Petra!!

Christmas Day

25 December 2012

Petra

Petra is awesome!!!

I expected Petra to be one of the trip highlights, but I totally underestimated all it had to offer.  I had initially thought that the famous Treasury building was the only high point it had to offer, and while the Treasury is incredible and is the icon for the site, but to think that is all Petra offers is very wrong.  Petra is over 100 square miles in area, and only a fraction of it has been excavated.  (The actual percentage of excavated area is a topic of debate, but the highest end says 40%, while the lower estimates go into single digits.)  I did climb to the monastery building, a hefty 30 minutes hike up steep steps from the basin, and the view from that perch was breathtaking.  I’ll never climb Mt. Everest, but in some small way looking out over the lands from that high vantage point helped me understand why people do elect to summit Everest.

One thing about Petra that is a bit controversial is the use of horses and donkeys to transport visitors.  Whether you elect to take advantage of it or not, the price of the entry ticket includes a horse ride from the entrance to the start of the Siq, but our guide pleaded with us not to ride the animals as many of them are abused.  There are, additionally, horse drawn carriages which, in theory, are for the elderly and disable only, but in actuality can be had by anybody for enough dinars.  Also, donkeys are available to take one up the steep hike to the monastery or point of sacrifice, but beyond possible animal abuse that is a very dangerous route for the rider as well—seeing a few people clinging to their beasts, it is very obvious that falls would be common.

One thing about being in an Islamic country for Christmas that felt odd was being away from the Christmas spirit.  Last year in Egypt I had that sort of bittersweet feeling, happy to be on holiday but a little sorry that I was missing out on the spirit of the day.  In Petra, I had the same regret, but it was mitigated, if not obliterated, when our guide took us into one of the shops and introduced us firsthand to frankincense and myrrh.  All of us have heard of these fragrant products, but few of us have seen or smelt them.  To do so on Christmas Day itself, in the heart of one of the major trade junctions in the Middle East, was a true joy.

Christmas dinner was pleasant, nothing overly fancy (far short of the cruise ship dinner last year), but it pleasing nonetheless.  I did meet a few of my traveling companions in the bar afterwards, and I bought them a round at the end.  This was an excellent compromise in that I was able to give something which they appreciated, but it was not an overly expensive thing either.

Amman and Jerash

Christmas Eve 

24 December 2012

Amman and Jerash

The first day of our tour was spent in the local Amman area, starting off shortly after 8:00 AM at the Citadel.  It seemed like a repeat of last year in Cairo as I started my tour in a place of the same name in that city!  After that, we took a short tour of an ancient Roman theater on the outskirts of town.  Neither of these activities really meant much to me, but I wasn’t disappointed, as I did not really expect too much from Amman; I had come to Jordan to see Petra, so these were mere bonuses.

To my surprise, the afternoon trip to the ancient Greco-Roman city of Jerash was very interesting.  I had not heard of it before, so the size of the city as well as the relatively intact nature of much of it was impressive.  The contrast between Roman and Greco influence is becoming more clear to me as I travel and see them side-by-side, and the basic layout of the temples is the same here as in Egypt, with the outer layers open to the public and the inner layers becoming more restrictive, leading to the holy of the holies at the deepest part.

It is rather amusing to see all of the pictures of the monarch, King Abdullah II, everywhere.  There is no particular message associated with them, not even words, just various, random pictures of him in anything from a western business suit to an army uniform.  Unlike the UK, where the Queen is revered but without any real governmental powers, Abdullah actually does yield political power, appointing his own prime minister and cabinet.  I remember seeing him on the Jon Stewart show some time back, and candidly it was interesting to see a Jew and an Arab leader sharing the stage so gracefully.

Our tour guide is an interesting chap, Muslim, only 40 years old but looking much older.  One of his laments is that Jordanian tourism has not really caught on, with most people in very much the same mindset as I:  Jordan per se doesn’t really interest us, and it really was Petra, and Petra alone, that brought us here.  We came to see a single site, not a country.

To some extent I understand his lament, as there surely is more to see here than just Petra; the trip to Jerash proved that to me.  Having said that, if they do indeed want to make this a tourist destination, they need to meet the world halfway and make it seem like one!  Jordan doesn’t understand tourism, as they don’t even understand the idea of having snacks at the roadway stops.

