Easter Saturday and we know we are in London. Despite paying an exorbitant tariff for our hotel room, there was no hot water this morning! Even as I write they are trying to organize something; probably another room in which to shower. We shall see. Ah yes, about an hour after telling the front desk about the problem we had a maintenance man come to the room who confirmed that "yes, we weren't getting hot water." About an hour later we were informed that it was the boiler. Ah tourists to the UK must be a hardy breed willing to have cold showers; they told us there were not other complaints. Arnold of Rugby would have been proud!
Our room is typical of London hotels; very small and with some excellent amenities but as usual lacking some of the more basic ones. There is a tiny wardrobe which literally allows one to have only three or four hangers but there is the biggest and most modern television you have ever seen. Somehow the idea that as a tourist to London you are going to sit in your pokey little room and watch the TV suggests that England has now become the virtual reality escapist capital of the universe.
It is bitterly cold here and they are saying we might get some snow. Even if we don't, the temperature is unlikely to get above 5C and with the wind chill factor taken into account it will, according to the Met, feel like -2 degrees. You can understand why we would like a nice hot shower before we head out! Still, the good news is that we can have a shower in another room which has, allegedly, warmer water. I'd already shaved and for any guys reading this you will probably recall what it is like to have a cold-water shave. We were just told that there was a room with slightly warmer water. Virginia went up to shower and reports that it is no better so it looks like it is cold or at least cool showers today. And what would you like to bet that the hotel management won't even offer us a partial refund? Dream on...
So I sent Virginia down hoping that the arts of female persuasion might work. By golly-gosh, it did. According to her report they said "Sorry, madam, but these things do happen." To which she said, "so do refunds when an implied contract is broken." To which they replied, "How about free breakfasts for the week." "Done" said she, adding, "But only if your promise of having it fixed by this evening holds." We went out for the day and found, on our return, the hot water system was working.
While we were out we went to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall. In the past I have been very critical of museums in London. Well, I eat my words. This is a great exhibition space with everything well presented and for anyone with an interest in either World War II or Churchill, it is a must-see. Getting there was a bit of a challenge. Of course, it being a British Bank Holiday some of the Underground lines were closed down. What would normally be and on-off trip on the Tube turned out to be a let's-see-how-many-stations- we-can-see-in-one-trip experience.
when we got back to the hotel, Virginia's day was made when she found a number of messages from her friend of over fifty years, Julie Christie (film actor).
Hope you all have a great visit from the Easter or Passover bunny - take your choice.
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