Category: 2025 London+

Saturday, February 15 – Day Trip to Chefchaouen and Tetouan

Today I’ve booked a tour to visit two nearby cities – Chefchaouen and Tetouan. Chefchaouen will be the main focus of the trip. It is noted for its buildings in shades of blue, for which it is nicknamed the “Blue City”. (clever!)

Nice view of the sunrise from my hotel room this morning! And no, I wasn’t up super early; sunrise was around 8am.

My mode of transport for the day. There were 14 of us on the tour. It was about a 2 hour drive to Chefchaouen. Pickup at my hotel was at 9am.

Our first stop was on a bridge with this view of the Medina. Pretty, right? But man, the bridge was packed with tourists from other tour companies. It’s like they all converged here at the same time! I wasn’t happy… (the day will get better though)

Travel Note: There was an Italian gentleman on the tour with me. Probably around my age. He noticed my displeasure, and started a conversation. He called the mass of tourists here the “Instagram Effect”. Sadly, I can see that. (But maybe I’m contributing to it too with this Journal?) He mentioned that he was here in Chefchaouen 7 years ago, and it was very different. Few tourists, and the Medina had less shops.

Following the photo op on the bridge, the English speaking members of our group then combined with folks from some other groups to take a guided walking tour of the old town. There were around two dozen in this new group. The walking tour was interesting, with a very good guide, and lasted about 2 hours.

We then were given 2 hours of free time. This was my favorite part. Most people chose to get something to eat, but I took the opportunity to go back and roam around the Medina. And by this time, most of the tour groups had left the city, so it wasn’t crowded at all. Perfect! (fortunately I had booked a full-day tour)

Here are some scenes from the “Blue City”…

This is a view from the old town, looking at the main entrance (bridge at lower left). Also, notice a trail angling up the side of the hill. Of course I had to check it out!

It provided this nice view of the Medina, and the medieval wall surrounding it (upper right).

And now for some of the more touristy views…

Touristy? Yes. But I’m still happy I visited Chefchaouen!

Sidenote: I was wearing this Badger hat throughout the day, and on our walking tour a couple of Hoosiers gave me a shout out. Nice! And it turns out that a brother of one of the girls is currently attending grad school in Madison. Cool!

Okay, we’re now off to Tetouan. The city is more than 2,000 years old. The first settlements belonged to the ancient Mauritanians, and date back to the 3rd century BC. A century later, Phoenicians traded there and after them the site, then known as the ancient town of Tamuda, became a Roman colony under Emperor Augustus.

This part of the tour included just the 14 people in our minivan. We broke up into English and non-English speaking groups for a 2 hour walking tour. There were 5 in our group, with a very good guide.

The Royal Palace of Tetouan.

Happened upon this musical performance (not part of the tour!).

And, of course, any self-respecting walking tour would include a visit to local shop. This one was pretty colorful. I would describe what they were selling as “potions”. (no, I didn’t buy anything) However, as a bonus, we were able to access their roof for a view of the city.

Well, this was a full day! Hotel pickup at 9am, drop off at 9pm. (although, about half that time was spent on the road). Very enjoyable! (the cost of the tour was $54)

Thursday, February 13 – transit from Gibraltar to Tangier

I’ve booked a ferry from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier for early this afternoon. There are two ferry departure options to travel from Spain to Tangier: Algeciras and Tarifa. Algeciras is closer to Gibraltar, but I chose Tarifa because its arrival point in Tangier is close to the City Center (and my hotel). It’s also the faster boat!

To get to Tarifa, I first had to make the 15 minute walk from my hotel to the Gibraltar-Spain border (near the airport).

I was the only person walking across at the time; took two minutes to pass through immigration.

I had originally planned to take a bus (with one transfer) to Tarifa. But after doing further research, it became clear that the Spanish bus system tends to be unreliable. Now, if my final destination was Tarifa, I probably would have went for it (get there eventually). However, I have a ferry to catch, so I really don’t want to risk being late. Therefore I ended up taking a taxi (a taxi stand is located adjacent to the border crossing). I know, feel free to mock me! The 40 minute ride cost €64. I will say that the driver was a nice guy; even made sure I didn’t leave anything behind in the taxi.

I arrived a little early at the port, so decided to do some sightseeing…

I’m happy that I was able to check out this small slice of Tarifa (on such a beautiful day)!

The line on the left is for Moroccan immigration. That’s efficient! The ferry ride took an hour, so I just waited in my seat for the line to evaporate, and then made my way to the immigration desk.

The ferry trip cost €42 (less than the taxi ride; just sayin’…)

Travel Note: I noticed that the Moroccan officer placed the immigration stamp on one of the back pages of my passport. That seemed odd (lazy) to me, as they usually fill in the pages from the front. It turns out though that it was intentional, because whenever I had my passport checked in Morocco (a few times), the officer would immediately turn to the back of my passport. Kind of clever…

It’s a beautiful afternoon. Let’s get out and explore!

Travel Note: Today is the first time on my winter escape that I will be wearing both shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt. Whoo hoo!

I’m heading back towards the port, to visit the Medina (old town) of Tangier.

Walking through the Medina is like entering a maze. But it’s fun to explore! To exit, basically just walk downhill.

