Trying my hand at Haiku

 

I went to a poetry reading in my neighborhood.  The cool thing is all kinds of poets, reading all kinds of poetry and being supportive.  We talked about, among other things, Haiku

One woman said she loved Haiku because she was an accountant, and it was all about numbers.  I suppose that is one way to approach it.  Unlike the woman who tried to tell me how to write (which I , in my petty little mind equated with her telling me how to feel, which NEVER goes over well. Ask my Ex about THAT) I smiled and bit my tongue.  Who am I to tell anyone how or what to write?  Art is an extension of who YOU are and to try to cram that creativity into a box is just wrong.  I stopped painting when my second-grade teacher criticized my painting because it had words in it. Who KNEW I was a trendsetter in text art?  I could have had a career!  Thanks Mrs. Gnotta!

Anyway, the conversation sent me back to a book-talk by Mystery writer and haikuist (is that a word?) Dale Furutani.  He explained something like the first and second lines form one thought and the second and third, another.  Almost always, haiku has a reference to nature so

I cannot recall
what toppings he said he liked
to be on pizza

Follows the form but is not a traditional haiku.  Is it a poem?  Well anything can be a poem if you think it is, but you won't see this in Poetry Quarterly  any time soon.

I decided to try to write a poem, following what I seem to remember Mr. Furutani said about it.

 

the moon is hung low
in the early autumn sky
silver clouds drift past

 

It's a start.  I am going to try to write other haiku, and build that muscle.

 

Is there a "right" way to create?

 Last night, I stepped outside my comfort zone and went to a poetry reading that had an open mic.  I read two of my poems.  I will post one of them later in this blog.

At the end of the evening, I was approached by a woman who I am fairly certain was not in the room when I read.  She will be the feature reader next month and is an accomplished poet.  She overheard a conversation I was having with someone else and began to "school" me on the right way to write.  My process is my process.  I tried to be kind and thank her for her input ( she went as far to suggest I write using my feet- ok then, if that works for YOU, but that's a no from me.)  She sternly told me I should not use my mind when I write.  Well That maybe YOUR process, but mine is something I have been honing since I was seven and started writing.  I just open my mind and my heart and... go.

The conversation unnerved me to the point I am asking anyone who writes to answer this question:

Do you write with your head and heart  or  with your feet?

I honestly don't know if the woman were speaking in metaphor or she actually thought I could grip a pencil in my toes or type with them.

Most of my poetry is free verse, but I think I will play around with haiku ( there are serious format instructions and it's not just counting syllables, I have to revisit the format)  

Here's the poem I read.  It was well received, as far as I can tell ( I was nervous)

Grief Part 2

There are no more tears left

You want to scream

or drive

or slit your wrists

But you don't

Instead

You 

Cook a meal you don't eat

Play music you don't hear

Sit in the dark

Knees drawn to your chest

and wait for day to come

The poem is a reaction to a number of issues that have hit me and although I wrote  the base of it a while ago, recent events made it worth revisiting.   Poetry is healing, shared pain releases it to the ether.

I am going to keep writing, with my mind and my heart.  I think I will keep my feet out of the equation. 

Foot update

 FINALLY saw the podiatrist this week.  Nothing broken ( yeah it's been five weeks so probably healed!) but nerve damage.  She gave me a boot, crutches and an appointment in four weeks.

She also prescribed some over-the-counter meds to help with the pain, so I trouped over to the pharmacy to get them.  As is custom, they had me talk to the pharmacist.  She held up the lidocaine and started telling me I should have a bowel movement before I applied it.  I was understandably confused- what does my tush have to do with my foot.  She stopped, seeing the look on my face.  "It's my FOOT" I said  "oh" she said, turns out the pharmacy clerk had grabbed what they had which is usually for your tush.  She said it would work on my foot.

Ok then.

The foot hurts. Bending the toes hurts.  Time will heal it.  Nerve damage is slow, but I can deal with it.

Biden "crime" Family- or every accusation is a confession.

 I've been thinking about politics and the whole Biden impeachment thing over the past few days.   I do not worship at the alter of Joe Biden, I think he's doing a fairly good job, given all the bad behavior from Republicans ( I think if Joe said "breathing is good for you, the Free-dumb Caucus would hold their breath.)  It's stupid and pointless and like a group of toddlers are holding us hostage.

