bedroom penthouse flat, our lease has expired and we've moved to a lower level.  With the rent jumping about $1200.00 US per month, it was an easy decision to make the move in the same building.  We now have a 2 bed 2 bath 1300 sq ft flat but did give up our panoramic view of the city.  As usual, I painted the boring white walls with some warm colors to match my warm personality.  Julie and I now take our vitamin D to make up for the dreary UK winter with very little sunshine.  The 3 years we lived in our previous flat will mark the second longest time we've lived anywhere in 33 moves.  Although we have a smaller flat with only a view one direction, we will get by.  In my life as a builder I've learned that a big fancy house doesn't make a happy home. We need only one essential thing too make a fun home...ME!

Bruce and Becky

This ended another fun week touring London with more of our wonderful US friends.  A first trip to England for both Bruce and Becky made it easy for me to find sights that they had never seen. We did have an extra bonus when we saw the Queen up close at Windsor Castle.  First pic I took in front of Big Ben and the House of Parliament,  second at the historic Abbey Road crossing, and last was on top of the O2 Arena.   Both from the Seattle area, our guests were right at home with public transport and large crowds.  When I travel in London I never stand on an escalator, but always climb up or down passing hundreds of  commuters.  My Americans friends got the hang of moving fast and that meant running when necessary.  It just gave us more quality pub time.  Click the link below and watch the video of our climb over the O2 Arena.  I've added this climb to my favorite London tour stops for our more adventurous guests.  This is my third climb over the dome and I always take the lead. I hate climbing over exhausted tourists and occasional cadavers.   Now I'm told there will be a zip line ride from the top of the dome.  I can't wait.
http://www.ustargroup.com/o2/2012/10/12/16365_962097/MainVideosIpad.mp4

Let It Be

Out in London's West end last night, Julie and I hosted our American guests Bruce and Becky to a proper night out.  A stop at the London Ice Bar, dinner and a show made for a fun evening.  This year London celebrates the 50 th anniversary of the worlds most successful rock'n'roll band, the Beatles.  At the Prince of Wales Theater we relived the Beatles hits from their beginnings in Liverpool England in 1962 to the height of Beatlemania.  An outstanding new show with look alike Beatles musicians playing the hits we all know.   Loved it!

LG tv Repair

Our 42 inch LG TV quit working after 5 years here in London.  At a cost of 800 pounds, or $1200.00, I just couldn't through it out but had to try and fix it.  It seems like anything I need to know is on YouTube.  So I pulled up a video of how to fix an LG tv, and in 10 minutes I found the problem.  I pulled off the back of the TV which exposed the 8 x 10 inch control panel which I removed.  I located 4 bad capacitors that were swelled up on the top from overheating, (shown here with red dots on top).  With my solder gun I heated up the soldered wires and removed the faulty capacitors.  I ordered new ones at a total cost of under $5.00 and soldered these in place.  Ten minutes later I had the unit back together and what a surprise, it works!  I saved the cost of a new TV, or a huge repair bill and wonder how many people have thrown these out.  I know nothing about electronics but do know a little bit about YouTube. Learn a new song on the guitar, watch a hemorrhoid operation or fix your TV,  take your pick,,,It's all there.