London - Costa del Sol, Spain - Morocco for a Day - Paris - London, again

When it was announced this season that the Tennessee Titans would be playing a game in London, we knew it was opportunity worth trying to make happen.  At first, it was verified that the Titans would play the LA Chargers one of two corresponding weekends, so we decided to build a trip to Europe around those weekends with London as the anchors.

Friday, October 19 - We got a great deal on a new direct flight from Nashville to London on British Airways.  And that was about the last good news we got from British Airways on this trip because they summarily cancelled our return direct flight and re-booked us on an OK, but not direct, flight with American Airlines.  To top that off, we also endured an excruciating 5-hour delay on our flight over tonight from 8 PM to 1 AM due to a collision of our plane coming from London with a baggage truck at Heathrow airport...how strange...

We made the most out of our delay by dropping our bags at the airport at the usual time and then going to dinner with our friends, Wendy and Charly, who were kind enough to be letting us park at their house near the airport for free and also taking us to the airport, and our pal,  Wayne, who was also going on the this flight with us.  We were able to snag a nice corner both at Nadine's Hermitage Haven for a tasty dinner and some needed drinks.  We've been wanting to try this place anyway, so at least that worked out for us.

Saturday, October 20 -  Our overnight flight was easy and peaceful and we slept a good deal thanks to the late hour and arrived in London in the late afternoon today.  Thanks to the delay, Ashlee and I had missed a movie/TV walking tour with our friends, Danny and Brenda, who took an earlier, uninterrupted, flight, and Wayne had a car booked to take him to Stonehenge for some sunset photography that didn't work out either.  Wayne's driver was there to meet us and offered a couple of shorter, closer alternatives and Wayne was nice enough to invite us along since our afternoon plans had been dashed also.

We chose to tour the nearby and beautiful Richmond Park just outside London.  We were paid off handsomely with a beautiful sunset, mild temps and this gigantic stag lying near  the roadside in the park.  A huge herd  of deer calls this largest of the Royal Parks home.

A sunset view from King Henry's Mound in Richmond Park looking southwest toward the Thames River Valley. 

Our patented "travel shadow" pic this time from Richmond Park.  We are standing beside a telescope that if you point through the small opening in the trees to the left of our shadows you can see St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown London that is 10 miles away.  We had a perfectly clear day to do this.  

Wayne's driver did a good job getting us to downtown London to our hotels despite a lot of traffic after a huge Brexit rally that was going on there earlier in the day.  Night fell as we entered downtown London and  as we passed through famous areas like Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.  

Wayne was staying in a different hotel than us, so we would hook back with him tomorrow for the Titans game.  We made it to our digs, the charming Charmberlain Hotel, which is situated above a pub (yeah, that was my idea).   It was such a great little place with a nice sized room, a super comfy bed, tasty breakfasts, and did I mention it was above a pub open til 2 AM?!?  The best part was that our room four floors up was very quiet and you then couldn't tell you were above a pub after you left it.

An artistic shot  of the view from our hotel window at The Chamberlain.  Not bad considering there was a bunch of construction going on below this that's been neatly cropped out.  

After a good dinner in "our pub" downstairs, we took a night-time walk along the Thames River from London Bridge down to the beautiful Tower Bridge (photo above) which was near our hotel.  The weather was cool, but clear.   Perfect for an evening stroll.

It's an interesting blend of old and new here in London.  Several new giant skyscrapers now dot the sky behind castle walls of the famous and historic Tower of London.  It's been nearly 10 years since we last visited London, and the changes and growth are very evident.  

Sunday, October 21 -  Game time!  Drink time!  We had a ball before, during and after the Tennessee Titans game at Wembley Stadium vs. the L.A. Chargers.   It was a festive SOLD OUT crowd with all teams from the NFL represented by fans from all over Europe in their prospective jerseys.  There were a decent amount of Titans and Chargers fans as well.  The NFL had a great set-up around the stadium for a full  game experience.

