Clock Winding Down in London

For someone (me) who is usually busy just being lazy, the last few months have been a whirlwind. We have had a succession of loved ones visiting and been crossing things off of our United Kingdom “bucket list” since we have less than six weeks left in our two-year adventure.

On July 1, we gave notice to our landlord that we would leaving Sept. 1. We have had a steady flow of estate agents showing the property in the past few weeks. It is listed for sale or rent. I've done the conversion for you: £750,000 equals $963,000 today.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137244164#/?channel=RES_BUY

Enjoying a beer as musician Clark Gilmour performs at The
Cavern Club in Liverpool. Aug. 3 is 60 years since the 292nd
(and final) performance there by The Beatles.          

Earlier this month we went to Liverpool with Massachusetts friends Andy and Lori Grant to do all things Beatles. The weather was so dreadful we forgot it was July. Actually, their whole visit had a music theme: Matt and Andy saw Guns n Roses and Pretenders at Hyde Park in London one night, then Def Leppard and Motley Crüe the next at Wembley Stadium. On one of those nights, Lori and I went to see opera at the Red Lion Pub in our village, Barnes.

In May, Brian and Jayne Kearney came from Massachusetts. Jayne had never been to London before, so they were busy hitting all the high points and we joined them when we could. Together we saw the long-running play The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. Loved it and finally saw why a play can go on for seventy years and still sell out. It had always been a mystery to me.

Me and Ian after touring the shuttered
Aldwych station as part of a Hidden
London subway. It has been used for
many movies and TV shows.          

After their visit I flew to the U.S. for the high school graduation of our grandson Ian in Wyoming. Jesse and Shannon drove from Northern California and my cousin Steve and his wife Annie drove from Orange County. We had quite a celebration.

Ian flew back to London with me and stayed here for two weeks. We ran ourselves ragged hitting as many places as we could. He also loves live theater, so we went to see Bleak Expectations, a mashup of Charles Dickens books that was outrageously clever and funny. We then headed to York by rail for two nights so he could see one of our favorite museums, the York Castle Museum. We also did a ghost tour by bus that was a lot of fun.

Matt is always working on Ian’s appreciation for rock music, so we treated him to a London concert by John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame. The opening act served as his backing band and included his two sons. It was an awesome show and we had great seats. What a setlist.

Toward the end of Ian’s visit, our friends Rick and Mary rolled into town from Arizona to stay with our buddy Bob, who was their friend first. They have loaned him to us, and he has loaned us many of his other mates here. Most of them got together with us to visit Rick and Mary at a picnic at a private garden in Central London where Bob is a member.

Bob, Rick and Mary (left window) head back to Bob's home
in Marylebone after Matt's birthday dinner in Wandsworth.

The day after Ian left on a nonstop flight to Salt Lake City, the five of us headed to the Lake District. It was more beautiful than I imagined, and we had the best weather. Plenty of pubs to hit, too. We returned to London on Matt’s birthday and went for dinner at one of our favorite places, The Alma in Wandsworth just south of the Thames. A few days later the five of us visited stunning 300-acre Kew Gardens (our first time there) for another scratch off the bucket list.

Our pals Andrew and Adelie invited us and other FOBs (Friends of Bob) to stay overnight at their home to attend the Henley Festival in their lovely riverside town, Henley-on-Thames, 30 miles west of Barnes. The fest included a formal outdoor party with live music and art. Black tie dress is required.

Hamming it up at the Henley Fest.    

Accepting the invite meant we had to get Matt a tux and me a formal gown. We bought these online. Matt’s tux came from Marks & Spencer and included a traditional bowtie, not a clip-on one. I found a lovely dress, cheap and probably from China. 

I always want a backup plan, so I ordered another cheap one from Amazon in case the first one was crap or did not arrive in time. It did, though, and was very well made. Quite lovely, too. I needed to have it taken in, which led me to meeting a skilled seamstress in a charming shop right here in Barnes. 

I received many compliments on the dress from strangers at the Henley Festival. True to form, though, I did not actually look as good there as I did before leaving for the fest. It never fails. No matter what you look like when you leave the house here, you will arrive at your destination looking like shit thanks to rain, wind and humidity making you sweat. You just don’t dress and enter your car in the garage and head to your destination. No, you must walk, change buses, subway gusts (I lost a hat this way), and trains that are often stiflingly hot. Expect this when you come to visit London.  It’s just something you live with, innit?

A YouTube video and lots of
practice led to a successful tie.
Bob's your uncle, Matt did it! 

Though we love our lives in California, we are disappointed to be leaving here. One more year away would have been perfect. We feel at home and just really like it. Even the weather. We are having a cool summer with highs in the 70s while much of the world is experiencing heat records (London had that a year ago). More rain than last summer, but we enjoy that.

We feel confident we’ll be back to the UK again. I think that’s the only way we can possibly leave.