Our England Christmas: Running of the John Bull Line, Days 11 and 12

You may have noticed that I skipped day number 10 (probably not, though, because you aren't so methodical). This is not because I have a secret day that I am not going to tell you about; instead, it's because I messed up my numbering (pointed out by Aaron, Mr. Methodical himself) and am now correcting it. I counted 2 days of travel as day 1. So, Christmas Eve should be day 11 and today, day 12.

Now that that VERY important detail is out of the way (major sarcasm alert), let me tell you about our Christmas.

As I said earlier, we got a much nicer hotel than usual for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day, so that when all was closed and there wasn't much to do, we could be in a spacious room in a hotel with room service and amenities that we are used to (Every Motel 6 in America has a bathtub and in-room temperature control, but not here!) Our room is very nice, and the hotel overlooks the Thames and Tower Bridge.

After we checked in on Christmas Eve, we ate amazing Thai food (all the Asian food here is amazing so far), and we went to Harrod's (big mistake, but we were looking for something specific). It was slammed full of people and slammed full of expensive stuff we were afraid we were going to break. There were Christmas crackers that cost 400 pounds with silk handkerchiefs and jewelry inside. We got out of there as soon as possible with very little trauma (except for Aaron, who can't even stand to go to the Marietta grocery store). Mama, we were very right to avoid it.

After that miserable interlude, we went to do fun stuff. We saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie at Leicester Square, and it was great fun. I thought it was better than the last one without all the crazy coming back from the dead stuff. Aaron thought it was too silly to be better, but we both still loved the relationship between Holmes and Watson. After the movie, we went back to our favorite London neighborhood, the one near Earl's Court, where we stayed for a few days before Bristol and Bath. We ate at our favorite Indian restaurant (more chicken balti!), bought some champagne, and tried unsuccessfully to find Christmas crackers that cost 4 pounds instead of 400. After we got back to the hotel, I took a bath (A BATH!), which I have missed so much. Showers can only make you feel so happy; the biggest amount of happy requires a nice, immersion bath.

We exchanged presents, too, all of which came from Blackwell's Bookstore in Oxford. Aaron got me a lovely illustrated version of Cooleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," which he would have to have been blind and deaf to not get me, as I oohed over how beautiful it was for 10 minutes. (It was after this that I suggested we get each other book Christmas gifts to exchange.) He also got me 2 surprise books--From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages by Michael Adams and The Time-traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer. I love my books, but we realized after packing them up that it might have been best to get something lighter for Christmas. I got Aaron The Gun: The Story of the AK-47 by C.J.Chivers, If Rome Hadn't Fallen: What Might Have Happened If the Western Empire Had Survived by Timothy Venning, and Alexander the Great Failure by John D. Grainger. Aaron likes What-If books and guns and has found that he has "huge gaping holes" in his knowledge of the Roman Empire, so I think my gifts were a win.


Today, Christmas Day, we slept in until noon and ate a ridiculously over-priced lunch in the hotel restaurant. For Aaron, the price was not as bad as for me, since he got to take home 2 noise makers and a mask. Apparently, Brits celebrate Christmas with the trappings we use for New Year's Eve. The person who gave Aaron his stupid whistle and horn should be tortured for all the hours I have been tortured; he takes every opportunity to blow those awful things. Too bad I can't just send him off to David's house with them, like I do when Livy has some super loud and annoying toy.


I used went down to the fitness center of the hotel and relaxed in the steam-room, sauna, aromatherapy room (that's a warm room that smells yum), and swam some lazy laps in the pool; Aaron actually did a real workout. Later, I went to the spa for my foot and leg massage, which included buffing my feet, exfoliating my feel and legs, and tons of wonderful massage. Aaron was considering doing one too--his feet have been hurting from all the walking--but I don't think he would have enjoyed being buffed and exfoliated. Maybe I should just rub his feet for him. :)


For dinner tonight, we had more Indian food. We may start to smell like curry, but that's okay because if both of us reek, we won't notice it on the other one. As we ate (chicken balti!), we watched a bit of the second Bourne movie on TV. Now we are hitting the sack. We had a very happy Christmas, and we hope all our friends and family did too!

P.S. Lest you think we never try any new Indian dishes, I wanted to tell you that we always get an order of chicken balti and something else. I just mention the chicken balti so often because compared to it, all other curries are red-headed stepchildren, squibs, and B movies.