Day 26: Sep. 29, 2018 - Betty & Dale Arrive

Today we will greet our friends Dale and Betty, who are stopping by London on their way to Italy. Their plane lands at Heathrow about 6:30 AM. They arrive in Notting Hill at 9:15. They are much more chipper than they have any right to be!

We show them their room and they freshen up. We then head out for coffee and pastries. Fortified, we walk around the Portobello Market. Betty is quite a photographer and is always in search of an interesting photo op, so the pace is leisurely. We see some interesting sights on this road.

Artwork on a Facade on Portobello Road

We wanted to show them the map of Notting Hill attached to the wall north of the Westway. This map shows the locations of many films that were shot in the neighborhood. Alas, there is a new art project on this road and the wall is totally covered with semi-permanent material, most of which has art on it and some of it has spaces for more art to be added. The map is completely covered.

Ah well! We continue walking around the area and end up back at our flat. A plan emerges: lunch at the Oxo Tower. We hike to Notting Hill Gate Station and take the Central Line to St. Paul’s. We emerge and walk around the Cathedral, then over the Millenium Bridge. On the south side of the Thames, we stroll west until we arrive at the tower.

We enjoy the view while we have a really good lunch. We leave the restaurant and head west/south along the river until we come to the Golden Jubilee Bridge; we walk across toward the Embankment Station.

Dale, Betty and Amy above the Thames

That’s Cleopatra’s Needle on the right in the background. The obelisk was presented to the United Kingdom by the ruler of Egypt and Sudan, Muhammad Ali, in 1891 in commemoration of the victory by Nelson at the Battle of the Nile and the victory of Abercrombie at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.

Continuing on, we enter the Underground to emerge at Hyde Park Gate. Betty wants to see some of Hyde Park, so we walk along the Serpentine to view the Mastaba (see Day 3). We stop at the café and enjoy Aperol Spritzers.

Dale and Betty are doing amazingly well given the lack of a recent decent sleep. From here, we walk all the way back to the flat and take a quick, brief rest. For dinner, we head to the Elgin Pub a few blocks away. The pub is crowded as the Liverpool v. Chelsea match is in progress. It’s in the 70^th minute and very exciting as the Blues are up 1 – 0, but Liverpool is threatening. There is plenty of room in the back restaurant, so we sit down and order Fish and Chips.

The match continues on and I am rude to our new guests as I stand in the pub area to watch to the end. In the 89^th minute, Daniel Sturridge sends an absolutely beautiful shot into the upper right corner to tie the game. And that’s how it ends, 1 - 1.

Our dinner is good. Sated and happy, we head back to the flat and fight a losing battle to stay awake.