Our seats were up high, but really good in terms of seeing the whole field.  Wembley Stadium sets up very well for "American football."  The seats were wide and comfortable also.  We were the "visiting" team and a 7-point underdog, but we put up a helluva fight, storming back in the fourth quarter to pull within one point.  We could have kicked an extra point and went into overtime, but our new coach is a gambler and went for a gutsy two-point conversion that came up just short.  Many of the Brits we talked to after said it was one of the best games in London so far that they had seen.  You arrive to the stadium by subway and with a crowd of 90,000 leaving at the same time out of one station, it takes some time.  So we had an impromptu picnic in front of  the Butler's Fine Foods and Provisions store as we watched the thousands stream by.

Monday, October 22 - Everyone in our group headed different ways after the game with Wayne going to Paris with some friends, and Danny and Brenda headed to Scotland.  We had a noon flight from Gatwick Airport to Malaga on the southern Sun Coast (Costa de Sol) of Spain.   The weather cooperated again with beautiful blue skies, but the transportation did not...again.  Our Gatwick Express train from London was cancelled due to signal problems down the line.  Luckily, we were able to take another local train headed south toward Gatwick (with stops), that put us behind getting to the airport only to find out our flight on Easy Jet (the Southwest of Europe) was delayed due to a medical emergency on our plane coming in to Gatwick.  Some good shopping and adult beverages helped us kill some time.  When we did finally get to take-off, we were surrounded by children, so head phones and looking out the window at the beautiful scenery were very necessary! The photo above is just after take-off over the beautiful pastoral landscape of southern England.

Instead of staying in downtown Malaga, we stayed at the Double Tree by Hilton Resort and Spa Reserva del Higueron southeast of the city in a suburb called Benalmedina.  We got our room free thanks to Hilton points Ashlee had acquired.    The hotel was very nice and the roof-top pool overlooking the ocean was beautiful (and quiet! off-season).  This was our first time in the south of Spain and only our second time in the country with a visit to weird and wonderful, Barcelona, back in 2011.   We were really impressed by what we saw and experienced in this region.  I think we will be back.

Being so close to the ocean, we wanted some seafood for dinner, and being in Spain we wanted some sangria!  We UBERed even farther south down the coast to the nearby seaside town of Fuengirola and found a place right on the harbor called Veliero which was outstanding.  Their paella (photo above) was amazing with fresh clams, mussels, shrimp and prawns.  That second pitcher of their tasty fresh sangria was probably too much...

Tuesday, October 23 - We had absolutely nothing planned today!  We slept in, had a great complimentary breakfast at the hotel (with unlimited mimosas! what?!) and I had my first ever omelette with tuna in  it (delish!), and then we headed to the beach as the sun broke free of the clouds for us to enjoy the sand and surf.  Again, it was off-season, so we sort of had the beach to ourselves other than a few other stragglers.  

I was so relaxed I even had time to Tweet one of our favorite musical artists, Justin Rutledge, about his song lyric about the "sunny shores of Spain" and he was nice enough to like my Tweet and reply to it as well.  

The surf was a little too cold to swim in, but it was wade-able and still relaxing and beautiful.  This is looking north.  The lighthouse in the distance is actually part of a fancy house-building model.  I want a home with on the southern coast of Spain with its own lighthouse! 

We finished the afternoon back up at the roof-top pool for some more refreshments and relaxation.  This is a gin-based cocktail called an Infinity Kiss that  I ordered that was very tasty.

Ashlee and I both "kissed the infinity"...pool that is.  The water was not heated, and it was a little breath-taking at first, but after you got used to it and figured out you wouldn't die, it was great!!  

Another travel tradition for us is to do some local shopping and have a cheap dinner with a view.  This is our patio view overlooking several paddle-ball courts (the Spaniards love this smaller version of tennis) and the coast beyond.  We cracked open our Titans 20th Anniversary red wine that we brought from home that we didn't get to drink in victory in London unfortunately, but it was still pretty tasty in Spain.   I also had a Spanish canned beer.  Bread, cold cuts and cheese are always a safe standard.  And we bought some weird white cheese Cheetos that tasted more like corn puffs.  

Wednesday, October 24 - No more sleeping in!  It was an exciting day for us as we got up very  early to meet our guide, Roland, for a private tour across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco.  This would be our first time in Morocco and our first time setting foot on the continent of Africa!  We drove about an hour and half in the dark and arrived at the port of Tarifa, Spain, as the sun was coming up (photo above) to catch the high-speed ferry just seven miles across the straight.

Ok, that's a pretty cool IPhone location ping! 

We hit the jackpot with weather again today.  The port city of Tangiers, Morocco was bright and welcoming.  Our local guide Samir, was a joy to meet and very helpful and informative.  This view of the Medina "Old Town" is not done justice from this photo.  Simply breath-taking.   Welcome to Morocco and Africa!!  

Samir took this photo of us with the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meeting behind us.

I snapped this photo from the van and just love it.  I posted it on Instagram with the title "Everyone's on a Journey."

Yes, we "rocked" the Kasba or fortress.  Before it was an international city, Tangiers was an important point of defense from invaders well before the 5th Century B.C. and on throughout history.

As we got into the Medina "Old Town" the streets narrowed and increased, so we explored it on foot for a couple hours.

Streetsscape: Tangiers

Yes, they were in a parking lot.  Yes, Ashlee almost toppled head-first off of hers as it got up from it's sitting position.   Yes, it lasted about five minutes. But, we can now say we rode camels in Morocco, dammit!  

Samir giving some love to another Tangiers local.  Now I know why we liked this guy!  Cats were everywhere in Tangiers and seem to hold a place of respect and love.  You know we like that! 

Our lunch at La Terraza de la Medina was provided as part of the tour and it was amazing.  Not only was the food great and plentiful, but we had a spectacular view and a private terrace (first ones there..."Tangerines" as Samir called himself eat lunch late) to enjoy it from.  

From fort to port....from the ancient fortress you get a good view of the fairly new cruise ship port in the distance

Olives!  We got your olives!  Neither Ashlee or I are big olive fans, but the ones we had at lunch were delicious.  Not super salty like the American versions, just fresh and sweet .  A walk through the farmer's market (Socco) inside the Medina was beautiful and fascinating.  

This lady is an indigenous Berber and she is wrapping her goat cheese in palmetto leaves to maintain freshness.

The Grand Mosque, the largest in the Medina, built in the early 1800's.

Our tour gained us a peak inside the historic Hotel Continental, one of the oldest in Tangiers.  Some scenes from Casablanca were filmed here.

I love this picture of Ashlee and Samir chatting as they walk through more of the kasbah toward the end of our tour.  Once again, Samir was a great guide and an interesting person.  We are all different and, yet, we are all alike as well.  

Back across the Strait of Gibraltar and back in Roland's nice Audi sedan, we could see more of the beautiful Spanish coastline in the afternoon daylight at least as we zipped our way back to the hotel.  We saw a few clouded glimpses of the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance (definitely something to come back to see more closely) and went right by the beautiful Calaburras Lighthouse (photo above).  Roland told us visits to the tiny village of Mijas and the Beverly Hills-like town of Marbella which we were passing today were worth visiting if we had the chance, and we have to agree if we get another opportunity, we will definitely come back this way.

We were pretty tired from our long day and didn't have any plans for the evening once we got back to the hotel.  We figured we would lounge around the hotel room and pack for our flight to Paris tomorrow.   And we did just that, but we also took a fun little trip to the supermarket also.  And not just any supermarket, an Aldi supermarket, our favorite place to shop back home.  We just had to see what a Spanish Aldi was all about.  And it was impressive!  The store was huge and had a lot of neat things not available in our store back home, obviously.  I got a few Spanish beers and Ashlee got some presents including these silly freezer bags for our friends, Wendy and Charly, who love Aldi also.  The store was only a mile from our hotel, but it was straight up a mountain basically, so we cabbed up and walked back.  The walk back was amazing, and unfortunately, I couldn't capture it well enough on the weak IPhone camera, but the moon was full and glimmering off the sea in the distance and the temps were perfect for a stroll.  It was a beautiful and fun last night in Spain.

Thursday, October 25 - We took a short ride back to the Malaga airport for our flight to Paris today via Easy Jet Airlines again.