I am now in the Kasbah of Tangier, which is situated in the upper part of the Medina.

I was a little gullible as I walked through the Medina. I let a local kid start talking to me. That was his in to direct me to a shop in the souk that I later figured out he had ties to (I’m a little slow!). The shop had a lot of stuff, but I was led upstairs to where the rugs were sold. The merchant started showing me different types of rugs at a non-stop pace. A little overwhelming! There was actually one rug I kind of liked, but had no intention of buying. When I expressed my interest, the merchant offered it to me for €600. Yikes! Well, after going back and forth for 20 minutes, I finally decided to leave the shop. As I made my way out the door, he dropped the price to $90! (the poor guy, apparently his father was ill)

And there waiting for me as I exited was my new “friend”. He wanted to start taking me to another shop, but I politely declined (I’m slow, but not completely gone!). He then asked me to pay him for his guide services in the Medina. I don’t think so!

Friday February 14 – Tangier

I probably don’t have to tell you what I’m doing today, but just in case: roaming, roaming, roaming…

This will mainly be a day of visuals; I’ll provide comments where helpful.

“The Gran Cafe, gracing the corner across from Morocco’s French consulate since 1927, has plenty of seats outside, where locals chatter, watch the traffic and smoke (they smoke inside, too) over cafes au lait,” from a 2018 article in the Telegraph, “the 50 greatest cafes on earth”.

The American Legation Museum was a pleasant surprise for me in Tangier. The building was presented to the United States in 1821 by Sultan Moulay Suliman. It is the first property acquired abroad by the United States government, housing the United States Legation and Consulate for 140 years, the longest period any building abroad has been occupied as a United States diplomatic post.

A beautiful little oasis in Tangier!

I like the Moroccan tea! I’ll have to try making it at home (can’t be that tough, but remember who we’re talking about!).

I finished the day by walking around the marina that’s across from my hotel…

Thursday, February 27 – Harrow on the Hill

As you read through the upcoming posts about my recent trip to North Africa (kind of a Back to the Future ring to it, right?), you’ll discover that I caught a cold towards the end of my time in Marrakech (which resulted in some comical trips to the local pharmacies!). That carried through on to Tunis as well, as I basically just powered through it without any rest days. Too much to see, too little time…

Well, I’m paying for it now that I’m back in London. It’s just kind of dragging on. It’s annoying, but looking back on my previous trips, I don’t recall ever becoming ill. So, overall, I’d say I’ve been pretty lucky.

Anyway, this is all kind of a preface to say that I have a couple events booked over the next two nights that I don’t want to miss. Rest will come eventually!

Sidenote: I’m blaming my illness on the lack of timely updates to the Journal. Apologies!

Tonight I’m attending another performance by the Harrow School students.

An iconic play. But the more exciting part for me is the fact that the performance will be taking place in the Vaughan Library. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside the library. This should be fun!

A picture of the library from earlier today. As I was waiting in the queue to enter the library, I spoke with a former teacher at Harrow. She mentioned that she had no recollection of the Vaughan ever being used as a venue for a play. Wow!

The audience sat in two rows on both sides along the length of the library. The front row was chairs and the back row was high back stools/chairs (where I sat). Not the most comfortable, but the play only ran 90 minutes (no interval). And the performance made full use of the space, so everyone had a good view. There were even background music performers positioned amongst the nooks and crannies (violin, cello, keyboard, clarinet).

The actors also utilized the second level along the shelves for the performance. A very clever use of the venue! (note the violinist seated in the center of the photo)

Those who are familiar with A Death of a Salesman will know that it takes place in Brooklyn. Well, I must say that the Harrow boys nailed the accents. Well done!

Friday, February 28 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m staying close to home again for another event tonight – a Lenny Kravitz Concert at Wembley Arena. (only 3 stops away on the Metropolitan Line)

This will be the only UK stop of his European tour this spring.

The concert was featured in today’s paper, in a section highlighting the weekend’s events…

A couple photos from the show…

The capacity of the Arena is 12,500, and I’m pretty sure it was sold out.

The concert ran about two hours and met all expectations. Lenny is a true showman. And he had a wonderful rapport with the audience. I like that. He told a nice story about his first time in London, in 1989. (I first traveled here in 1991; I have a feeling my experience was completely different from his!)

Saturday, March 1 – Harrow on the Hill

Mary messaged me this morning, informing me of a pop-up taking place on the Hill today. I’m in. Thanks Mary!

The Spire Cafe is located adjacent to St. Mary’s Church, and is typically only open 6 days per year. The food offered at the Cafe is all homemade, and is staffed by volunteers. All of the proceeds benefit the church.

The cafe was open from 11am to 6pm. I arrived around 2:30pm.

I went with a Spire Cafe Sultana Scone with Jam & Clotted Cream, and a Homemade Hot Spiced Apple Cider. Tasty! (I also wanted to get a bowl of soup, but they were sold out. Ugh! You snooze, you lose!)

Monday, March 3 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m feeling a little better today. And that’s a good thing because I’m off tomorrow to the coast of Spain. Mary & Tony have generously offered me the use of their apartment in Calpe. I’ll be spending three nights there, and then moving up the coast a bit for three nights in Valencia. Back to London in a week.

