Days 142-143 - Dickens London with Great Expectations, Days 142-143

The Desk where Charles Dickens Penned Great Expectations

Saturday, November 1, 2014 - Arriving in London, Day 142

After a four-five hour drive from Sheffield, we arrived at our AirBnB in Northeastern London near the Manor House Tube line.  We are staying in a nice little flat with our host Ceren from Turkey and her boyfriend Alp.  The flat is an area with a large Turkish population, and on our first night we found a Turkish restaurant and ate adana kebabs and moussaka.  There is an 11 pound daily congestion fee for driving in London, parking is another story.  Our plan is to take public transportation.  Ceren has made arrangements with a neighbor to park our rental car for the week.  Why did we have a rental car?  It was cheaper for 10 days than 5!  They probably would have to pay exorbitant parking fees at the rental car lot, so it's better to have the car out than in...that of course is conjecture on my part, but considering daily parking even in private apartment lots runs 20 pounds a week, it makes sense to me.  

Sunday, November 2, 2014 - Great Expectations - Day 143

Today, we got a late start with not much intent to do anything except get the lay of the land and figure out the underground.  It's raining, so we are looking for as little outdoor walking as possible.

We walk about 10 minutes to the nearest tube station and purchase a five day pass that will allow us unlimited travel in Zones 1 and 2 by subway, and anywhere on the bus.  This, too,  is pricey.  With our senior discounts we each pay 35 pounds, about $50.00, or $10.00 a day.

With our plastic cards in hand, we swipe and enter the underground.

The transportation here is wonderful.  We wait only a few minutes for a train or bus.  The vehicles are everywhere...over 8,500 busses and 535 trains on any given day transporting passengers....mass transit! Can't even imagine the number of those British round-fender Taxis.

We find our way to Trafalgar Square where we find a nice coffee shop with WIFI, and make ticket arrangements for some plays, and catchup on email.  Later in the afternoon when the rain subsides, we check out the locations of the plays we will attend and then make our way to the Charles Dickens Museum

where we re-live the plays we've seen and the novels we have read from this author...Great Expectations, Oliver, Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, a Christmas Carole, Pickwick papers. The Museum is the home Dickens lived in while he penned many of these masterpieces.

Hopefully, the sun will come out tomorrow as we have Great Expectations to visit Greenwich and the Zero degree longitude, Prime Meridian, and play The Book of Mormon,

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's in Dickens London