One thing they did seem to learn from other countries such as Italy and Egypt is the notion of pay to pee.  This is a real pet peeve of mine, annoying at a minimum.  Candidly, I have gotten to the point that if I do not have change in my pocket I don’t care; although I generally try to live by local customs, I really challenge them to arrest me for failing to pay to pee.

Being back in this part of the world has started to remind me that while the US is one nation of many religions, the Middle East is a many nations of one religion.

In Amman

In Amman

23 December 2012

The flight from Seattle to Amman was relatively uneventful, with a four hour layover in Schiphol, probably my favorite airport in the world, and definitely one which I can never comprehend the size of.  From there it was a short journey on Royal Jordanian Airways to Amman, where I was greeted by a very gruff representative of some company, but I know not what since he did not introduce himself or his position.  He did hustle me through baggage claim and Customs, we met a driver (who was at least friendly enough to tell me his name!), and we were on our way to the hotel.

The drive from the airport to the Marriott took about 45 minutes, and it was eerie in how desolate and deserted the roads and buildings seemed.  Whether they were office buildings, homes or apartments I am not sure, but in any case they were deserted, lights off, and empty.  Adding to that odd feeling the two gentlemen who were escorting me barely said a word the whole time, and when they did it was something they mumbled to one another very discreetly.

Upon arrival at the Marriott things were much more cordial, with an agent meeting me in the lobby and explaining the itinerary for the next day as well as getting me checked in to the room.

There were a handful of Christmas decorations along the roadway, and the Marriott in particular was decked out with Santa decorations, tree, and Christmas tunes.

I had a mixed Arab Grill dinner which was excellent, consisting of a multitude of meats and a dipping sauce.  They actually gave me the dinner gratis since I had missed the tour reception earlier that evening., arriving after they had finished.

I woke up at 3:00 AM and could not get back to sleep, partly due to the time zone and partly due to the excitement of the trip in front of me.

I had somewhat forgotten the security measures in place in Cairo the year before, but Amman quickly reminded me, with cylindrical bomb barriers blocking the driveway and x-ray machines and metal detectors in lobby.  As in Cairo, they did not take the security measures too seriously, letting me pass even though I had set off the detector.

The next morning as the sun rose I looked out the window, and even in the area around the hotel it was eerily quiet, almost deserted.  It seemed striking that in some regards, such as security, Amman was very much like Cairo, but in other regards, such as crowds and noise, it was very different.

A Man Heading to Amman

22 December 2012

It's Saturday morning, and I am at SEATAC, waiting to board my flight to Amman!

This is the beginning of a two week, three country holiday for me:  An escorted tour of Jordan and Israel, followed by three nights on my own in Athens on the way back home.  I've not been to any of these three countries before, so by the time this trip is done I'll be able to tick them off the "been there" list.

The escorted tour is with Insight Vacations, a company I have used before and I have great respect for, even if it is a tad pricier than its competitors.  I start off in Amman with them, and I will be walking around Petra on Christmas Day!  A little later we'll cross the border into Israel, so I'll be seeing Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Holy Land during the Christmas Season.  The hotel in Athens is just 100 meters from the Acropolis, and I'll have three nights to explore all that Greece has to offer, while also having a chance to see their fiscal crisis first hand.

I've come to accept, without question, the notion that I don't fit any normal demographic.  My holidays are most often to places of chaos, places with riots or bombs or rockets, places where history was made in the past and continues to be made to this day.  The idea of wasting my holiday sitting under a palm tree while sucking on a Corona is abhorrent to everything I believe, a waste of the time we have on this planet.  Perhaps it comes from my young adulthood, a time when I was on planes flying reconnaissance missions against the (former) Soviet Union during the Cold War, while my peers were walking around Southern California shopping malls.  There is very little left in the US that I have not seen or want to see, while the rest of the world fascinates me and begs me to explore it, and  I can't even remember the last Christmas or New Years that I spent in the States.  If there is such a thing as reincarnation, without a doubt I was an explorer in earlier times.  Mohammed had it right:  "Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled."

On more mundane matters, my vacation started yesterday afternoon, shutting down Outlook and Communicator at 2:00 PM before catching a limo to the Seatac Doubletree Hotel.  I did an abbreviated pub crawl, first grabbing a taco and chalupa at the venerable Taco Bell before heading off to Sharp's Roaster and Ale House for a drink and some very lousy Sloppy Joe sliders.  After that, it was a couple of drinks at Dave's Diner, with an equally terrible pork chop dinner, but a friendly waitress who warranted a hefty tip.  A few drinks in the Doubletree bar, followed by a nightcap in my room, then it was off to bed.  Breakfast this morning was at Jack in the Box, the mecca of fast food joints.  It does seem rather ironic that the best food I have had on the first few hours has been at TB or JITB, but it is what it is!