I was not planning on taking my laptop with me, but it looks like the weather might be a little crummy, so I’ll probably bring it along and get some work done on my North Africa Journal updates. Watch this space!

I’m back! (you’re thrilled, I can tell). And whew, we’ve got a little catching up to do! I’ve got over 800 photos to sort through, plus 30 pages of notes in my black book…

…so let’s get to it! Here’s the plan: These updates are going to take a while, so I’ll be intermixing posts from this trip along with my current activities. If you’re accessing the Journal Entries via the London 2025+ menu grid, you’ll be able to utilize the location identifiers for each Entry, thereby focusing only on the posts from the Gibraltar / N. Africa trip, if you so choose. Hope that helps!

Tuesday, February 11 – transit from London to Gibraltar

My British Airways non-stop flight from Heathrow to Gibraltar departs at 9:25 this morning. On their website, BA states that arrival at the airport should be no more than two hours before departure. Well, I took that to be a misprint, thinking they really meant at least two hours before. I was wrong.

Based on my incorrect assumption, I decided to take the first SL9 bus available this morning – at 5:45. And it was surprisingly crowded at this time of day. After arriving Heathrow at around 6:30, I had some lingering to do, since I couldn’t check-in and drop off my bag until 7:25. Oh well.

I was aboard an fully-loaded A320 for the 2 1/2 hour flight. And I think I mentioned last year that these BA flights have zero legroom! The cost of the flight was $206 (including a checked bag).

My hotel is about a 15 minute walk from the airport. And the route to get there is the craziest I’ve experienced…

I spent the rest of the day doing my thing: roaming. In this case, mainly in the city center.

Wednesday, February 12 – Gibraltar

Today I’ll be exploring the Gibraltar Nature Reserve. It covers over 40% of Gibraltar’s land area; essentially the upper part of the Rock.

There are four entry points to the Reserve. I’ll be starting at The Pillars of Hercules, adjacent to the Mediterranean Steps. The walk from my hotel to the Steps took about an hour.

Here are a few views from my walk…

The Pillars of Hercules represent Gibraltar’s ties to Greek mythology – namely the 12 labors of Hercules. According to legend, Hercules passed through here to take the cattle of Geryon – his tenth labor – and opened the strait, creating the pillars which received his name.

The Steps were built by the British as part of the military communications system that allowed access to their various defense fortifications at the southern end of the Rock.

I don’t think the Steps are very popular, or well known. I didn’t see anyone else during my hour on the trail. It was a rather arduous trek, with steep elevation gains. The temperature was only in the upper 50s, but I was sweating like crazy during the ascent (while wearing shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt)!

Here are few photos from the trail…

This was a fun, challenging hike. With great views!

My next stop is St. Micheal’s Cave. The cave is one of Gibraltar’s top tourist attractions, so I didn’t spend a huge amount of time there! Here are a few pictures…

Saw this as I walked along the Reserve…

Next stop: The Great Siege Tunnels are a series of tunnels inside the northern end of the Rock of Gibraltar. They were dug out from the solid limestone by the British during the Great Siege of Gibraltar of the late 18th century.

During World War II, Gibraltar became a crucial stronghold. Beneath its surface, an extensive network of tunnels was carved into the limestone, creating an underground city. These tunnels stored essential resources, maintained military equipment, and housed a garrison of soldiers prepared for a prolonged siege. They also provided a strategic advantage, allowing for surveillance of enemy movements in the Strait of Gibraltar and beyond.

Fun Fact: The tunnels of Gibraltar were constructed over the course of nearly 200 years, principally by the British Army. Within a land area of only 2.6 square miles, Gibraltar has around 34 miles of tunnels, nearly twice the length of its entire road network!

Construction of the Moorish Castle commenced in the 8th century AD, the date of its completion is not recorded. Its walls enclosed a considerable area, reaching down from the upper part of the Rock of Gibraltar to the sea. The most conspicuous remaining parts of the Castle are the upper tower, or Tower of Homage, together with various terraces and battlements below it.

This was a (reasonably, more below) fun day! I enjoy exploring these type of areas on foot. Ended up with close to 27k steps today. Nice!

Today’s negative experience relates to the fact that the cable cars that service the Rock were down for maintenance. It didn’t directly impact me, because I wasn’t planning on using them anyway. However, a lot of tourists do rely on them, so instead had to use taxis. This resulted in the roads of the Reserve being flooded with vehicles, which wasn’t always a pleasant experience for pedestrians like me. Another item to had to my list of reasons for disdain of taxi drivers!

Gibraltar Airport

Apparently, the Gibraltar Airport is infamous for it’s tricky approach due to ‘The Rock’ protruding over 400m into the air directly next to the runway. It’s a notoriously windy destination anyway, but when the wind is from the south it can become extremely dangerous as it curls around the rock and the airport is engulfed in unpredictable and unstable winds. In addition, the runway is relatively short, with water on both ends. It’s such a challenging airport that pilots have to go through special training to be able to land here, and only a select few are able to operate these flights.

Gibraltar Facts

• A British Territory (I thought it was part of Spain, until Tony enlightened me!)
• Although a part of the U.K., they drive on the right with LHD vehicles (probably due to the proximity to Spain)
• The tap water is drinkable
• Language is English (and Spanish)
• Currency is British Pound

Monday, February 3 – transit from London to Paris

I’m on the 10:31 Eurostar to Paris this morning. It’s very convenient getting to the train station, as the Metropolitan line runs straight through from Harrow on the Hill to St. Pancras. I’d like to get there with some time to spare however, so I left the flat fairly early…

…and it’s a good thing I did, because when I arrived at the tube station the platform was jammed packed with people! And not just the typical morning commute crowd. Apparently there are some delays on the Met line. Oh Oh! I guess I should have checked that before I headed out!

Fortunately a train eventually did arrive and I stuffed myself into the car with everyone else!

I booked a 1st class seat for the trip to Paris. Basically that was because the price difference versus the standard class was insignificant. And that was due to the fact that I didn’t book far enough in advance to get the inexpensive seats! (the round trip fare was $285)

The meal was nice; even had some wine!

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but it’s kind of an interesting aspect of the train journey between London and Paris: When departing St. Pancras, passengers go through both UK departure passport control and France entry passport control before boarding the train, one right after the other. Very convenient! And the identical process (in reverse) occurs at Gare du Nord as well.

One of the reasons I chose this hotel is its proximity to the train station. It was about a 30 minute walk (you know how much I hate using taxis!).

As you can see, it was a beautiful afternoon in Paris, so I had to get out for a walk!

Spoiler Alert! Today’s weather will be the best that I encountered during my stay…

Tuesday, February 4 – Paris

Big day! I have a reservation to enter Notre Dame at 9am. However, I noticed from their website that the cathedral actually opens at 7:50am for services. I’m going to get down there early to see if I can enter then.

It’s about a 1 hour walk from my hotel to the cathedral, so I’m out the door a little after 6:30. (no taxis!)

When I arrived at the cathedral there was a line of people just beginning to enter. However, since I had a reservation (even though it was at 9am), I was able to bypass the queue and go right in. Perfect!

The cathedral looks amazing, right? What a wonderful restoration! To arrive at this place after such an absolute low point in 2019 is inspirational. (I still remember where I was when Kait messaged me with the gut-wrenching news)

Below are several additional photos from my visit…Enjoy!

I went back through the photos from my previous visits to Paris, to see if I had an interior picture of Notre Dame that I could use as a comparison to the current, post-restoration condition.

I know the lighting is better now, but wow, what a difference!

And you’ll notice that the stained glass windows are missing. They are still being restored. And some proposed replacements are causing a little bit of a controversy. You can read about it here.

My next stop is the Les Salles du Carrousel, to attend the preview of the RM Sotheby’s car auction.

I won’t bore you with a bunch of car photos, but here are a few highlights…

The star of the auction! 1964 Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti; the overall winner of the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. (sold for €34,880,000!! / $36,344,960!!)

Okay, that was fun! I’m now off to one of my favorite spots in Paris, Angelina’s.

I spent the rest of day revisiting some of my favorite sights in the city. The weather wasn’t very picturesque however, and I’m sure you’ve seen most of it before, so I won’t bore you with too many photos!

I thought it would be fun to go up in the tower, into the clouds; sadly, the top was closed to visitors (kind of makes sense, I guess).

I circled back to Notre Dame before returning to the hotel. You can see a line of people waiting to enter in the center of the courtyard.

This was a busy day. And I ended up walking a ton – 35.4k steps!

Travel Note: Today’s step count is a new one-day world record! (well, a new high point for me since I started these winter escapes – tops the previous high of 34.9k steps in Barbados from 2023.)

Wednesday, February 5 – Paris

More automotive adventures today, I’m afraid. Feel free to scroll rapidly through this section!

Off to another auction preview this morning. This time it’s Bonhams at The Grande Palais.

Front: Scale Model of a Ferrari boat – Arno XI – Speed record holder since 1953 (sold for €12,800)

Back: Lucien Boucher (1889-1971) Air France – Large planisphere (sold for €19,200)

Now off to the Porte de Versailles to attend the massive automotive gathering called Retromobile!

Essentially Retromobile is a place to interact with vendors hawking everything conceivable that is associated with the classic car industry (and other stuff too!). I’ll post a few pictures here to give you a feel for the atmosphere…

A person could spend hours going through this exhibition! After about 2 1/2 though I was pretty much overwhelmed and called it a day.

As I make my way back to the hotel, here are a couple non-auto-related images for you!

Another productive steps day: 26.9K!

Thursday, February 6 – Paris

I’m finding that I seem to have less tolerance for tourists lately (okay, boomer!). So today I have two goals: Go somewhere that is a) off the beaten path, and b) a place I’ve never been before. After a little research, I’ve decided to head north to Saint-Denis, mainly to see their basilica, but also to check out a couple venues from the recent Olympics.

It’ll be about a 90 minute walk from the hotel to Saint-Denis, and I was looking forward to seeing the sights outside of central Paris. But it was pretty much a letdown – mainly industrial and kind of rundown.

The basilica contains the tombs of nearly every king of France from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century.

I’m happy I made the journey to visit this basilica. A true gem on the outskirts of Paris! (the entry fee was €11; well worth it!)

During the Olympics, Saint-Denis was the center of activity. Located here are the Olympic Stadium, Aquatic Center, and the Athletes’ Village. I stopped by the Tourist Center (a few steps from Town Hall) and spoke to the workers about their experiences during that time. Amazing memories for them!

I had a fun (interesting) encounter while taking this picture. An older gentleman was walking by and stopped to talk to me. I tried to explain that I did not speak French, but he persisted! It seemed like he was venting about a couple things: the fact that the Aquatic Center has been shut down (fact check: apparently it is going to reopen in June of this year), and b) locals could not afford to attend any Olympic events. I can sympathize monsieur…

On my way back to the hotel, I had to take one more stroll by Sacre Coeur…

Another healthy steps day: 24.2k

Friday, February 7 – transit from Paris to London

My train doesn’t depart until early afternoon, so I just had a leisurely morning at the hotel.

A couple observations from my visit:

• It’s surprising (to me) how many people still smoke in Paris. And they’re young too. Crazy! There are cigarette butts everywhere, littering the sidewalks and streets. A shame.
• Another surprise: All of the construction taking place in Paris, both buildings and roads. My perception was that major improvements took place in a city prior to hosting an Olympics, not after. Guess not!
• I referred to this earlier; I’m finding it more difficult to deal with tourists (like in London and Paris). Even at this time of year. Sounds kind of snobbish, I’m sure. I think living in these cities would be a challenge. I can understand why places like Venice and Barcelona are fighting back against tourism.

Here are a some parting pictures from Gare du Nord…

This was a fun trip! Notre Dame was amazing. The weather could have been a little more picturesque, and warmer, but at least it was dry! I shouldn’t be greedy!

I got back to the flat around 4pm, and Mary reminded me that there was a Harrow School play taking place this evening. Great idea! And tickets were still available, I’m in!

A funny performance. And very British! The actor who played Wooster was impressive.

Monday, February 10 – Harrow on the Hill

Steps Update: I’m about 1/3 of the way through the trip, and I’m currently averaging 16.8k steps per day (thank you Paris!). If I can keep up this pace it would top my previous high of 16.2k from Hawaii in 2022. Will it happen? Probably not; I still have a long way (literally and figuratively) to go!

Travel Update: I’m back on the road again tomorrow, traveling to Gibraltar, Morocco, and Tunisia. I’ll be back on the 25th. No laptop again, so you can look forward to a massive update when I get back!

Saturday, February 1 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m going to check out a musical this afternoon (a matinee). The theater is located in Hammersmith, so I guess you could call this an off West End production? (analogous to off Broadway…)

The Lyric Theatre has an interesting history. It was originally a music hall established in 1888 on Bradmore Grove, Hammersmith. Success as an entertainment venue led it to be rebuilt and enlarged on the same site twice, first in 1890, and then in 1895.

In 1966 the theater was due to be closed and demolished. However, a successful campaign to save it led to the auditorium being dismantled and reinstalled piece by piece within a modern shell on its current site, a short distance from the former Bradmore Grove location. The relocated theater opened in 1979.

The musical is set in New York City’s Cotton Club, and is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The play combines the music of Duke Ellington (who is also a featured character) with street dance choreography.

This was a fun, high energy show. With great music!

Travel Note: I experienced a London first tonight! While traveling back to South Harrow from Hammersmith on the Piccadilly line, a London Underground inspector boarded the train at Acton Town and checked all of the passengers’ tickets. And I got busted! (Kidding!) Never had that happen before! I actually mentioned this to the inspector, and he replied that there are just not that many inspectors working in the system. I talked to the passengers around me afterwords, and none of them had ever had it happen either!

It’s the little things that excite me! Have I said that I’m weird?

Sunday, February 2 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m staying on the Hill today to attend a concert by the Harrow School students in the beautiful Speech Room.

But first, it was such an amazing day, I had to include a couple pictures from the Harrow School grounds. You’ve seen these buildings before, but they never get old…

This was a fun performance, because not only were the Harrow School students involved, but also the choirs of several nearby schools (girls and boys; the youngest looking to be 1st graders). The cost of the concert was £12.

The Speech Room was eventually packed – standing room only. I think this was due to a couple of factors: a) the choirs were taking up some of the seating, and b) there were family members in attendance for not just the Harrow students, but also the choir students.

Travel Note: I’m off to Paris tomorrow, returning on Friday. My main mission is to visit the newly restored Notre Dame. Can’t wait! I’m anticipating it will be a busy attraction. The administrators of the cathedral must think so as well, because they’ve set up a free reservations system. The timed reservations can only be made up to two days in advance however. I kind of like that. So I was up early this morning to reserve my spot for first-thing on Tuesday morning (maybe it will be less crowded at that time of day…).

I’ll also be attending a classic car show and three associated auctions that I last visited during my winter trip in 2020. Otherwise, no specific plans; just doing my favorite thing – walking around. It’s a great city for that (like London). Maybe I’ll check out a museum or two, not sure.

I won’t be taking my laptop along (the advantage of having a home base); therefore, my next Journal update will be in about a week. You’re devastated, I know!

Sidenote: I’ve been asked fairly often if I’ve ever been to Paris, so I decided to go back through my records to see how many times I’ve actually been there. (It’s an easy check because, for tax purposes, I had to keep a location log while working overseas, and I’ve continued to maintain the spreadsheet since I retired. (I’m weird, have I said that?)). It turns out the number is 6, dating back to 2007 (this week will be my 7th) – including one trip with Chuck, Linda, Fred & Richard; and one with Greg, Karen, Alex & Nicole. Pretty cool!

Wednesday, January 29 – Harrow on the Hill

As I was roaming around last week prior to the Lee Miller talk at Bonhams, I came across The Royal Academy of Music in Marylebone. While pausing to look over their list of upcoming performances, it occurred to me that I had never attended a concert there. That’s rather disappointing. It’s time to rectify that! (I actually ended up booking 4 concerts – making up for lost time!)

The Royal Academy of Music is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822. It provides undergraduate and postgraduate training across instrumental performance, composition, jazz, musical theater and opera, and recruits musicians from around the world. Famous academy alumni include Elton John and Annie Lennox.

Tonight I’m attending a concert by the Academy Jazz Orchestra, with two guest performers – Jim Hart and Sylvaine Hélary.

The cost of the concert was £12, with a 2 hour duration (no interval). And it was wonderful!

Thursday, January 30 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m on a mission this morning to finalize the bookings for my April trip to Victoria Falls. And it was going pretty smoothly until I came to the return flight from Namibia to London on Ethiopian Airlines. I was able to take care of all the details via their website, until it came time to pay for the ticket. First attempt: Payment rejected. Mmmmm. Maybe my credit card company blocked it with a fraud concern. Called them. Nope. So I tried again on the website. Second attempt: “Payment In Progress” screen on an endless buffer. After 5 minutes I gave up and called to speak with a customer services agent. And I got through fairly quickly, which was nice. Well, surprisingly she had a record of my reservation. Really? She ended up emailing me a link which she said I could use to pay for the ticket. Third attempt: Of course the link didn’t work! I was still on the line with the representative while being denied once again; she suggested I try the link again in hour. Will do.

In the meantime, I also had to deal with an issue on a Tunisair flight that I had already successfully booked. I received an email from them yesterday stating (in French, by the way) that my 1pm flight from Casablanca to Tunis had been canceled, and they had rebooked me on a 2am flight. I don’t think so! Fortunately there is also a flight with the same itinerary offered by Royal Air Morocco, departing at 2pm. Perfect. I’ll book that and then cancel my Tunisair flight (in that order!). More on the cancellation process later…

Well, just like my Ethiopian Airlines experience, I got all the way through the reservation process on the Royal Air Morocco (RAM) website, only to be stalled when trying to make a payment. More frustration!

Okay, while I’m figuring out the next step with RAM, enough time has elapsed for me to go back and try the Ethiopian Airlines payment link that was emailed to me earlier. I click on the link…and I’m directed to a page telling me that my reservation does not exist! What the?!?

This write up of events may seem kind of short, but in actuality all of the above activities took a fair amount of time, and by now I’ve got a throbbing headache! I need to get out for a walk!

While I’m heading towards South Harrow I remembered that there is a travel agent near the Aldi where I shop. So I stopped in there to see if they could handle booking my tickets on Ethiopian Airlines and Royal Air Morocco. The woman there confirmed that they could and asked that I come back tomorrow at 11am, as she was rather busy for the rest of the day. No worries.

Alright! It looks like my problems may be sorted…

Back to the cancellation of the Tunisair flight. I called their customer service number (again a quick pickup – a good sign) to find out the cancellation process. Apparently I need to send an email to an address the representative provided, explaining my situation, and I will then receive the refund in 45 to 60 days. I’ll give it a shot, not very confident though. It’s not a huge deal, the flight was around $200. I’ll let you know what happens…

I need to do something enjoyable today!

Thankfully, The Old Speech Room Gallery at The Harrow School is open to the public this afternoon. On display is a new exhibit of Japanese woodblock prints, and what they are calling “A Cabinet of Curiosities”. There was a reception held for this new exhibit a couple of weeks ago, but I was unable to attend because it was on the same night of my booking for Dr. Strangelove. Bad luck on my part.

You may recall that I attended a reception at the Gallery last year, and I posted a few pictures then. I attempted to take some pictures of the woodblock prints, but they are housed in glass cases, and the reflections were problematic. Take my word though, the prints are beautiful!

Friday, January 31 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m in a good mood this morning. Looking forward to getting these problematic flights sorted!

I made it to the travel agency a little after 11, and the woman I’m supposed to meet with isn’t there! And the only person that is in the office can’t help me because she only works on Nepal bookings. Are you kidding me!

Time to regroup and go to Plan B (which I just though of!). Using my phone, I do a search for Travel Agents near me. And I fortunately find one that is close to the Harrow on the Hill tube station, and with very good reviews. Bonus!

Sidenote: While doing the travel agent search, I notice that the agency I first tried to use has terrible reviews! Lesson Learned: Don’t walk into the first place that happens to be convenient!

And now there is finally a happy ending to my ordeal. This second agency was very helpful and able to get both itineraries taken care of. The combined bookings ended up costing me about £100 more than if I had booked online, But that’s fine. There was one glitch, but I anticipated it: The agency did not accept U.S. credit cards. Cash is okay though! And I just happened to have a fistful that I was going to use to pay my February rent. Sorted. (and back to the ATM to replenish the rent cash!)

