Home at last after 22-days away and reunited with our schnauzer Tally. The only things we’re missing are my Mickey Mouse hooded sweatshirt and our luggage, still stuck in London. The sweatshirt I left on the plane, while our baggage was reportedly a technical error (human error doesn’t exist anymore). Our driver picked us up from the airport late last night, and we were tired company on the ride home. Without having to unpack, we were quickly asleep. 

Both of us were up early this morning, with a bit of jet lag. My wife ran some errands while I went out for a 2-mile run, starting to rebuild my mileage to the daily 5k level that was part of my routine before this trip. I did manage to get at least a mile in every day, but mostly at the minimum. Currently, I’m at just under 50-miles for the month of May instead of the normal 80. It was difficult to get into a routine with early morning bus tours, flights, safety issues, and rough surfaces to negotiate. 

Although we are travel weary there will be little time to rest. Tonight, we have tickets for the Wellen Park Luminescence, tomorrow my wife’s girlfriend arrives for a few days, Saturday night is a Venice Symphony concert to honor Memorial Day, and Sunday is my granddaughter’s birthday along with our annual Indy 500 party. The retirement party continues. 

Our last day in London proper started with my Hyde Park run, another visit to an ATM, check-out, and a walk to Piccadilly Circus. We had a few hours to kill before our scheduled Rock Tour, tired of wandering through Palaces, Castles, Monuments, Tombs, Temples, Museums, and Churches. 

We stumbled across the Savil Row Concurs, a display of high-end cars in the premier fashion district. My wife refrained from shopping and agreed to go to The Hard Rock Café, founded in London. I figured it would be an appropriate start to visiting some of the homes, studios, and haunts of British Rock Stars – the real English royalty as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always been enamored by lets say Freddy Mercury and Queen rather than Queen Elizabeth. 

As we waited for the guided tour to start, we sat on the steps by the statue of Frederick, Duke of York 1766-1827. The dome of St. Paul’s loomed in the distance, along with Union flags hanging above the streets from the recent coronation ceremonies. As expected, our long-haired, British  tour guide, Ian, showed up late, ala stoner Jeff Spicoli from the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High, in an oversized van. It turned out to be as much a pub tour, seeing where the London superstars of music, Hendrix, Morrison, the Fab Four, Pink Floyd, Clapton, Freddy Mercury, Elton John, Jim Morrison, and Jimmy Page held court. We stopped by the famous Royal Albert Hall where Asa was performing a sound check, visited a tiny record store specializing in vinyl, and drove by the secluded homes and apartments where they lived and some died. Needless to say, we couldn’t see much in passing. A walk across the zebra crosswalk on Abbey Road was a highlight, and well hidden studios where the legends recorded were often identified with round, blue historic plaques. 

Dinner was at Baozilnn for dim sum in Chinatown, followed by a bit of a stroll to the Vaudeville Theatre on The Strand next door to where we saw Ain’t Too Proud to Beg when we first arrived in London four days ago. The musical, SIX, was an all female performance by six powerful vocalists and a talented instrumental trio.  It was about the six wives of Henry VIII, thinking of Herman’s Hermits’ hit “I’m Henry the 8th I am.” Fortunately, it was short in length, since it was late and we needed to taxi to 47 Park to pick up our luggage and then continued on to Heathrow. As we waited to check-in at the airport Renaissance, a  breaking news bulletin announced the death of the Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner at age 83. It truly was a day of Rock and Roll reflection.

I saw The Stones in England this morning! Not the group but rather Stonehenge. The last time I was in London more than 25 years ago, I stopped by for a bite to eat at Sticky Fingers – Bill Wyman’s restaurant in Kensington that closed a few years ago after 32-years in business due to the pandemic. The closest I’ve gotten to rock-and- roll on this trip so far is a drive-by-sighting of the original Hard Rock Café and the musical, “Back to the Future,” featuring Huey Lewis hits. However, The Beatles’ Apple Records headquarters and its Abbey Road famed zebra crosswalk aren’t too far away from our hotel.