So that brings me back to the present.  I'm in the very familiar Seatac S terminal, three hours from boarding.  Security was nearly empty when I brisked through it.  It will be a 10 hour flight to Schiphol with a four hour layover, then on to a Royal Jordanian flight into Amman.  I'll arrive about 7:30 PM and should, in theory, be met by a tour guide who will provide transportation to the hotel.  Christmas Eve day will be spent touring Amman, while as mentioned previously Christmas Day will be spent in Petra.

Heading Home

Monday 26 November 2012

Heathrow to Seattle

It’s 10:15 AM and I am in LHR, with what has been an uneventful Tube ride in (aside from a very helpful agent at Covent Garden who insisted on helping me with my ticket purchase).  Security was dreadful—I personally went through quickly, but my carry-on was not so fortunate and was chosen for scrutiny.  They had a stack of bags to check, and it seems that if you had anything in your satchel, it was pulled aside for screening.  I took the better part of 30 minutes!

The flight leaves at 1:00 PM so I do have some time to kill.  I am eyeing the Caviar House & Prunier, debating whether I want a decadent finish or not.

I should also note that the wake up call at The Strand Hotel did not come through.  I am developing a love/hate feeling for the place.  The price and location are fantastic, the renovation went well and the rooms are comfortable, but it’s just countless little annoyances that add up to make it somewhat irritation:  No wakeup call this morning, the flat panel TV would intermittently shutoff, the Mask Bar incident, the previous occupant's shampoo in the shower, the dirty pillowcase on my bed.  None of them are big deals, but they would be so easy to fix and make non-issues.  Then again, given how well the trip went, I feel foolish noting them.

I’m a little tired this morning, though my legs are nowhere near as achy as they had been; too bad, in that this morning I could walk quite a bit!

All in all, this was essentially a perfect trip,  having seen all I wanted to see and then a bit more.  The only disappointment was Temple Church, but aside from that all went as planned and scheduled.

For some reason, my Outlook (work) emails are not showing up, though that is a blessing in that I don’t see (literally) hundreds of them in my inbox!

Final update:  Yes, I did give in and had a snack at The Caviar House and Prunier!  A fitting finish to what has been an almost perfect trip.

St. Martin again The Rocks, and Brixton

Sunday 25 November 2012

Today is dry and not cold.

I started off by going to St. Martin In-The_fields for Communion, and as it turns out, they were filming a Tom Cruise movie (You Only Need to Kill), and I have some bootlegged photos.

I made a quick trip to Tate Britain, which was something of a disappointment, but at least I finally saw it.

Late breakfast at "The Rocks" was a real treat—Sweet older lady waitress and great coffee, plus, since they didn't have a liquor license, she let me bring in wine from the convenience store next door.

I headed off to Brixton to catch "Taboo," but not before stops in a public library and quite a few drinks in "The Prince Pub."

The afternoon was spent in the Brixton Clubhouse watching Taboo.  It made me think about possibly opening a small venue in Redmond and bringing in experimental theatre, but that probably is more difficult than I imagine.

Dinner was at Pizza Express, with a very thin crust pepperoni pizza with middle removed and salad there instead.

Waking back to the hotel, i dropped my final shot of change in the cup of a homeless woman.

Wakeup call is set for 7:30 AM (12 hours hence) for a 1:00 flight home.

Side notes to self without any public elaboration:  

I hate to think about how much weight I have put on—I can feel it!

Zyclara sores are still showing.

Sexy British women, especially the two dancers at Taboo!!

St. Martin in the Fields

Saturday 24 November 2012:

Technically all I have on the itinerary today is St. Martin in the Field, which I saw early in the day, before stumbling across another "favorite" pub named "The Chandos." 

This hybrid itinerary of a few things planned with free time on the side has worked well for me;  I'm not totally booked, but each day I have a few things to check off so there is not the “what do I do today” panic.

It was a little rainy today, but not windy or too cold.  Nothing like that chilly arrival on Wednesday!

The Strand was very quiet in the morning, but things picked up as the day went on.

