London – days 23–26

The final few days of our holiday were spent in London, UK taking in Erika’s final recital at Guildhall and helping her get moved out of her flat. We flew from Pisa to Gatwick airport where we were able to store our bicycle and equipment bag for 8£/bag/day, found our train into Victoria station, and then found the Dockside Hotel, our last booking.com reservation. Tara’s father Morley and his partner Sharon were already there, also at the end of their European holiday, so we met them and Erika for a London pub meal that evening.
The following day Morley and Sharon flew home to Vancouver and we explored London a bit. We visited the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House which is an outstanding collection of art and not so big to be overwhelming. It was once a private collection and had been donated. Our favorite was the collection of impressionist and late impressionist paintings, especially Manet’s barmaid. There happened to be some school groups visiting at the time so we were able to eavesdrop on some of the discussions about this and other works.
Later that day we wandered around the Southbank area and then over to Hyde Park to see the Princess Diana Memorial and enjoy a cup of tea on the shore of the Serpentine Lake. Again we found a pub meal of traditional British fare before meeting Erika at the Phoenix Theatre for a performance of “Once”, a musical theatre production she had chosen.
The next day was Erika’s recital so we made our way to the Guildhall
music hall and (anxiously) listened to her 50 min. performance of Debussy, Busoni, and Chopin. It went very well, even she was pleased, and we were able to meet some of her peers, instructors and benefactors.
We helped her pack up the remainder of her things, move some to a friend’s flat and then met George’s cousin Poul for a visit and an Indian meal. His flat is located close to the hotel so that was convenient.
The next day we were up early for our morning flight home to Calgary. All went smoothly except for Erika’s bag being overweight, to be expected when you are moving over the Atlantic.
Now we are home again to work some more to save money for our next European cycling adventure, although we are hoping for a little less adventure next year and have developed some new strategies to keep our valuables and documents safe.