I love how the guy Kevin put in charge of the investigation says "We have nothing right now but we will keep digging toll we find something."  Maybe Joe eats his peas with honey ( Dudley Doo-right was drummed out the Mounties for that offense)  They are looking for something - ANYTHING- that will create a false equivalency to their God Trump being impeached twice.  It's the BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BEGHAZI tactic as well as "her emails"   Trump is calling the shots and they are licking his shoes.

Look, IF  and I say IF Biden did something illegal, like oh.. say.. withheld money that was appropriated to a foreign  government until they did him a "favor"  or  oh... I don't know.. had such a temper tantrum about losing that he called on his followers to overthrow the government, I would be down with whatever punishment was merited.  But they don't even KNOW what they are looking for.

Your tax dollars at work.

Instead of finding a common ground to keep our government running, those 15 or so people are holding us all hostage to their (really Trump's) whims.

Can someone explain to me how that idiot Tommy Tuberville can hold up military appointments because he doesn't like a policy?  I don't know if he is a Russian operative or just a dumbass.

I see Hunter is pushing back and suing the IRS.  Good for him.  He is being targeted because they can't find anything on Joe and they want to hurt Joe's re-election prospects.  It's a thing.  Remember Roger Clinton- Bill's Brother?  Remember Jimmy Carter's brother Billy ( Billy Beer anyone?) If you can't find anything on the President, you smear their family with a nudge-nudge-wink-wink.

Which leads me to the "Crime Family" moniker that Trump has going for Biden.  I dunno, but Biden's family hasn't been :

• Forbidden from running a charity in the State of New York
• Sued for false promises in a University Scam
• Committed felony tax fraud (Hunter's is a Misdemeanor, if I am reading this right)

There are other things.  Why aren't they crawling up Jared Kirschner's backside for the deal with the Saudis?  Tit for tat.  

In all of this, I am thinking about Beau Biden.  His death really changed everything. Bear with me:

If Beau does not die at the end of the Obama Presidency, then Joe runs for President, not Hillary.  He would have won handily- the reason a lot of people didn't vote for Hillary was simply that she was a woman.  The pandemic would have been addressed, not ignored because he "like his numbers the way that they were".  Perhaps Russia would not have felt emboldened enough to attack Ukraine.  But he did die and none of this came to pass.

Still, I remain hopeful as some Republicans are slowly getting off the Trump Train to Nowhere.  Is Biden perfect?  No, heck no.  But he's a damn site better than the Orange Menace.

Coming home should not be an ordeal

 I was looking forward- well that might not be quite right- to going home.  I was NOT looking forward to the almost 11 hour flight, but figured we would have window seats and it should be a nice relaxing day.

There is a saying "if you want God to laugh, tell him your plans"  God was really cracking up

We left the hotel at 5:30 to get to Stuttgart by 6:30 to turn in the car.  They had a sign in the lobby that there was coffee anytime you wanted it, BUT they locked the lobby, so no coffee.  No problem, I figured we would get it at the airport- after all we had a 9:30 flight and PLENTY of time.  My plan was to get to Munich and buy my daughter a stein.  After all Munich IS the birthplace of Oktoberfest.  I did not get to buy chocolate in Switzerland, but I figured I could pick up a box or two in Munich.

God was rolling on the floor at this point.

When we got to the Lufthansa baggage counter, we were told they could not find us on the flight, neither with our confirmation number nor our names from our passports.  and sorry, the plane is oversold so the ONLY way to get to your connector flight is to rent a car and drive two hours to Munich. The counter people also told us to contact our travel agency but as it was ONE A.M. in Los Angeles I sincerely doubted they would answer.  

We told the counter people that we would rent a car and drive to Munich  This is important.

Hertz had us over a barrel and when we got a look at the bill, they had charged us almost 800 Euros to rent the car.  They CLAIM they told us that but if they did , they took advantage of two distraught people who were just trying to get home.

Chris drove and we made it- just.  They told us the electric car "should" have enough charge to make it and after figuring out economy mode, we had 40kilometers left in the "tank" when we dropped it off.

The line was long so we tried to sign in on the App.  It told us we had "voluntarily cancelled" our tickets.  We. Flipped. out

We looked for help and after a bit Chris found a woman at the Lufthansa counter who looked like a supervisor. By this time, I was sobbing hysterically and trying not to sob hysterically.  She took our passports and left us for an agonizing five minutes.  She told us she got us on the flight, but we would not be seated together,  She arranged for transport ( remember my foot is broken) and they brought one wheelchair.  Chris is also disabled and he struggled to keep up as they whisked us through passport check, TSA and whatever other gates we needed to cross.  We took twists and turns and elevators and the monorail across to the second terminal.  We were put in a golf cart and raced across the tarmac where the plane stood.  We were placed in a scissor lift and raised up to the side of the plane- the door was shut tight.  The driver banged on the door and it opened. One of the crew said "welcome aboard"  We were on!

Turns out the lighting storm had grounded the planes for a bit ( so maybe God wasn't really playing with my plans after all, or maybe, seeing my distress decided to help me)  We were seated across the aisle from one another, but after a few minutes we were moved to three seat in the bulkhead ( did I mention we had THREE seats?  I think that plays into what actually happened in Stuttgart- more on that in a bit)

The food on Lufthansa is inedible.  I reacted badly to the "pasta" a grease-bomb of mac and cheese and the "snack" they provided toward the end of the flight can only be described as a wet cardboard sandwich with acid sauce.  

Lufthansa DID arrange for us to be transported through LAX, which was a blessing.  I will always be thankful that my husband found that angel in the airport who got us home. I had a concert to go to the next day. I DID have an alternate plan.  Since the flights only went out once a day, I was going to be on the plane the next day, have my fellow concert-goer pick us up- luggage and all and take us there.  Before you get TOO mad at me, please know that the concert was at SoFi which is near the airport and I know my friend would have been there for me (I'd do the same for her in a heartbeat)

At the Concert, my favorite band in the world announced an "indefinite hiatus" I knew this which is why this show- which was amazing BTW- was so important to me.

We are in the process of trying to recoup any losses caused by the:

missing luggage

missed plane

emergency car rental.

We bought out tickets and insurance through AAA  I remain hopeful.

I think what happened in Stuttgart was they oversold the plane, and saw that we had three seats for two people and bumped us off without telling us.  Once they saw we had a connector flight it got hairy and someone had to cover their tushy.  We NEVER cancelled anything.  When Chris got home his phone, which did not work for messaging had a message from United, giving us the "new" code for the flight from Stuttgart.  I call BS.  They could not find us by name.   I think it was a case of oops we fouled up and trying to cover their tracks.

I don't care.  I want to be reimbursed for things that we did not cause.  I am still not sleeping properly, 

Our trip was "the best of times, the worst of times"  Now that we know what to do, next time- and we are planning to go back in two years-will be different!

Trains, planes and automobiles

 We got up at O'Dark hundred to catch the Eurostar aka the Chunnel Train.  Coffee and Croissants in the station as before boarding.

I wanted to ride it as it was supposed to be this superfast train, but either it wasn't as fast as advertised  or I was really out of it.  All in all it was a pleasant two hours to Belgium, through the French Countryside then on to Brussels (side note, I was thinking of my father and his love for the Belgian people who were at his side during the Bulge.  He had great admiration for the housewives who brought out their fine linens to help the Allies hide their large weapons.  When my father asked her, one woman said "If the Nazis win, linens won't matter")

We took a taxi to the airport.  The driver probably thought the bedraggled couple were going to stiff him, but we gave him a decent tip. He beamed at us.  He said he was having a bad day when he picked us up.  I hope the tip improved his day.

We ate a lackluster meal in the airport and bought some chocolate.  We went to board our plane.

We were sitting there when the board changed and the flight we were on was delayed for an hour.  No worries, we had time.

We got on the flight and landed, we got on the connecting flight.  The pilot announced that the baggage from the delayed flight was on the plane

Uh.

We shared the row with a nice guy who works in the car industry and we chatted about food and places to go, his trip to the US and his love for our wide open spaces.  It was a pleasant 90 minutes.

We waited at the baggage carrousel for  our bags that never came.  They assured us they would be on the next flight and we would see them that evening, just fill out this form...

The problem  AND YES I KNOW BETTER we packed Chris' c-pap in my bag. We HAD our meds and I had a change of clothes, sort of but Chris had nothing.

PRO TIP  PACK A COMPLETE change of clothes.  I was wearing my travel sweats and travel shoes. Since my foot was in a bad way I was going to need shoes and he was gonna need clothes.

Chris is bigger than the average German.  Finding clothes were  a problem.  Our European conversion plugs were in the suitcase.  

We got the rental car and drove on the autobahn, which MOSTLY has a speed limit except in some places.  Chris did a great job driving in Germany.  

We got to the hotel and the people were really nice.  It was this weird Best Western in a warehouse district and parking was a bit of a clusterf..k  but we were only there a few days.

we wound up asking the clerk, a nice guy named Valentine, about electronics AND a place to get food.  The restaurant in the hotel was closed but we got some burgers and soda delivered.   The next day was spent in the electronics store and TJ Maxx ( yay TJ MAXX) getting clothes.  Not much fit Chris butr what I found him helped.

We went to a cemetery that we thought might be where some of the Zorns were buried. Looking at the headstones, I realized they were all too new and we waited until the services were over and had a long lovely chat with the caretaker.  He told us the old cemetery had been closed ,but suggested we got to the Rathaus ( City Hall) to look at old records.  Next time.  

Looking for things to do, Chris found a museum that was in a castle- there were two but a CASTLE?? YES!!!!

I sat on a stone bench outside the castle and thought of my mom and cried.  She so wanted to be there, in that place where her father was born. The bench overlooked the Neckar River and was just like I pictured it to be. 

I said "Look Mom, we made it"  I was wearing her sweater.

We went into the  castle only to find a very modern vestibule.  A woman came down the stairs and introduced herself as the Mayor!  She asked where we were from and was thrilled to hear we were from California.  Until recently, Laufen am Neckar was a Sister City to El Cajon and she had visited it many times.  Why were we there, she wanted to know.  I explained that my grandfather had been born there.  Her face lit uh  "HERE? in Laufen?" i assured her that yes that was true.  She went back upstairs, and asked a staff member to bring us some literature, including a vey cool book of 750years of the City's history.  We took photos.  I think we will be part of her monthly report!

The museum was a small part of the castle with a brief overview of how the people lived in the area.  The castle itself was the home of the Graf ( Count or Earl)  It had some quirky dungeon-y things in it.

Laufen is like the Napa Valley with Estate wineries and we wandered into one.  We had some wine and I bought a bottle of it, but we were leaving the next day and I could not bring it back.  I did drink a bit of it.

We had a lovely lunch in the sunshine at another winery.

At this point, if you are keeping score, we still don't have our bags.  Chris was working the phones like mad to get them to catch up to us.  We could not go to any of the nice places that had been recommended to us because we were woefully underdressed.  We had dinner at a nice outdoor place in the rain.  

Chris got an email saying our bags had been delivered and I ran downstairs to find BOTH BAGS   I could have cried.  Maybe I did.

We had to get up super early to get to the Stuttgart airport to catch our flight home and this is where it gets real.

More tomorrow.

Cornwall- the best part of the trip

 There is a line from a Gerry Beckley song on the  Harbor Album called "Sargent Darkness" that has been running through my brain as I think about this part of the trip " I think my dreaming brought you here:  and while it is about finding love, the line stuck in my brain.  Did my dreaming- all those years- bring me to this place and this family.

As a little girl, I dreamed of England and finding my grandmother's family. Really it was something I often wished when I was little and wondered about when I was older.  Were there still people who were related and would they like to meet.. ME?

Enter Ancestry.  I searched my grandmother's maiden name and came up with a match.  We began an internet correspondence. The connection was strong.  This trip to Cornwall, to be in each other's presence, was the culmination of a long cherished dream.

We met our Cousin Andrew outside the hotel. He had his adorable daughter, Little J with him  OOOHH is she a cutie pie. Andrew and his husband had visited with us in Los Angeles about ten years ago and it was WONDERFUL to see him again.  We met the rest of the family at a cute little café that overlooked a lake. It was gorgeous, the food was lovely and we caught up. It felt like I had known my Cousin John and his wife June a long time.  My cousin Lynda and I talk online a lot but it was a special pleasure to be able to give her that hug I had "threatened" her with.  We went back to Andrew's House where we met ( finally!) Natalie and her husband James.  Natalie is another cousin I talk to online and it was wonderful to see her ( she did NOT bring her dog, Brinkley with her, so NEXT TIME!!!)  What a joyful afternoon.

On my "wish list" was  A Proper Tea.  Andrew's husband works at a gorgeous hotel on the bluffs above the sea and we were seated in a beautiful booth with an amazing panoramic view of the sea.  Tea was everything I hoped it would be.  There was a small mishap with a very delicate wine glass but there were no injuries and all was well.