I ended the day with some drinks at The Lyceum, followed by dinner at The White Hart.

Black Friday London Style

Black Friday London Style

23 November 2012

Success on all fronts to far!!

I awoke at 8:30 AM feeling relaxed, to the point I could have slept in longer, but I convinced myself to get up and head out so as not to miss anything.  First on my agenda was The British Museum, and I ventured towards the Covent Garden Station to buy my daily pass.  When I got there, a large group of tourists (of whom I am certainly not one!) was hogging the ticket machines, and after a few minutes I decided to foot it to the Museum instead.  That was a great choice, in that I arrived  at 9:45, nearly as quickly as the Tube trip would have taken, about 15 minutes before opening.  I rented a Multimedia Guide and spent my time focusing on Egypt, Greece (in preparation of my next trip), and a short stroll through Medieval Europe.  

Next on my agenda was The Temple Church of Dan Brown fame, so in order to avoid missing the limited tour hours (11-1 and 2-4), I left at 1:30, grabbing a quick Banger and Mash (plus two pints!) at The White Hart pub, another new favorite of mine.  I arrived at The Temple Church around 2:30 PM, finding it to be one of the most hidden landmarks of all time.  This led to my only minor disappointment so far.

When I researched this trip, I noted the very limited hours for Temple Church, and it set off something of a warning flag for me in that they apparently did not cater to outsiders visiting.  With that in mind, I checked the opening schedule again just last night, and it indicated it would be open today.  As it turns out, they were closed for renovation and would not allow me so much as a peak inside.

In any case, all turned out well, as I found The Somerset House on my way home, something I had not even planned to see.  So, at 3:00 PM I finally found myself with some free time, and I decided given the fatigue in my legs that I would make my Friday afternoon/evening a “local” one in the West End/Covent Garden area.

I had a quick sandwich, then headed off to the Strand for La Piazza, which I thought was my old favorite, but after looking at it later I realize I was mistaken, and my old favorite (previously “Little Italy”) is now named “Lulivo.“  After that, I paid a quick visit to the National Gallery then The National Portrait Gallery where there was an awesome (and free) concert (Monika Lidka and Adam Spiers).

On side notes, The Savoy Tup Pub was nice, albeit not anywhere near the Lyceum.  I also did my after midnight McDonalds run (Big Mac and  Onion Rings).

TDay 2012 in London

TDay In London

21 November 2012

Having spent today (Thanksgiving) in London, I have now spent virtually every major US Holiday in the UK:  Christmas, New Year’s the 4^th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, and now TDay!

Today was about as close to perfect as possible:  Unlike yesterday, which was windy, cold and rainy, today was dry and much warmer.  I got up at 6:00 AM and headed off to Southwark Cathedral, getting there an hour before Morning Prayer.  I kicked around and found two (2!) different breakfasts.  At 8:00 AM, I sat through Morning Prayer (which I really couldn't hear), but then I went to the Eucharist.  It was a small affair, only about nine of us, but very sincere and intimate.  After that, I headed off to St. Paul’s Cathedral, only to find that it was not open for site-seers today until 1:00 PM due to their honoring of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  With that, I went back to Southwark and attended the second Eucharist  which was completely different than the first in that well over 100 people were in attendance, and it was hosted by a Bishop.  Unlike the early morning one, the Bishop brought up a church political issue which just occurred:  The Anglicans allow women clergy, but based on a vote just this last Tuesday, they have reaffirmed a ban on allowing them to ascend to the level of Bishop.  It is causing quite a stir.

On a side note, one of the things that really struck me with the Southwark Cathedral was their cat!  Yes, when I was there at 7:00 AM in the morning, they had put out food and water for a tabby, and throughout the day I spotted him in the church itself, even to the point of sleeping in one of the ritzy padded chairs!  That’s what a church should stand for, IMHO.  St. Francis of Assisi would be proud.

I also managed to squeeze in Tate Modern today, and that came up a little short.  I have wanted to see this museum for years, and while I generally like modern art (i.e., bright colors and geometric shapes), I am pretty sure I missed the point behind much of the other art, such as the guy who had stacks of neon light bulbs, or the trailer trash motif.

After Tate Modern, I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and spent the day from about 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM there, first touring then listening to Evensong.  The tour was fantastic (albeit another expensive one, 15 pounds or $24).  I went to the very top of the cathedral (over 500 steps) and took some awesome pictures.  I also saw the original “Light of the World” painting as well as the “Mother and Son” modern art sculpture, which I really liked.  Evensong was beautiful, though not as emotionally touching as the two earlier Eucharists.

