Literally ... all week long.
"I wish I could remember the name. You would really like it. It was just a little place. It was so good. They had whitebait. I wish I could remember the name, I can't believe I can't remember the name. I carried the card around in my wallet for over a year. This place we're eating at now isn't as good as that place I am trying to think of"
Well, you get the idea.
He had in fact gotten the business card from this place last time he was there ... but while fly fishing in the Mountains with my Uncle Tucker ... he took a spill into the river and his wallet floated downstream ... along with the name of the restaurant.
Finally on our final afternoon ... we walked through Covent Gardens and did some shopping and took in some of the acts from the street performers.
Covent Gardens
We had a plan to stop in a the hotel that they had stayed in the last time and ask their concierge for the name of the Italian place.
While walking through New Road St ... we actually stumbled upon it! It has an odd little side entrance and it was the jackpot! We made a mental note of the name ... and of the street ... and decided that is where we would eat our last dinner in England.
When we walked in -- I knew why Dad liked it so much. It was a small little place with pictures all over the walls of guests and patrons with the wait staff and owner. The kitchen is down below and the meals come up on a little "dumb waiter elevator" ... it was really neat surrounding.
Or maybe it was the fact that on the hostess stand there was David Hasselhoff's book.
Oh no, you read that right. The Hoff front and center?! sold.
Then I found THIS on the menu:
I went with a chicken dish instead but you better believe it was a difficult decision.
At the end of dinner, the owner -- came up to us just to make sure that our meal was satisfactory. Dad told him the story of how they had been there before and we had searched all week and had lost his business card. We chatted with him for a while about his restaurant and family and how a little Italian place found London. He graciously offered us a post-dinner drink on the house and gave us new business cards - on which he left a little note for each of us:
Mine says: PS. To be used in case Dads one get lost in the water again!
The title of post is Mystery Solved ... meaning we found the restaurant ... however; we were enlightened to a new mystery. He let us in on a little secret... that he was writing a book. A book that would ... and I quote..."Bring England to its knees" ... We heard a lot. Almost too much. Almost enough to certify that he is a little crazy ... possibly right ... but mostly, in my opinion...quite a nutter! (more English terms!)
I am honestly not at liberty to share such information with you at this point; however, the book is supposed to be published within the next few months -- and the moment it is. You better believe a post is going up.
Here are ALL the pictures from the WHOLE trip -- if you would like to see more click the photo below:
A few side notes:
Our plan of attack for the week and list of things we would like do ended up as our tour guide...which ended up being scribble scrabble on the back of some scrap paper. We carried it around with us all week, in addition to our maps, and did quite well with crossing things off.
Also, I told you we had maps -- I mean, we HAD maps.
Jersey Boys!
As mentioned we saw the musical Jersey Boys in London ... here is the actual "trailer" for the London production. Feel free to google more vidoes of the production ... but I wanted to use this one since it's the actors that we actually saw on stage. and yes, they're British and do VERY good Jersey accents.
It was truly a fantastic show ... and is still playing here in the States as well. I highly suggest you take advantage if it comes to a theatre near you!
Staring Contest anyone?!
These two guards were outside the Calvary stables and such near Buckingham Palace.
They were literally directly across from each other.
I would get SO BORED if this was my job. To stand there ... and just stare at each other. I suppose the tourists give them some bit of entertainment.
All in all ... as you can probably tell -- we had a GREAT week. We had GREAT weather, we did and saw a lot, we laughed - we got confused - we navigated trains, planes and subways.
I can not thank you Dad enough for such a wonderful, WONDERFUL, wonderful trip.
I just got word (literally this morning) that in August - I will be heading back to England with the Varsity Soccer team for their pre-season trip. Normally we travel to Wilmington (but never actually see the beach) and for the past 4 years I have somehow gotten stuck on that trip -- so my reward -- is to join them this year in England.
My co-workers asked if I would go and I said "I just got back from an amazing trip over there, so I don't want to take it from someone else if one of you wants to go." -- but they explained its my turn in the rotation, I've been stuck on the beach trip the past 4 years, and it was either go to England .. or try to decipher and manage Steph's system for paperwork.
Paperwork < England.
It's pretty basic math.
Who would have thought -- I've never stepped foot on European soil before and now I will do it twice in one summer. SO CRAZY.
It is my understanding we will sorta tour the all over the country ... more cities and places outside of London, including Manchester. Last time they toured the Everton, Liverpool and Chelsea soccer stadiums and even caught a Premiership game. Who knows ...by the end of the summer,
I might be more a Brit than an American!
well, lets get real -- they don't have Bojangles over there. I wouldn't survive long.
Now time to unpack, finally do some laundry and re-pack for the NATA convention in New Orleans this weekend ... and find out when the Heels are playing in Omaha so I can arrange my schedule around first pitch! xoxox
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