Fly Home

When we got ready to take the hotel elevator down to the lobby area for a nice walk the Hotel Manager spotted us and said, “Hi Steiner’s”. Remembering our name, I could only think we were sailing with Crystal again. They would have said “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Steiner”. The manager was trying to describe today’s weather outlook and said it was not as intense as yesterday.  ​​

Some areas we visited in London:
 
City of Westminster, Talfalgar Square, London Theatre District, Piccadilly Circus, Albetopolis.
 

We enjoyed a nice walk. Anne Marie had spotted a globe the day before, so we found it. It is outside one of the many buildings of the London School of Economics and the description is very appropriate to today’s world. It says “LSE is a place where people with different perspective engage in respectful (we are underlying respectful) debate about major issues of the world. It represents the world as of 2019 and it has the world turned upside down with the southern hemisphere on top. 
 
We enjoyed a nice walk along the River Thames on the Victoria Embankment where we enjoyed beautiful views of the London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament. We stopped at Cleopatra’s Needle a gift from Egypt which we described the other day mentioning the sister monument is in Central Park, New York City.  We stopped at the Egyptian Sphinxes that flank Cleopatra’s Needle. They still bear unrepaired shrapnel holes and gouges from World War I German bombing that occurred on September 4, 1917. They have been left as a permanent historical reminder about the bombing.
 
When it was time to return from our walk, we revisited Whitehall Gardens enjoying its beauty and history including views of the surrounding area.
 

Keith took another walk by himself. We continue to be struck with the mix of modern buildings next to buildings dating back hundreds of years. 
 
Switching to the popularity of certain food establishments.  He passed a sandwich shop called Dal Fiorentino at around Noon and there were a handful of people inside. This location opened one year ago. On his way back at 12:45 PM. There was a line of around 75 people, others eating outside and the inside was packed. Evidently, this chain of sandwich shops has taken over London. It is wildly popular because it serves authentic Tuscan schiacciata (a thin crispy flatbread) Its viral status and rapid expansion across London are driven by it authentic Florence-style sandwiches and unique dining experience. The location I passed is their largest location and they also serve charcuterie boards in addition to their popular sandwiches. They have their set of influencers on various platforms including TikTok. Now you know.
 
Speaking of long lines as we made our way to the hotel on Tuesday we passed by a Krispy Kreme Donut Shop on Oxford Street with a line down the street. We couldn’t imagine why. First found that Krispy Kreme has been in London since 2003 so newness was ruled out. Did some additional searches and found out that this past Tuesday the massive crowds were due to the celebration of World Chocolate Day. Krispy Kreme partnered with Cadbury to launch an exclusive Double Chocolate Original Glazed doughnut made with Cadbury Dairy Milk. On top of this the first fifty people in line received a free goodie bag. So now you know.

Some photos from another walk.

Later today we will fly back home. It’s been a wonderful adventure. We will post final thoughts about our Crystal Serenity on-board experience and when we will be returning for more Crystal Cruises.

Stay tuned.
 
Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith