Friday, April 19 – transit from Tirana to London

My flight is at 10:30 this morning. Due to the rush hour factor, and Tirana’s ugly traffic, the hotel staff recommended that I leave for the airport at 7:30. There is a shuttle bus option that departs from a point near to the hotel at a cost of 400 lek, but its schedule doesn’t accommodate my itinerary very well. So I ended up taking a taxi at a cost of 3,000 lek ($30). It killed me! But I survived. The ride took 40 minutes.

I’m flying Ryanair. I usually don’t go with a discount carrier; in this case though the price was irresistible. Including the extra fees I paid for an exit row seat and overhead bin space, the total cost for the one way flight was $61. The only drawback is that the flight landed at London Stansted Airport, which is north of the city and required a train ride into the capital.

The Tirana airport is well organized. I especially liked the automated readers in the departure hall for U.S. passport holders (plus a few other countries that issue biometric passports). I thereby avoided the queue for the manual passport check, which was pretty long!

Travel Note: Like the Italians, the Albanians seem to have mastered the art of cutting in line. Not quite on the level of the Italians, but close. And it’s annoying!

The nonstop flight lasted 3 hours, and the 737 was full. (In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be sitting in the exit row of a Boeing airplane!) The train from Stansted to Liverpool Street station took 50 minutes and cost £23. From there, I grabbed the Metropolitan Line back to Harrow on the Hill.

This evening I attended a talk at the Harrow School commemorating the 200th anniversary of the poet Lord Byron’s death. Byron was a student at the school in the early 19th century, and arguably one of their most famous alums.

Prior to the talk though, Mary and Tony invited a few people in for a proper English Tea, with delicious sandwiches, scones, and cupcakes. It was wonderful. Thank you Mary & Tony!

The talk was followed by a drinks reception in the Old Speech Room Gallery. A fun evening!

Saturday, April 20 – Harrow on the Hill

I’ve always wanted to attend a play at the historic Old Vic Theatre. Well, tonight it is finally going to happen!

The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat theater located near Waterloo Station. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace.

Travel Note: I use a website called Theatre Monkey for seat location tips. Very handy if you ever plan on attending a show in London.

Sunday, April 21 – Harrow on the Hill

There is more of Lord Byron on today’s agenda. This afternoon the Harrow Hill Trust is sponsoring a walk entitled Mad, Bad & Dangerous To Know, George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron, 1788-1824).

Following the one hour walk, Mary & Tony invited about 20 folks over to the house (Byron House) for tea and cakes. A lovely ending to a fun Byron weekend!

Monday, April 22 – Harrow on the Hill

I’m down to the last three days of my trip, and I have a fairly busy day planned in the city.

Many categories of science and technology are represented in the auction: including globes, microscopes, sundials, cameras, telescopes, and more. A link to the auction is here.

My next stop is The National Gallery, where I’m going to check out a new exhibition.

Entry to the exhibition was at no charge. However, I booked a timed ticket to enter The National gallery (also at no charge), thereby avoiding the line outside.

Well worth the visit. Caravaggio’s use of light amazes me!

And while I was at the Gallery, I absolutely had to stop and take a look at a couple of works by my favorite artist, Claude Monet…

I’m attending another play tonight. I had some time to kill though, so I just did some walking around the Charing Cross area.

I have mixed feelings about the production. I was very long; 3 hours plus a 20 minute interval. And the subject matter wasn’t all that interesting to me. But it was the kind of play where the actors’ talent is on full display. And Clarkson and Cox delivered (as you would expect). Especially the former (in my opinion).