London, episode 18. In which Mari learns some colorful Portuguese.

Words cannot describe how suspensefully and nervously excited I had been those five years between our first visit to London until our first day of Olympics action on August 5, 2012. I find it also difficult to describe how thrilled and relieved Mari and I both were to find one of our favorite cities so beautifully on display for the world.

I don't just mean the gorgeous city and its fanciful juxtaposition of centuries-old monuments and technologically glamorous industry. I'm referring to the beauty of the people of the United Kingdom and their wonderfully welcoming energy, their exuberant enthusiasm, and (especially for me) their outstanding organization.

What we all see neatly packaged on the small screen in our comfortable homes is the result of years of hard work and incredible organization that even a fastidiously amateur travel guru must admire with all his heart.

Thank you, gracias, e obrigado, London.

Pictured above is one of the daily travel cards both Mari and I received with our CoSport event ticket purchases. A full-zone travel card was issued with each event ticket to keep visitors moving smoothly throughout London as we made our way to sporting venues throughout the city. One less thing to worry about and an efficient way to speed things along. For hoarder-collectors like yours truly it also makes a colorful souvenir slash future-scrapbook-memento.  

Back to the very serious business of fleamarketing. Before using our final travel cards to head out to Wembley Stadium, Mari and I were busily browsing and chatting up the street vendors on Portobello Road. While Mari loves browsing vintage and unique jewelry (that's jewellery for our British friends), I am a big fan of what has been colorfully coined as Asiana by collectors. I blame my first snuff bottle for turning an eclectic mix of colorful, historic, and easy-to-pack collectibles into a favorite collection. I'll confess that the impetus behind our themed guest bath remodel nearly 10 years ago was to expand the display space for my eclectic collection that was still in its nascent stages.

Much of my collected Asiana is at home on glass shelves in a two by five foot lighted display that was magically recessed (by a very clever and handily-talented handyman) into the wall opposite the sink in which my ever-expanding (as I get older) morning rituals are performed to a disco beat.

Pictured are a few items I've temporarily plucked for a quick photo shoot. At top are two carved stamps made from very bright and opalescent stones. They are deeply and richly carved on the bottom with symbols which will appear when inked on a stamp pad (remember those?). The one on the left is a four-inch tall obelisk filled with columns of writing on the three sides not pictured.

On the right, is a three-inch tall oval stamp with similar writing meticulously (its meaning mysterious to me) illuminating both sides.

On the bottom is my Portobello pick for that Saturday, our first visit to the bustling market of antiques vendors on the street. While not a stamp like the others (picked on two separate occasions at New York's defunct Antiques Garage) the two-inch stone immediately caught my collector's gaze through its delicately carved cameo-like layers, seemingly glowing when I first picked it up from the young street vendor that morning. It now hums its gentle glow on the small glass shelf where it has been recollected with delicately carved siblings I have selectively gathered during our travels.

In other words, like my beloved Charlie Brown,

I got a rock.

The day is at hand, alas, for us to leave our London2012 journey in the well-storied past.

Before we move on, however, I wanted to share a final look back to that exciting and very busy Saturday.

Mari and I managed this selfie just as the soccer final was about to begin. Little did we know that our end zone seats would prove to be among the best vantage points for the action that day.

Those of you following me on FaceBook have the option of viewing two video compilations I put together from my two-hour-plus iMovie home movie.

The first is mostly our Saturday soccer game experience which includes a brief sampling of some of the more colorful commentary shouted by a trio of Brazilian fans seated a few rows above us. It appeared to be two brothers or best friends and a tween son who didn't seem to mind his father's and uncle's exuberance.

Although Portuguese is my mother tongue, I was hard-pressed to translate for Mari some of the more colorful expressions, particularly through my constant bouts with uncontrollable giggles whenever the Brazilian boys' unrestrained passion erupted behind us.

It certainly didn't help that Mexico scored its first goal before even the first minute of the game had elapsed.