I’ll also point out that the Brits love the Americans, at least in terms of what they show in St. Paul’s.  All throughout, and even interspersed within the Jesus Chapel, are symbols---both subtle and bold—of their thanks and gratitude for the US, most notably in terms of WWII.

One thing I am definitely catching on to is that the “Small” venues definitely compete against the large ones, maybe not head-on-head but in different ways.  Yesterdays’ small venue St Martin’s Theatre is one example, the intimacy of Winchester Cathedral versus Westminster Abbey is another, and again today, the intimacy of the smaller Southwark Cathedral gave it some advantages over the much more revered St. Paul’s Cathedral.

I took the tube home, went by Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square briefly, then walked back to the Wellington Pub since every other such establishment was jammed full.  I don’t know why the Wellington isn't so solidly booked as they are every bit as good as the others, and the “large” fish and chips was actually “huge.”  In any case, I should not complain as I was very tired, achy and hungry by the time I got there, so the lack of a crowd was very welcome.

I decided to make this night relatively early, and I retired to the hotel bar about 8:30 so I could rest up for the upcoming Friday/Saturday combo in front of me!

Now for the Strand Hotel:  As I have said before, I love this hotel and will stay here again, but they always have something silly that would be easy to fix, which menas they fall short of what they easily could become.  Yesterday when I checked in, the maids had left a  half empty bottle of somebody else's shampoo in the shower.  Today, they left a dirty pillowcase on the middle of my bed!

BTW, the Chase chip card is working perfectly, and I can use it in paces (such as for tube tickets) which failed before with the mag strip only cards.

In London

In London!

20 November 2012

I arrived at the hotel just a few minutes after 2:00 PM as I had predicted.  (I would have been here at 2:00 PM exactly except for a missed approach into LHR requiring that we circle around.)

The Strand Palace is very nice, certainly not as elegant or opulent as The Savoy, but it's been recently renovated and is very comfortable, not to mention being in the best location imaginable.  They did give me an upgrade to a full King for a small fee, far nicer than the real single I would have had otherwise. 

I walked to Westminster Abbey, even though it was very wet, rainy and cold.  I found it after 15 minutes, entered at a cost of 16 pounds ($25), and I was surprised to see there was much more to it than I remembered from my trip many years ago.  Basically, it's a shrine to the famous "who's who" in British History (Kings, Queens, Isaac Newton, etc.).

From there, I headed off for and found Westminster Cathedral, which in spite of the similar name could not have been more different than the Abbey:  A very solemn, respectful church, with people visibly touched and even crying in quiet reverence.

I headed back towards home, stumbling across Victoria Station, a locale that brings back very vivid memories from my first trip.  Some thing had changed, some were unchanged from all those years ago:  The escalators now have electronic posters not the old paper ones, but buskers still abound.

The show "Mousetrap" was definitely worth seeing, especially given its history as the longest running show of all time.  I predicted “whodunit,” even if I was not entirely clear on the "why."  I won’t break the rule and discuss it,, but let’s simply say it helps in figuring out the culprit if you are an INFP or a psychologist, not an analytic.  A software dev would never stand a chance as they would be overindexing the whole time!!

I finally went to bed about 10:30 even though I had my second wind as I wanted to get up early on Thursday for Southwark Cathedral.

Halfway to London

Halfway to London

20 November 2012

It’s the Tuesday before the start of the Thanksgiving Holiday, and I am in Keflavik, Iceland, 8 hours into the trip and waiting for my two hour flight to London.  If all goes well, I should be landing in LHR at noon, then at the hotel (Strand Palace) about 2:00 PM.  Depending on how tired I am, I am hoping to see both Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral this afternoon, before going to the Agatha Christie play “Mousetrap” this evening.  Arrival from international flights is always a bit dicey:  Sometimes I am OK and have energy, sometimes I am tired and need to go straight to bed.  We’ll see how things are in about four hours.

I actually have learned to like Iceland Air.  They’re cheaply priced, the planes are new and clean (757 in this case), and the Keflavik airport is clean and modern, with the only limitation this time being that they are restricting those of us travelling to London to remain downstairs in the small area rather than going upstairs to the larger, more opulent arena.  In any case, I only have about 30 minutes to go before boarding.

