p.p.s.  Didn't really have time to get by the Palace on this trip, so we said so long at Heathrow.

Adios, Lizzie!

Per usual, I pounded the pavements in London - here's a photo dump.

[BTW, the Tube/bus now sells an "Oyster Card" for 20L that gets you everywhere, and refunds what you don't use at the end of your trip!  Of course, you are required to read this:

Now you see why I walked.]

Too slow, too  crowded, too $$$

Parliament

Obligatory Big Ben

Back of the Palace, London Eye in the background

Nelson,  way up there (Trafalgar Sq.)

Capt. Cook - they do these well.

'Covet' Garden

RAF Chapel

on

Unmentionable Tavern

St. Paul's from the Millennial Bridge to the New Tate

Samuel Johnson's cat Hodge ("But he is a very fine cat.  A very fine cat, indeed.")

'Imperial' War Museum

Big fookin' guns (from WWI)

This ain't no model Spitfire

In Churchill's WWII Bunker

Limey Lunch Truck

Shopping Moll

Thanks for watching!!!

[FEMALE: BLOG]

Back in London, with some final thoughts on Sicily:

* We loved the island, but think April or May would be a better choice--not that we had a choice. The few sunny days made a big difference to our enjoyment.

* We recommend the Rick Steves tours with enthusiasm, but we had an especially compatible group... and even so, it was too much time with others. And for us, too much scheduled for 11 days.  I'd try one of his "My Way" tours, maybe. We certainly saw and learned far more than we would have on our own, though. On our own we sleep late. But our legs are now strong enough to haul around our bulging bellies...

* Last-breakfast gossip: RS has left his family for an Asian photographer from LA, so his wife stripped him of the "Through the Back Door" copyright. He is apparently a driven, intense man, not at all the laid-back guy seen on TV. But his travel philosophy remains sterling.

* Gazillions of children, teens, youth on the island, with fewer oldsters in evidence. Without the Mafia draining its blood, I suspect it would be an economic power in the future. Oh, and without cigarettes, which will probably reduce the youthful generations...

*I don't think our photos did justice to the incredible natural beauty of Sicily. And I under-reported the variety of flora, e. g., palms, bougainvillea, giant clumps of cactus everywhere, Araucana trees, citrus, olives, sugarcane, and much more. Wild flowers galore during our visit.

*We experienced great kindnesses as our Italian and comfort levels increased. A woman left her post at a bus station to chase us down on the street and give us a map showing how to walk to our hotel; a man on a train explained local nameplace derivations and praised his home town, urging us to see it... People on the street didn't return our smiles as readily as do Mexicans, but then who does?!? And you can guess the effect that centuries of organized crime has on a population's level of trust...

LONDON

No more homemade yoghourt and honey and cappuccinos at hotel breakfasts... Now it's Good, strong tea, poached eggs on toast, beans, bangers, and marmalade. Slightly tawdry hotels for high prices! But there are mummies and Pre-Raphaelites and cozy pubs. I'll let Paul describe the disaster that's befallen the beer...

Paul did the boy thing one day--Imperial War Museum and the underground War Cabinets--while girlie me basked in Turners and Pre-Raphaelites at the Tate Britain. We both enjoyed the British Library's manuscripts on our last day. Saw a farce last night ("The Painkillers") starring Kenneth Branagh, who turns out to be a great physical comic. Not great, but it had its moments. One has to see theater in London.

Ate some truly awful food here, for egregious prices. (Though there is now a plethora of new, healthy chains.) We still love London. It's now less common to hear English spoken on the streets and in the Tube, but that's all part of it. And when the same people address you, out pops Standard British English... surprising and charming!

Now in Heathrow waiting for our flight to Seattle... and guess whom I walked right past? Paul had to point him out to me, whereupon I stalked him until he mounted a shoe-shine throne. Ralph Fiennes, of the world's most intense eyes! Looking extremely ordinary and a bit lost, with a horrible haircut. I was thrilled. Not Jeremy Irons, but not bad... not bad at all.

London Old and New (across the Chelsea Banks)

London Old and New 2 (British Library and St. Pancras)

pps. Back in Seattle - Pamela is still in a daze after stalking Ralph Fiennes in LHR.

Temporary disorientation, LHR to SEA - postscripts may follow:

Underground Heathrow passage from C to B gates, in search of a bar.

p.s. Citroen 'Picasso' - more art!

Spent a couple hours in the British Museum yesterday - it's right near Russell Sq. - gotta go back:

The sun came out!

BM Kittie - he's MASSIVE

Egyptian Kittie

She has a gold nose-ring

Egyptian Phone Booth

Some Elgin Marbles (Now called "Parthenon Marbles")

He was only 30 when he pilfered them.

Erechtheum (from the last trip) - Carytid Pillars on the left - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryatid

An original Carytid from the Erectheum

Some Venuses

Anonymous Goddess with her track team

I'm sure La Jefa will have more to add.

Landed in Gatwick (London) last night.  The Irish Air Force!

p.s.  Final day in Palermo:

English Garden Banyans

Garden Mutt

Garden Ficus

Bugged-out

English Garden

High Fashion

Gariballdi: Beat it, Gringos

Gariballdi's Kittie

Indy .500

Magnificent Gate

Senor Pirandello

MALE, Sat. 03.19.16

Leaving for London later.  Took a day-trip train to Cefalu, a nearby resort town yesterday.  Just when I thought I was all churched-out, we saw this:

Cefalu Duomo

Interior 1

Duomo Front Entrance

From afar (train)

Piazza

Cefalu

Little pal I met in the Piazza - I didn't let him try my Italian ceegar

7.5 Euros - the food is free with sodas 

Actually Catania - Pamela shot this elephant

Travel Blogger

I'm so sick of eating