We went back to our hotel and went to the bar for a snack.  It was inedible.  The barman was nice and the service was good, but I was glad we had in invite for breakfast the following day.  We had included breakfast in our reservation but never got there. I am kind of glad we didn't based on the "food" that we encountered there,

We went to another cute café across the road from John's house.  Breakfast was lovely and we went across to John's house to watch the football( aka soccer) match.  John and I looked over his extensive database of family history.  We need to link it!   I gave him the updates I could from my memory, but there are a whole group of my Great-Aunt Gracie's family.  I'll be reaching out to my cousin Robert for more information

We went to a marvelous restaurant/bar for drinks and the view.  What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.  We went back to Andrew's house and ordered take-away Indian food.  it took FOREVER to get there and I hope they gave them a discount!  The food was good ( I DO love Sag Aloo) and the company was wonderful.  We were sad to leave, but we had to get back to get ready to take the train in the morning.  

This trip was lovely and without incident. we DID see the White Horse that Chef Tommy Banks from the Great British Menu talks about.  Lots of cows and sheep and corn. The architecture of the homes was very British to my mind.  Not like we would see at home. It was just a lovely ride.  We were back at the Doubletree

THIS TIME we did NOT put the insulin in the fridge.

Part 2 Cornwall, Missed trains and "the Knight Bus"

 I am breaking this into multiple parts.  We went to London for three days, then three days on the beautiful Cornish coast  and three days in Germany.

I was really looking forward to the Cornwall trip. We found family via Ancestry on my Grandmother's Seckerson line.  This was part of my cherished childhood dream that actually came to pass! We opted NOT to rent a car and to take the train across the countryside to the coast.  There is ONE train that goes directly to Newquay and we bought first class tickets- which means that you get free food!

After a hurried breakfast in the hotel, we packed out and headed off in a taxi. I guess I was really rushed as I did not do my usual two sweeps around the room.

Because my foot is damaged ( it's BROKEN I don't care what Kaiser says) Chris arranged Mobility Assistance.  We were sitting in their office when we realized that we had LEFT HIS INSULIN in the room.  I was panic stricken, the officers tried to get the hotel to get it to us- we had an hour and if they had sent it by taxi we could have made out train.  The desk person said they could not, so we took a taxi BACK to the hotel and retrieved it.  The Mobility Officers could NOT have been more helpful  They got someone to make sure we could get on the next train and explained how to do it.  Because we had missed the direct train , we had to get off in Plymouth, take a train to Par and take another to Newquay.  Ok then.  Easy Peasy

The train has fixed tables that could not accommodate Chris and he sat in one by himself where the table folded up.  I sat across from a man who had worked for the British government and we agreed not to talk about politics.  We chatted about his time in the US and our trip so far.  It was nice to see the countryside whizzing by and they brought us food  I was HUNGRY!

When he left the train, the man who was sitting next to me asked to move to that seat.  He was getting off soon.  Turns out he was a Rugby player, somewhat well known (I looked him up after he left the train) I know spit about Rugby, except it looks like a cross between soccer and American Football to me. We chatted about trips and how long it took him to get "home" He is from Australia.  Nice Nice guy. I wished him a good season, not knowing he was one of their star players (if the press release is any indication.)

We got off in Plymouth and got on the next train.  This is where the fun starts.  We told the conductor where we needed to get off.  She came back a few minutes later (it was pouring down rain at this point) and told us we should NOT get off at Par as they had closed the station due to lack of staff and there was no shelter AND the next train wasn't due for TWO HOURS.  We went on to St Austell at her suggestion and Chris went into the station to ask when the next train would come.  When he explained the predicament, the ticket agent said we should just take the #25 bus that would be here in ten minutes.  The train, she said wouldn't even be here until after we were in Newquay if we just took the bus.  A nice young woman helped us get on the bus.  It was raining.  Hard.

Now, I have taken buses in many cities. The thing about THIS bus was they don't announce stops.  You have to guess. The driver seemed amused that the bedraggled American tourists were lost.  Chris, being Chris, looked up a website on his phone to try to find out where we were and where we should get off.  Other tourists got on and suffered the same confusion.

A word of two about this bus.  The driver was not helpful  You don't need to be friendly but he seemed to take perverse pleasure in taunting us.   He drove like he was qualifying for the Grand Prix.  Ever see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?  This was like riding on the Knight Bus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5U3viSBXzE

I was glad it was raining and the windows were fogged, but I could see the vine covered walls of the tiny county lanes whizzing by, dangerously close to the windows.

Chris was studying the app and declared that we would be getting off at the next stop.  We staggered off the bus in a driving, bitterly cold storm and looked across the street and saw the hotel.  Chris dragged our bags ( yes they are on wheels but the streets are uneven in spots.)  We were wet and cold when we got into the lobby of the hotel at long last.

The Travel Lodge in Newquay is a VEY BASIC hotel- like a Motel 6.  There were NO electrical outlets near the bed- they DID have USB ports, but Chris needed an outlet for his c-pap. They found us an extension cord and all was well. The VIEW was spectacular!  All I ever need is a clean comfortable room and this was that.  The bed was small but we fit ok.

We talked to our cousin and made plans to meet the next day.

To be continued....

We are back and I know you've been dying for the "deets" Three days in London story

 Since I was a little girl and started to look into family history I have dreamed of a trip to England, to find family and a trip to the village in Germany, where my grandfather was born.

This trip was all that and more.

We took off in the evening and landed in the morning in London, I have to say that while the "food" on the airplane was meh, the service was great, they came down the aisles offering water and snacks a lot.  I did get about an hour sleep on the plane, but the best part was the tracker that tells you where you are and how long till you land ( I can make a joke about  how many times the Cabin Crew must have been asked "are we there yet")  It was cool and I really need to up my geography game.

We landed in Heathrow and this is where the "fun" starts.  I pulled Chris's 45-lb. bag off the carousel and it flew out of my hands and landed squarely on my left foot. Broken?  Yep I believe it was, as it turned purple from toes to heel almost immediately.  No we did not go to the NHS as the cabbie explained how hard it was to get in. I just iced it and dealt with it as best I could   I think I broke at least two toes and the top of my foot is still swollen and tender.   We went to Kaiser when we got home, but they said it wasn't broken.   I've broken toes before.  This felt like that.

The hotel was nice and centrally located across from Victoria Station ( does anyone remember the steak house called Victoria Station?  I LOVED that place)  We took a taxi from Heathrow and while it was pricy, it was really the best option.  I can't imagine dragging bags and me onto the Tube.  We took taxis everywhere, got to ride in some of those iconic black taxis and met some cool drivers.

We saw the Changing of the Guard.  I was so happy to have timed it so we could do that, it was on my "bucket" list for London  It was a really warm day and I felt sorry for the Beefeaters in their red coats and tall hats.  The Welsh Guard marched in playing some marching music and I expected , you know, patriotic tunes or iconic British music to be played.  At some point, Chris turned to me and said "isn't that 'Sweet Caroline'?"  It was   They also played "Part of your World" from the Little Mermaid and something from "Frozen" ( I think it was "let it Go" but I can't be sure)

The portable stool that Chris bought that advertised it would hold 600 pounds collapsed within about a minute of him sitting on it.  We had two.  We tossed the broken one in the trash and left the other on the bus for someone else to find. I was NOT dragging that crap all over Europe. It freed up room in the suitcases.

We rode the Double-decker "hop on hop off bus- although given my foot we did NOT hop off, but rode around on a glorious Summer day.  Chris got a bit of a sunburn.  I almost cried when I saw Big Ben ( yes I KNOW that's the name of the bell and it's called the Elizabeth Tower) it was one of the things I really looked forward to seeing- it was BEAUTIFUL;  the gold around the clock-face sparkled in the late afternoon sunshine. I gasped "THERE IT IS!"  and took about a million pictures to be sure I got a good ONE!

The next day, we took a cruise up (down?) the Thames and it was marvelous.  We rode on the London Eye ( we did NOT buy the souvenir photo as Chris was wearing a teal shirt and half of him disappeared, except for a floating head. In retrospect we probably should have bought the darn thing.)

Food in London was meh- NEXT TIME ( and there WILL be a next time) I am going to really research places to eat.  Our Concierge sent us to a place that was terrible ICECREAM MASEHD POTATOES anyone?  Colder than a well-digger's butt. The salmon managed to be greasy and dried out, that takes talent.

We DID get good fish and Chips in the hotel the first day and the service at the Doubletree was top notch.  The Italian Place near the London Eye made me ask aloud what Tony from Palermo's would have said about the bland orange-y sauce I was served on my pasta. it was worse than Chef Boyardee.

The adventure continues as we made our way to Cornwall and FAMILY!