I did manage to watch a couple of movies between Seattle and Iceland, the first being “Office Space.”  As the years have worn on, this has taken on new and special meaning.  The second was “Wag the Dog,” an interesting movie given that the 2012 Presidential election was just completed.

It’s 8:00 AM in the morning in Keflavik, and it is pitch dark outside, easily mistaken for midnight.

Back to London!

I had a surprise a few days ago when I checked my paystub and found out that I had two vacation days that I would forfeit if I did not use them by the end of the calendar year.  At first I thought I would just take a couple of long weekends, but the more I noodled on that the less I liked it, so instead I opted to add the days on to the Thanksgiving break, specifically taking off the Wednesday before and the Monday after, giving me six consecutive days out of the office.  For those who know me, spending three days at home is about all I can handle...four is a stretch, but when you get up to five or six, it's simply not something I can do without going crazy.  So, with that in mind, I looked at the globe to try to decide where to go.

I was hoping to find a country that (1) I had not seen before and (2) I actually wanted to go to and (3) would be doable in a six day period.  After much consternation, I couldn't find one that fit all three criteria.  For example, I considered going to Madrid or Barcelona, but if or when I go to Spain, I also want to do Portugal and Morocco at the same time, and doing all three (plus the flight from and to the US) failed criteria #3.  Finally, I decided that even though I had been there many times before, I needed to return to London.  Yes, I had been there less than a year ago, but it simply felt like the most exciting thing I wanted to do at this time, so I cast out criteria #1 and bought the ticket.  (BTW, I have a vacation to the Middle East planned for the Christmas break, but more on that in an ensuing post.)

I'll be staying at the Strand Palace Hotel this time, certainly not the same as the Savoy but much more affordable.  Unfortunately, my London Bond Girl will not be with me as she has some high flying financial matters she is working through for her company, but in any case I have high plans for the trip, namely filling in some of the missing holes, in other words doing some of the things I have not yet done in London.  

The High/Medium/Low list is below---

High (I've not seen these yet):

• Tate Modern
• Tate Britain
• Temple Church
• Southwark Cathedral
• Westminster Cathedral

Medium (Events which occur at specifc times so I may or may not be able to fit them in):

• Mousetrap at St. Martin's Theatre (7:30 PM Wed to Sat, + 4 PM Saturday, dark Sunday)
• Taboo at Brixton Clubhouse (7:30 PM Wed to Sat, plus 3:00 PM matinee on Sat and Sun)
• Evensong at either Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral (5:00 PM except Sunday)

Low (I have seen these and want to do so again):

• Westminster Abbey
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• British Museum
• Royal Albert Hall
• St. Martin-in-theField

Opportunistic

• Gordon Ramsay's
• Lamb and Flag Pub
• Caviar House & Prunier Seafood Bar (Harrods, Picadilly or LHR)
• National and Portrait Museum
• Workout at Virgin Active

Resources:

West End Shows:  

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_End_theatre#List_of_West_End_theatres

• http://www.theatreticketsdirect.co.uk/events/2012/11/25
• http://www.theatreticketsdirect.co.uk/

Though subject to change, one possible itinerary is:

Wednesday:

Arrive Hotel around 2:00 PM

Westminster Cathedral (Catholic)

Westminster Abbey (Anglican)

Evening prayer and song at 5:00 PM

N.B.:  This is the day the Abbey is open till 7:00 PM

Mousetrap 7:30 P at St. Martin's Theatre

(If you have extra time, do Tate Britain today rather than Sunday)

Thursday:

Southwark Cathedral (Anglican)--8:00 AM morning prayer and Eucharist

Tate Modern (10-6, or till 10P Friday and Saturday)

St. Paul's (Church of England)--Evensong at 5:00 PM (8:30-4, closed Sunday to siteseeing)

Friday:

Temple Church (Church of England) (11-1, 2-4)

British Museum (10-5:30, but on Friday till 8:30)

Evening--Party

Saturday:

St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Anglican)--9:00 AM Morning Prayer (9:30-6)

National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery (10-6)

Westminster Abbey--Evensong at 3:00 PM

Trafalgar Square

Leicester Square

Evening--Party

Sunday:

Tate Britain (10-6, or till 10P on Friday)

3:00  Taboo at Brixton Clubhouse

More details later as I am still in the planning stage.