I was just about to stow my video camera when a mad scramble downfield caught everyone's barely-focused attention and I managed to record that crazy and decisive moment.

Unfortunately, the formidable and (perhaps) overly aggressive Brazilian Olympic team never recovered from that opening goal by Mexico. My own delicate nature has barely since recovered from the relentless barrage of vehemently shouted scorn from a few rows back!

Despite leaving the enjoyably memorable game before the medal ceremony, Mari and I did experience one final ceremony that evening at Earls Court where Brazil would defeat Team USA in women's volleyball.

The second video compilation you will find on my FaceBook post (October 22, 2017 blog link) is a brief recording Mari and I made while we watched the preparations for the volleyball medal ceremony. We reflect on our overall experience while giving you a view of just how much effort is involved in putting together such an event.

The behind-the-scenes experiences we had at the London Olympics were new glimpses for us into otherwise familiar spectator spectacles. As I've attempted to convey, dear reader, since I began this Olympics journey with you, experiencing the Games in person had been a dream of mine since childhood. A combination of pride, nationalism, sentiment (always sentiment), and a festering travel bug made this trip-of-a-lifetime a reality.

I am ever thankful for every divinely amazing circumstance that supports my festering travel bug and for the wondrously supportive Mari who always manages to locate our smiles in every selfie (even without a stupid selfie stick).

We return to London for a quick layover next time.

For those of you not members of the FaceBook community,

you may find my video compilations on YouTube.

youtu.be/ZgN5TufQRCc

youtu.be/nmxOvCazeRw

London, episode 17. In which I'm just a boy, standing in front of a book shop.

It occurred to me while looking back through my travel photos and scrapbooks (and envelopes stuffed with scrapbooks-yet-to-be) that I haven't shared much about UK fleamarkets in this here fleamarketing travel blog. Sorry about that, but our first two London visits were full of wide-eyed sightseeing as you might expect and just a little souvenir shopping.

After that first Spring Break trip in 2007, when our appetite was whetted for a return visit, I made it a point to inscribe "Portobello Road" on our future London itinerary. Like Paris' Les Puces de Saint Ouen, London's Portobello Road Antiques Market is legendary and after our first visit during London2012, we found it to be legendarily overwhelming.

We managed a visit (finally!) to London's famed Portobello Road in Notting Hill on our last day at London2012. It was Saturday, the final full day of action, with the (impossible-to-secure-tickets) Closing Ceremony the following evening. Mari and I had a full agenda including back-to-too-close-back afternoon and evening events.

At top, I am posing my best Hugh Grant (sans floppy hair) on our most recent outing. I don't think I need to explain how much Mari and I enjoy Grant's and Julia Roberts' little movie. Whenever we begin to grow nostalgic over our favorite city or suddenly crave a quick glimpse of some favorite London locales, in goes the DVD of that oft-watched 1999 rom-com gem to assuage our longings.

Next, I am sporting my favorite shirt (yet again) on the morning of August 11, 2012. We were just getting started on our inaugural browse down Portobello Road along with a few (hundred) out-of-towners when we decided to commemorate the occasion with a selfie.

On that first visit Mari and I spent most of our time simply trying to navigate the thronged thoroughfare which was barely passable. Saturdays are the busiest days on Portobello Road, with all shops, stalls, and street vendors open for business.

There also happened to be a few (hundred thousand) extra visitors in town on that particular Saturday.

We spent most of our limited time with the street vendors, but Mari did make her way into an overwhelmingly overflowing jewelry shop glistening with a bounty of baubles and a trove of trinkets. As you round that first corner onto the start of Portobello from Pembridge Road, you will find Mari's favorite shop glistening its finest enticements through full-length glass display windows.

Several additions to Mari's Leah Stein pin collection have found their way from this corner shop to a lovingly curated collection on daily display in our home.

These two photographed pins are Portobello picks.