Ben Joyce starred as Marty McFly and Cory English as Doc Brown. Jordan Benjamin was also great as Mayor Marvin Berry, with McFly defying the basic rules of time travel by stealing Berry’s “cousin” Chuck’s guitar masterpiece, Johnny B. Goode, before its time. Produced by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, who added some high-tech magic with the iconic DeLorean time machine. Back to the Future will eventually be big on Broadway. 

The British West End stage production of Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, the story of The Temptations was also outstanding, as we await the third and final theater night, SIX, here in London. We’ll be back home in three short days after getting the opportunity to see ten of the world’s finest and oldest wonders – the Great Pyramid, Petra’s Treasury, The Sphinx, Valley of the Kings, Mount Nebo, Westminster Abbey, The Dead Sea, Luxor Temple, Abu Simbel, and Stonehenge. The Stones today seemed to fit somewhere in the middle of these impressive sightings.

Today is here! After an exhausting night of sleep, I was only motivated to run the Hyde Park minimum mile again today.  My wife zonked out early last night, whereas I was up and down countless times with an achy bladder. When I got up for the final time at 6a, there was a lot more activity outside with bicyclists, joggers, and horses on patrol, It was also more difficult to cross the busy street, unlike the Sunday morning quiet. 

I once again felt like a bunny rabbit, hopping on and off the double-decker Toot Bus all day long. We covered both the yellow and blue lines on Sunday with photo stops at Buckingham Palace, the Tower Bridge, and Gillray’s at the Marriott for a martini lunch after the cruise down The Thames. I ordered the traditional fish & chips while my wife had dover sole. We also got a top deck view of Piccadilly Circus, not quite as crazy as Saturday night but still active. The Brits use the word “circus” rather than what we know as a circle or roundabout, but to me, it was more like a circus atmosphere with the pub crowds extending out into the sidewalks. 

Today, we had some bus issues like a driver who abandoned the wheel to apparently go to the loo, while leaving the engine running for a good fifteen minutes with no explanation to us passengers. We were frustrated because it made us tardy for our 10a Beefeater prepaid tour of the Tower of London. We then spent an hour in line waiting to see the Crown Jewels and lit some candles at the Chapel Royale of St. Peter ad Vincula. It is the burial place of some of the most famous prisoners executed at the Tower, including Queen Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Lord  Guildford Dudley, and Sir Thomas More.

Next, we hopped on a blue, hopped off to catch a yellow, and hopped off again at Westminster Abbey, walking over the inscribed burial sites in the marble floor of David Livingstone, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Frederick Handel, and Charles Robert Darwin. There was also a memorial dedicated to William Shakespeare. It is also the final resting place of 30 Kings and Queens, but hardly comparable to the Tombs of Egypt.

Tonight, we’ll make the long walk back to Piccadilly Circus and the nearby Theater District to see the highly acclaimed musical, Back to the Future, at The  Adelphi.  We then have to be up early for our tour of Stonehenge, after the late walk back to our Marriott home at 47 Park Street. The busses don’t run after 5:30p, so tonight there will be no hopping on or off.

After our long hike through Petra, shopping and afternoon, naptime somehow restored enough energy in our worn out bodies for a visit to the Petra Museum, dinner at Momma’s Kitchen, and a drink on the rooftop bar with our friends from London. I actually got to sleep in an extra hour before I hauled my sore, stiff legs to the treadmill, showered, packed again, gobbled down breakfast, and jumped on the Viking bus. 

We drove the scenic route out of Petra for more pictures, stopped briefly at an ancient Nabataean water storage reservoir built into the limestone, and made a couple restroom detours along the King’s Highway on the way to Jerash. Roman ruins in the “City of 1,000 columns” was the attraction. Our group performed Amazing Grace with a local bagpiper and drummer on the ancient stage surrounded by two stories of seats.  Lunch was at Ohm Khalil where smoking a Hookah was apparently an option. Friday is the holy day and beginning of the weekend, so folks were dressed in their finery. 