Fortunately all this was done in time for me to get into the Capital for a tour of the U.K. Supreme Court that I had booked for 3pm…

I was surprised to learn that the Court only dates to 2009, when it assumed the judicial functions previously undertaken by the House of Lords.

This is the final Courtroom, Number 3. It is used exclusively to hear cases from U.K. Territories.

The carpet throughout the Court building depicts a pattern representing the four floral emblems of the United Kingdom: a Tudor rose, representing England, conjoined with the leaves of a leek, representing Wales; a flax (or ‘lint’) blossom for Northern Ireland; and a thistle, representing Scotland. The carpet was designed by Sir Peter Blake, creator of such works as the cover of The Beatles’ 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I like the story behind this artwork. The painting has an estimated value of £400k, but the frame is worth double that at £800k! Why? Because it’s an original Chippendale.

This was a fun tour. Well worth the £10!

Travel Note: It is not necessary to book a tour if you’re interested in visiting the Supreme Court. The building is open to the public, free of charge. The only room that is solely accessed via the tour is the Library.

When leaving the tour I was rather amused to see this long line of people waiting to have their picture taken by the phone booth. Tourists!

Sidenote: Tickets for The Who concert went on sale this morning. And I went for it! (thanks for the encouragement Holly!)

Sales of tickets began at 9am (I completely forgot about this when I arranged to meet the travel agent at 11am. My mind was elsewhere at the time! It’s a good thing she suggested the 11am time. Stupid, but lucky…again!).

Anyway, I’ve booked tickets before with The Royal Albert Hall, and therefore knew to go to the website early, in order to be placed in a waiting room and then in a random queue at 9am. When the sales opened, I was number 2,510 in line. My estimated wait time was over an hour! But again, I’ve done this before and understood that the estimated times are typically much longer than what actually happens. In this case, I was at the front of the line in 23 minutes. And I ended up snagging a very good seat in a box. Brilliant!

Friday, January 24 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m taking a kind of off-the-beaten path walking tour today. I’ll be on the less-popular north bank of the Thames, heading downriver from The Tower of London. A walk less traveled!

The area covered includes the old docklands of Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse, the original Tower Hamlets immediately east of the City. These districts have been redeveloped following the closure of London’s 19th century docks.

St. Katherine Docks, with Ivory House in the background. A hospital, medieval church and over 1,000 homes were demolished to make room for the dock, which opened in 1828.

The entrance locks to St. Katherine Docks. This narrow passage from the river is one reason the Docks were never a commercial success.

Wapping Pier Head. Georgian house built for officials of the London Docks Company. The garden covers the original entrance to the docks. (The Shard is everywhere!)

The boatyard of The River Police. Originating in 1798, the force was set up to deal with the endemic pilfering from the thousands of merchant ships moored on the river. They were the first properly organized police force in the country.

Limehouse Basin. This is the entrance to Regent’s Canal and thus to the whole of the national canal network.

This was an interesting area for wandering!

Saturday, January 25 – Harrow on the Hill

I was planning on sticking around the Hill today, working on the journal and travel planning. But it was just too nice outside; I had to get out and roam around. Let’s go!

I’ve chosen as my starting point Fulham Palace, located on the north bank of the Thames in southwest London.

Well, technically I’m starting my walkabout on the grounds of All Saints’ Church…

Fulham Palace was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London from the 11th century until 1973. The palace houses a number of restored historic rooms and a museum documenting its long history. The property abuts Bishops Park, once part of the estate, and contains a large botanical garden.

I’m now going to take the Thames Path upriver towards Hammersmith…

Sidenote: I’ve taken this picturesque walk in the past, and documented it in this journal, so I won’t be going into a lot of detail this time.

Sidenote: It turns out this event is the Quintin Head, where “Head” indicates it is a time-trial competition rather than head-to-head. The course is 4.6km long, running from Chiswick Bridge (University Post) to Fulham Reach (between Hammersmith Bridge and Harrods Depository).

This crew is fortunate in that their team facilities are not too far from the finish area (note the Hammersmith Bridge in the background); thereby reducing the distance they needed to row back upstream.

Here are a couple non-regatta photos from my walk along the Thames…

Sunday, January 26 – Harrow on the Hill

Sidenote: I received an email informing me that The Who will be performing again this year for The Teenage Cancer Trust at The Royal Albert Hall. Two shows in March. I’m debating whether or not to attend the concert again this year. I’m leaning towards no. But, then again, it is The Who after all, and how many more opportunities will I have to see them in concert? (like zero!) Tickets don’t go on sale until Friday morning, so I have a few days to have a think on it. Your feedback is welcome!

Tuesday, January 21 – Harrow on the Hill

While reading through my journal from last year’s trip, Mary made note of the reference to my birthday. Well, all these months later she followed that up by inviting me to a birthday dinner tonight with her and Tony. How thoughtful!

Thank you so much Mary & Tony for making this a wonderful and memorable birthday!

Wednesday, January 22 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m staying on the Hill to attend a play this evening performed by the Harrow School students. I’ve talked previously (last year’s journal) about the quality of these productions. A very talented group of boys!

