Asia de Cuba photo

The grainy camera phone pic taken of Stefan, Troy and Mom at Asia de Cuba in the St. Martin's Lane Hotel, London.

Asia De Cuba Dinner

My friends Stefan and Troy joined us for dinner Sunday night at the hotel restaurant.

Troy is from Australia and Stefan is from Sweden although they both live in London now, so we discussed immigration and our native dinner traditions.

Mom's favorite was the lobster mashed potatoes. I enjoyed the Mu Shu tortilla pancakes with mint and goat milk sauce.

At the end of the night, my camera batteries failed. I took a picture of my three dining companions with my cell phone to be posted when we return to the US.

"Rock N Roll"

Sunday afternoon we attended a matinee of the new Tom Stoppard play across the street from our hotel at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Sinead Cusack stood out. She portrayed both a mother and her daughter over the course of the play's twenty two year timetable.

The production used music cues to mark passages in the character's lives and in the social life of Prague before and immediately after the Velvet Revolution

Pub Lunch

We had lunch Sunday at one of Britian's oldest pubs, the Lamb and Flag, parts of which have been around since the 17th century.

I asked for a Ploughman's Lunch which featured a generous wedge of Stilton Cheese. Mom said she'd served as much Stilton to her friends at a bridge party. I took it as a dare. I consumed about 3/4ths before "giving in".

Canterbury Tales at the Gielgud

We attended a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "The Canterbury Tales."

One of the dudes from East Enders, Michael Matus (he had the recurring role as a stereotypical American on Absolutely Fabulous) figured promiently.

The director Mike Poulton was the star of the show, however, as it was easily the most complex and originally staged play I've seen in some time.

Dale Gets Lost, Finds His People

While Mom took a nap this afternoon, I walked around to find a good currency exchange and some "take away" food.

I wandered around SoHo which was wall to wall gay men, especially around the Seven Dials and the shops around Dean Street.

Almost everyone was well groomed in a button-up shirt with an open collar. Sort of the unofficial gay uniform here like a t-shirt jeans and a baseball cap would be in San Francisco.

Our theatre tonight was at the Gielgud, so I got a taste for what the current nightlife is like without have to lose my sleep to join in....

Mom at Covent Garden Market

Turned Back From Buckingham

Our plans for Buckhingham, aside from maybe sticking our tongues out at a guard or two were altered.

First, we arrived too late for the Changing of the Guard.

Next, the ticket office cancelled our reservation for the Queen's Rooms. We would have appreciated any effort they might have made to notify us of this before we spent five pounds on a cab to get there and queued up for a half-hour.

More Good News More Bad News

After a lengthy queue at Customs and a speedy transfer, we arrived at St. Martin's Lane Hotel

Though the service was excellent and our room was ideal, the staff put us off for a while about the condition of our belongings.

When the porter brought our bag to us, it was gaping open, shredded at the corners, and held together with tape. I could close the latches with the suitcase empty, but the inside was exposed.

Just the same, nothing was damaged or missing.

We went got an excellent new suitcase on Picadilly and gave our destroyed bag to the porter.

"I'll take it outside," he said, "I need something to kick."

Boston to London

Mom was at Logan to meet me at the gate. We went through another security battery and had time to eat at a greasy bar food restaurant.

Our flight left on time. We were seated next to several of our shipmates who are staying in the same hotel in advance of the cruise.

All the items in the in-flight goody bag glowed under black light and all the lavatories were illuminated with black light.

We were both impressed with the safety video which was a cartoon rendered in blocky 60s-feel characters.

Mom had a conversation with one of the crew members and asked if there was a reason why all the flight attendants were so cheerful. "Boston is an easy trip. Everyone is so polite," she said, "it's not like this flying in and out of New York."