We finally arrived at the Amman W Hotel that will lead into 4 more nights at the London Park Street Grand Residence, followed by our final night at the Heathrow Renaissance, all Marriott properties, before flying home. We said good-bye to our fellow Viking tour group at the hotel’s Mesh Restaurant, anticipating another lengthy flight, number eight so far, this time to London after a mile on the treadmill. At last, we were on our own, without the worry of packing for a few days, and fully free to explore Bloody London. 

Saying farewell to the last of our Viking companions, we made it through customs and caught the Paddington Station Express and a British hackney to 47 Park Street, our posh digs for the next few days. Sightseeing by double-decker bus, a Thames River cruise, castles, theater, cathedrals, and Stonehenge were on our busy London agenda, as this trip-of-a-lifetime took a Dickens of an English twist. 

A brown bag breakfast after a sluggish mile on the treadmill started my Tuesday in Cairo. Everyone had their hand out for a tip, and we were soon out of pounds. By 8:30, we had landed in Amman, Jordan via Royal Jordanian airlines, another first. More dry bread was offered – even the brittle cookie was flavorless. Then, from plane to bus to the Dead Sea Museum with distant views of Jerusalem and Jericho, while our luggage was transported to our room at the Movenpick Hotel, right next to the Dead Sea Marriott.

We quickly changed into our swimsuits and took a golf cart to the resort pool. The shallow end was all sand and the deep end had an infinity view. The surrounding tiles were so hot that you couldn’t grab on to the edge, so support bars were hidden underwater and out of the intense sunshine. After an hour, we took another cart to the Dead Sea beach. Really sharp rocks prevented a gracious entry, so we fell into the water expecting to sink but the salt kept us buoyant for a few photos. They suggested only 20-minutes in the water before “mudding up.” A lifeguard gathered some chunks of salt from the bottom, mixed it with mud in an urn, and scrubbed my body from head to foot. My wife called me “Mud Man,” a reference to an Indy 500 experience years before I met her. (See Post #2248). 

Buffets would be the breakfast and dinner options as we moved from the Movenpick – Dead Sea to the Movenpick – Petra. Before we packed to leave that first morning, I finally got in a full 5k along the Dead Sea hotel row. It felt good to be outside on a paved, flat surface and 300-feet below sea level. A falafel sandwich lunch was served in route on the bus. We also had a tour of Mount Nebo, Moses’ stomping grounds, Shobak Castle, built by Crusader King  Baldwin I in 1115, and several rocky, Bedouin camps where they tended sheep, camels, and goats. 

Excitement was building in anticipation of seeing Petra, located just across the street from the hotel. I once again got up at 5a to use the fitness center treadmill for a 2-mile warm- up for the eight-mile hike. The first half was mostly downhill with lots of uneven pavers through the narrow Siq. Once we got to the Treasury, the Indiana Jones temple, the pathways turned to mostly sand, with the exception of a steep series of steps to get to the best views of Petra. 

Our Viking tour group then climbed a less used trail above the theater and by numerous caves and tombs, distinguished only by the stairways to heaven carved  over the graves. Tombs often became homes and visa-versa that were cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Carvings in the sandstone, Roman aqueducts, temples destroyed by earthquakes, and vendors trying to make a buck lined the fascinating route we traversed. It all led to a 2-hour long, uphill walk back to the hotel, as I began to regret the treadmill workout earlier that morning.

Two Queens last night instead of a King, in this case referring to sleeping arrangements instead of Egyptian Royalty. It reminded me of the separate security lines at the airport for searching men and women, or the separate Valleys for Royal entombment. Some things never change. 

After 432 attempts, I finally solved the daily Wordle on the FIRST attempt – CANOE. I always start with this word since it has three vowels. It was only a matter of time before this would finally happen – maybe the magic of the pyramids? 

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization was a very modern facility. I’m sure that once the Grand Egyptian Museum that we visited on our first day in Cairo is finally completed, it too will be equally spectacular. The highlight of today’s tour was the Royal Mummies. It made me think of the Prince Harry book, The Spare, and how he referred to his special “mummy.” My wife could not stomach the preserved, blackened corpses that are set in glass cases, as we descended into the bowels of the earth. Happy Halloween, early this year.