Tonight’s performance is Bleak Expectations, a Dickensian spoof based on a BBC comedy series by Mark Evans.

This was a fun evening. And it’s always comical watching the Harrow boys as they take on the female roles!

Update: The Jeff Beck Guitar Collection auction

The auction was held today. With all items sold, the sale generated a total of $10.7 million (£8.7 million) – which is more than eight times the pre-sale estimates. Wow!!

Let’s take a look back at the guitars I highlighted from my viewing on Monday…

1959 Gibson Les Paul (est. £40,000-60,000). Sold for $493k (£400k)!

A guitar signed by the performers at The Jeff Beck Tribute Concert (est. £4,000-6,000). Sold for $117k (£95k).

The Tina Turner guitar (est. £8,000-12,000). Sold for $543k (£441k)!! I guess I wasn’t the only one who liked this! (The bidding can be watched in the video link below)

The full action results are here.

And here is a 6 minute highlight video of the auction, produced by Christie’s.

Thursday, January 23 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m back into the Capital today to visit another auction house. This time it is Bonhams, to attend an exhibit featuring Lee Miller, entitled Lee & LEE. Haven’t heard of Lee Miller? Well, I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t either. Ashamed because she led an amazing life. So amazing in fact, that Kate Winslet recently produced and starred in a movie about her!

If you’re not aware of Lee Miller, do yourself a favor and read this biography. Or watch the movie! (I did, via Hulu, a couple nights before attending the exhibit today. It’s very good)

(Briefly, she was a fashion model turned photographer and war correspondent)

I’ll be visiting Bonhams twice today – first to view the exhibit, and then back tonight to attend an invitation-only talk about the life of Lee Miller with her son and granddaughter. I’m not sure why I was on the invite list, but I’ll take it!

The exhibit contains both Lee Miller’s personal possessions and props from the movie. The exhibit’s title, Lee & LEE, refers to the person and the movie title, respectively. On the right is Lee’s actual uniform.

The movie did a great job of recreating actual photos taken by Lee Miller. The framed piece was photographed by Lee; the other two were recreated in the movie.

I have a little time to kill before I return to Bonhams for the talk, so I’m going to check out a place recommended to me by Mary and Tony.

The building now known as the Fitzrovia Chapel was built in 1891–92 as the Middlesex Hospital Chapel. As you can probably tell by this photo, it is a very small space.

The interior of the chapel features a rib vaulted ceiling richly decorated with polychrome marble and mosaics. The mosaics were completed in the 1930s.

This is a beautiful little gem in West London. I would have included some exterior pictures, but it is presently covered in scaffolding!

Of special note, the chapel was the setting for The King’s Christmas Message in 2024. You can watch the video here.

As I approached Bonhams, I noticed that there was a very long line of people waiting to enter. This surprised me; I didn’t expect the Lee Miller talk to be so popular. (probably due to the fact I had no clue who Lee Miller was until a couple weeks ago!)

This was an enjoyable day, as I became more knowledgeable about a very interesting woman. And it’s notable (curious) that there was no auction associated with this exhibit.

For those who would like more information on Lee Miller, here’s a link to a Q&A with her son (who literally wrote the book about her).

As a footnote, I came across this photo of Lee Miller when I visited The National Portrait Gallery a few days ago…

Monday, January 20 – Harrow on the Hill

There’s another guitar auction taking place in London! You may recall that during my visit last winter, the Mark Knopfler guitar collection generated massive sale prices. Well, I guess the estate of another iconic rocker, Jeff Beck, heard about this and decided to get in on the action! Can’t blame them!

Before heading off to Christie’s to view the guitars, I’m going on another walking tour – this time in the Central London enclave of Mayfair. Mayfair is known as an exclusive shopping, residential and business district in the heart of the West End.

And we’re off…

Just near the start of the walk, the front display of this restaurant on Piccadilly caught my eye.

From Monday to Saturday the church’s forecourt is taken over by a small market. Today were food stalls.

Another window display that I liked. This is the K. Minamoto confectionery store on Piccadilly.

I’m now inside Hatchard’s bookshop. It was founded at this multistory Piccadilly location in 1797, making it London’s oldest bookstore.

That was fun! Now, I’m heading down the road to Christie’s to check out some vintage guitars…

It’s probably not obvious from these photos, but there were a lot of people at this viewing (I was mostly patient; waiting for breaks before taking the pictures). It kind of surprised me. I don’t remember there being as many visitors when I attended the Knopfler viewing last year. But maybe the surprise is down to me favoring the work of Mark over Jeff!

Here are a few of the guitars that stood out to me…

I like the story behind this one! Jeff used the guitar when he worked with Tina Turner on the album Private Dancer. At the end of the session in 1984, he asked Turner to sign the guitar. She first autographed it in felt pen, but it was clear that it would not last. So instead she produced a knife from her bag and carved her name into the pink finish. She then rubbed green nail polish into the jagged letters to make them visible and permanent. (est. £8,000-12,000)

Like the Knopfler auction, I think the estimates here are very low! Maybe Christie’s does that on purpose? The auction takes place on Wednesday; we’ll see what happens!

For those who would like further information on the auction, here are some links:

Auction Home Page

Backstories

Walk around

Finally, I saw this on display at Christie’s and couldn’t resist sharing…