Ever the cat lover, Mari adopted the feline pin immediately during our Olympics Saturday visit. Intensified through the celluloid from which the pin is sculpted, its rich black color emerges as sharp and as intense as those eyes that remind me so much of the first pet Mari and I shared, our beautifully silky black tabby who lived with us nearly 12 years. I don't need to see this pin to remind myself of the loving memories I have of Pelona, but I do love gazing at it.

The cicada pin may not stimulate similar sentiment, but Stein's elegant interpretation of the familiar insect is equally luminous in its simply textured architecture.

We'll come back to Portobello again next time when I share a few picks of my own (and maybe another collection to add to the growing list), but let's get back to the main events of that Saturday.

When you purchase tickets up to 16 months in advance of an Olympics event, you don't know who you will be there to support. Although there are always favorites in any sport, the competitors are not decided until after the Olympic Games are underway, of course, so there really is no way of knowing if your favorite athlete, team, or country will be represented at your ticketed event.

Among my favorite souvenirs of any of our trips are the colorful tickets (still awaiting scrapbooking) pictured at left. I am forever grateful that they were never torn, punched, or otherwise marked by ticket takers at the venues.



These were the final two event tickets for our London2012 trip. I think the colors, artwork, and graphics are a standout collaboration and the tickets themselves, of course, have far greater sentimental value than the marked prices. I wanted you especially to notice the start times at the top of each ticket and how these times are only three and a half hours apart. Notice now the locations under each sport: North-west London and West London.

What the heck was I thinking?!

Despite leaving the men's football (soccer) final before the medal ceremony, Mari and I only made it to our seats at Earls Court after the US women had built up a considerable lead in the first game of what would eventually become a four-game loss against the formidable come-from-behind Brazil team. While I have no strategic advice for the disappointed US volleyball team, I can offer any future Olympic Games tourists some simple planning advice: don't overplan. Don't overschedule and definitely do schedule events far enough apart so that you have plenty of time to comfortably travel between venues. A careful study of the detailed events schedule on the CoSport website and a realistic look at a local map are an essential part of your planning strategy.

Our two Category B tickets (Category A being the most exclu$ive of the four available categories) were for Saturday afternoon's highly-anticipated men's football final, which had been fashioning itself from very early on into an unforgettable battle between heavily-favored Brazil and the very aggressive Mexican underdog. With both Mexican and Brazilian roots between the two of us, Mari and I were brimming with anticipation as we tubed towards Wembley Stadium after a quick fish and chips lunch following our massively mobbed morning of fleamarketing.

Before I forget, The Fish House in Notting Hill is most definitely worth a visit for shopping sustenance and to enjoy an excellent interpretation of a touristy local favorite.

fishhouse-nottinghill.com

I'll wrap up our London2012 experience next time as I share the excitement (but not so much the colorful Portuguese commentary) of the men's football final at Wembley.

London, episode 16. In which we get Down(ton).

I will be the first to admit that Mari should probably have called the authorities at several points during my London2012 planning. Among the many institutionalizable (?!) causes was the fact that I had scheduled way too many activities. I admit it. I was overzealous and after the initial disappointment of only receiving tickets to a few events I jumped at every opportunity and available ticket that came up after our original CoSport allotment.

Thirteen events in six days was thrilling but exhausting.

I won't ever do that again.

Probably.

A Tokyo2020 expedition is in the early planning stages, so I'll never say never.

Unlike our first London visit back in 2007, our London2012 experience was not a sightseeing adventure, but I did manage to squeeze a sightseeing day into the middle of our week. I knew we would want a bit of a break in the Olympic action and we had one site that we particularly wanted to see.

At left we are posing our familiar we-own-the-place pose in front of Highclere Castle, home to the Earl of Carnarvon, but more familiar to those of us Downton Abbey fans as the home of the Earl of Grantham and his deliciously mischievous yet lovable lot.

