Hi Scott,
Tony Burgess here. Hope you and Laura are doing well.
Lynne and I just returned from two weeks in the UK for the Holidays and had a
great time. Didn't do too much "car stuff" since this trip was visiting the
family for Christmas and New Years. Did get to Moss (MGB stuff) and Mini
Spares (Mini/MINI stuff) though for a few minutes.
Since you said you were flying on BA, I assume you're going into Heathrow
(not Gatwick) so you can either take the Heathrow Express train into Paddington
Station or the Piccadilly line into central London. FYI, the trains, busses
and tubes have reduced fares after 9:30am.
* Moss is near Heathrow on Hampton Road, I think about 2-1/2 miles from the
closest Tube stop (Piccadilly Line - Hatton Cross) - the stop before Heathrow
on the Piccadilly line. The railway station at Feltham is about a mile away
(also northwest toward Heathrow from Moss).
You may want to buy a "Double Decker Bus Tour" ticket (I like the Brown Bus
Tour). The ticket is good for 24 hours and you can hop-on and off as you
please. Do this first and it will give you ideas as to where you may want to
spend
some time and where in London they are located.
I still have the "info pack" I gave everyone when we were there in '98 and I
can send you a copy if you like. Don't know how many places you visited last
time so I'll list some places to go if you have time...
* London Eye - try and go about noon if it's a sunny day since the sunshine
in early morning and late afternoon cause reflections on the glass if you're
taking photos.
* Tower of London - by London Bridge - I think this is London's most popular
attraction.
* Docklands - Canary Wharf (District or Circle Line to Tower Hill then onto
Docklands Light Railway - or Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf)
* Harrods - Brompton Road - Knightsbridge (Piccadilly Line) or Selfridges -
Oxford St. (Central Line - Bond St. or Marble Arch). Bond St. has some great
shopping too.
* Portabello Road (Saturdays) - Kind of like a huge flea market - some very
cool things there.
* Regent Street - Carnaby Street, etc.
* Covent Gardens in the West End (Piccadilly Line - again) - fun shopping
stalls and the London Transport Museum (and gift shop). This is within walking
distance of most West End Theatres so you may want to do this if you go to a
play. Fun shows are Mama Mia (a story about a girl's wedding and her "three
fathers" using ABBA songs - but not about ABBA). We've seen this in London and
Toronto and it's great.
Another few good ones are produced by the "Reduced Shakespeare Company".
"The Compete History of America (Abridged)", The Complete Works of Shakespeare
(Abridged)" and their "new" one "The Bible: The Complete Word of God
(Abridged).
These play on different days/times at the Criterion Theatre on Piccadilly
Square. Also "We will Rock You" about Queen and Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap"
(50 years strong).
Of course there are the "standards" such as "Phantom", "Lion King", "Les
Miserables", "Joseph", "Chitty Chitty", etc. When we were there a year ago, we
saw "Noises Off" which was very funny but I think it may be touring now and no
longer in London.
This past month, we saw "Jerry Springer, The Opera" and it was quite
"different" - not what we were expecting. We thought it may have been a
"Saturday
Night Live" type spoof but it was sort-of that but a lot of opera singing.
I would suggest picking up a copy of the magazine "Time Out - London" as soon
as you arrive and that will tell you what's going on. You can also stop at
the "Half Price Theatre Ticket Booth" - Leicester (Lester) Square - but this is
cash only.
* Most museums in London are free and there probably 50 within the city. Of
course there's the Heritage Museum in Gaydon (near Oxford) and the National
Motor Museum in Beaulieu (B'yew-lee) but that is on the south coast near
Southampton.
* Many Pubs are what I now call "City Pubs" since they are similar to
restaurants with a Pub atmosphere. To enjoy a true old-fashioned Pub, you need
to go
outside of the larger cities. There are still some "true" Pubs in London but
they are getting harder to find.
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