While my favorite Dowager Countess (aka Maggie Smith) was not on the premises to share a cuppa (or thinly-veiled insult), Mari and I were thrilled to thoroughly immerse ourselves in the private world of a favorite fiction. Much of the "upstairs" part of the 300-year-old Jacobean Revival estate is open to the public during July and August while the Earl and his family are away, so I indelibly inked a visit onto our own summer schedule.

After doing a bit of research online, we decided to embark on our own and make a day of it much like we had five years earlier with our public-transport outing to Stonehenge. Although the train station in Newbury is just five miles from Highclere, there are no taxi services available at the estate. We arranged with our helpful cab driver to meet us back at the castle in the afternoon for a return trip to the station. You will need to make similar arrangements if you plan your own visit without a tour group.

Visit the well-curated site for loads of visitor information,
a calendar of special events, and for every detail of the estate's fascinating history,

including a personal and beautifully-documented blog by Lady Carnarvon herself.

highclerecastle.co.uk

During our beautiful and restfully restorative day at the estate, Mari and I were free to wander the lush grounds and gardens (including the "secret garden") aimlessly and we did our best to be as aimless as possible. Rounding the end of one of the gardens towards the back of the property where we could see sheep grazing on the grounds of the adjacent estate, we both looked up the hill and back towards the castle and let out simultaneous gasps as we encountered the ethereally expansive sea of Queen Anne's lace surrounding us above. Having never seen this "backyard" view via PBS Sunday nights, we were overwhelmingly awed by the natural beauty surrounding what was already arguably the most beautiful "home" we had ever visited.

Following the 60-mile return train ride back to London's Paddington Station, Mari and I set out for another of our favorite travel activities, a night at the theater.

On our initial London visit, we were privileged to have seen the original cast of Spamalot at the West End's Palace Theatre and we were rewarded again on this return visit with a performance of One Man, Two Guvnors which was absolutely brilliant even without James Corden who had recently left the original cast to earn his Tony in the Broadway production.


Mari and I took another touristic break from the action on Friday morning, the day following our extraordinary evening at Olympic Stadium. We had a bit of a gap in our event schedule so I managed to squeeze in a Buckingham Palace tour. Although we had previously witnessed (and not witnessed, if you recall) the changing of the guard ceremony, Mari and I were excited to discover that guided tours inside the palace were available during August and September when Queen Elizabeth II was visiting other royal estates.

It was a moment-making experience walking through the majestic public rooms of the royal residence, most of which were filled with historic works of art and exquisite furniture.

It is what you don't see but can only imagine that makes the tour an unforgettable experience. A history full of visitors, guests, and family long ago departed but not forgotten fills the spacious rooms as you meander through carefully placed furniture to admire original artwork once admired by famous (and infamous) visitors past.

Our nostalgic tour ended at the rear of the palace (pictured above right) where we were then invited to walk through the beautifully lush gardens. Along the way out into non-royal society there was, of course, an extensive gift shop. Time for another confession, and I think you already know what's coming...

I'm just a big sucker for a gift shop.

Big.
Sucker.

Always have been, even as an elementary school student on field trips. Back then if it wasn't another post card it was a key chain. Today, of course, it's anything that supports one of my (too) many collections.

The good people at The Garden Shop knew I was coming that day because I definitely contributed my fair share to the Royal Collection Trust which is responsible for the upkeep of royal sites throughout the United Kingdom.

While not exactly fleamarketed treasures, souvenir reproductions of official royal china (in non-fragile, easily-packable, and affordable ceramic-coated tin) found four welcome spots in the limited space still available within my carry-on and now form a colorful backdrop in a display cabinet in our home.

At left is the very detailed and informative stamp from the back of the pink plate (bottom right) pictured above. Although I did not enjoy the pleasure of Victoria and Albert's company at the 1851 royal banquet, that must have been quite a ticket! Imagine Charlotte Bronte, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, and Alfred Tennyson making small talk while pushing sticky toffee pudding around on this larger than life dessert plate!

Be sure to visit the website for information about tour availability

on specific dates and to browse the online gift shop.

royalcollection.org.uk/visit/the-state-rooms-buckingham-palace

Instead of concluding this week with a casual quip inviting your return, I would like to extend a most meditative invitation to my loyal readers and any casual followers of my musings.  

I am thankful as ever to travelers the world over, particularly those in Las Vegas this past week who demonstrated that compassion for fellow travelers will always prove its courageous strength against aimless adversity. May we learn, however, to always demonstrate respect for one another and be instruments of peace every day, not just in adverse times.

London, episode 15. In which I attempt to pay the Bard.

Our Scottish adventure also included a much-needed visit to a local laundrette to refresh that favorite shirt of mine (among other necessities), so it was back in wardrobe (and photographic) rotation during our visit to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Mari and I have come up with a pretty basic formula for what to pack for one of our two or three week adventures; for me, it basically involves dividing the number of full days on the road by four and wearing that number of shirts twice before doing laundry halfway through the trip.

Travel Algebra anyone?

During our 20-day Olympics adventure that meant doing laundry on the 11th day after I had worn my 5 favorite shirts twice in successive rotation.

I won't get into any more (TMI) detail, but fresh undergarments are a daily must.

You be your own judge (and jury), of course, but I would much rather spend one morning or evening of a three-week trip at a local laundromat soaking up some local color than devote precious daily itinerary time to washing clothes in the compact confines of hotel bathrooms.

Back to the slightly more interesting story behind the Palace photo... Mari is a big fan of British royal history and (like her adventuresome husband) all things British, so we were thrilled to find ourselves a mere hop off of our hop-on-hop-off Edinburgh bus tour from the historic royal estate.

Home to British monarchy since its origins in the 12th century, Holyroodhouse was once home to a favorite of Mari's, Mary Queen of Scots. We could not pass up an opportunity for a visit which included an extensive tour inside several buildings including the ill-fated queen's personal apartments.

During a visit to Mount Vernon, just outside Washington, DC, I once experienced what could best be described as "a moment" when faced with George Washington's comfortably worn desk chair, still in position and on display in his study. More of a moment than even visiting his well-tended and stately tomb on the sprawling grounds just outside. This was personal. Walking through Queen Mary's chambers was much the same. So very personal and so relatable. History comes alive given this type of opportunity and I highly recommend a visit to the palace (and Mount Vernon, of course) should you find yourself in either vicinity.

The well-kept site has terrific planning information and photographs.

royalcollection.org.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse

Following our three days in Scotland, Mari and I enjoyed a lengthy (about 330 miles and seven hours) and very lushly scenic train ride through England to our final pre-Olympics stop, Stratford-upon-Avon.

I was a bit sad to have less than a full day (but a wondrously poetic night) to devote to such a significantly historic and scenic site, but we made the most of our limited time upon Avon with several scenic walks (main street pictured at right) and an exciting evening performance of a favorite play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, right on the River Avon.

A Bollywood reinterpretation of Much Ado About Nothing was just what I needed to remind me how powerful and universal Shakespeare's themes and clever dialogue still were hundreds of years after first wittily written.

It was indeed rewarding beyond compare to enjoy a performance so close to Shakespeare's ancestral home.

The next day was Sunday, our first full day at the Olympics.

Another train journey (about 90 miles) would finally deposit me and my beloved (don't forget our giant luggage with freshly-laundered favorites!) in London, leaving in our wake so much anticipation, so much excitement, and so many colorfully emotional memories that even my most revered Bard would hearken in trepidation to face the dauntless task of enveloping them in the subtle rhythms of his beloved iambic pentameter.

Whew!

When Mari and I first crossed the cavernous threshold of the ExCeL Centre that Sunday evening for the first of thirteen zealously and meticulously scheduled events, we were more than ready to shake the weeks' travel dust from our sensible trainers and settle into the final week of our Olympic-sized journey.

A midweek mini-break at our favorite country estate next time.