Our drive in from Charles de Gaulle Airport to downtown Paris took a while, but there was some great street scenes nonetheless.  Like London and Spain, we've been to Paris before way back in (pre-blog) 2007 and for only a brief overnight stay.  So we were excited to be back in the City of Light with more time to explore it.

We got a great deal for lodging at the Melia Vendome Boutique Hotel close to the Louvre.  It was a cool little hotel with a good breakfast (unlimited mimosas again!) and even a complimentary candy/sweets bar in the lobby  Our room view (photo above) was great, but we sure are glad the windows open wide for this shot because the A/C was off in the building and it was still rather muggy in Paris especially up here on our 4th floor.  

Our only scheduled event today was a food tour this evening over in the Montmartre section of town.  We tested the route  to the meeting point for the tour via subway from our hotel this afternoon and found it easily.  With time to kill, we strolled around a bit, had some drinks at a nice little cafe called Le Saint Jean and walked over and gawked at the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret club which is situated on Boulevard de Clichy, possibly the dirtiest street in Paris (and I don't mean dirty with garbage).  Peep shows, sex shops and every other blush-worthy thing you can imagine is on this street!  

The subway in Paris is easy to use and seemed to be running smoother than The Tube in London during our trip at least.  Our closest station to the hotel was Concorde which has been beautifully restored with lettered tile from the floor to the ceiling.

Paris is the fall is kinda lovely.

Our food tour started with dessert at the chocolate shoppe of the nationally awarded Maison Georges Larnicol where we got a couple small treats of our choice from the dozens of flavors available.  The Notre Dame made of chocolate pictured above was pretty amazing in its detail.

Macrons!!  These tasty sweet treats (sugar burgers as our friend, Danny, calls them) were our next stop at the shop of Christophe Roussel.  While sweets aren't usually my thing, these were my personal favorite of the tour.

Besides the beautiful food everywhere, there was beautiful scenery everywhere also.  The  Sacré-Cœur  Roman Catholic Church bathed in golden hour sunlight was something to behold indeed.

Say cheese!!  Lots and lots of cheese!  La Butte Fromagere cheese shop was incredible.  Note the "gray" cheese in the front right of the picture: the rinds are coated in ash to keep flies off during aging and it's all edible...and tasty! 

To say this place just had cold cuts is insulting.  These guys are top-notch butchers and geniuses with cured meats of all kinds.

You can't have meat and cheese without bread can you?  The cool thing about this tour was while we had some of the sweets during our walk, we actually went back to a private location (a basement wine cellar/turned dining room) to have our cheese, meat, bread, lots of wine and more sweets.  A pretty great way to spend an evening in Paris! 

You'd be a creep not to have a fresh crepe while in Paris...ours had Grand Mariner liqueur in it by the way.

Friday, October 26 -  We had a full day in Paris to explore today, so one way we decided to move around the city was with all-day passes on the Batobus boat service on the Seine River. 

When we got off the boat at the Eiffel Tower, the lines were way too long to wait in to go up in it.  Good thing we had done that on our first trip here.  So we just wondered around underneath it and took in the wonder

Insert lame tourist selfie here...

Our next stop down the Seine River was at Notre Dame.  What a magnificent wonder of architecture and beauty!  We strolled around it with some excellent mulled wine we bought on the street as the temps started to drop some as the day in beautiful Paris started slipping away.   We walked back to our hotel from here since it was faster than the boat service.  Just before we got to our hotel we had a late lunch/early dinner at a little cafe called Ferdi that was pretty good.

After resting up a bit, we strolled back across the giant Tuileries Garden and Park to the front of the Louvre Museum for a guided evening tour of this expansive, world-renown collection of art.

We've been extremely fortunate with weather this trip and today was no exception.  As we were waiting on our guide for the Louvre tour, a nasty little wind storm blew up on us out of nowhere.  Despite a little hair displacement, we were actually lucky to avoid most of the rain in the storm which seemed to stop about 100 yards from where we were standing.

Under the famous pyramid entrance inside the Louvre currently is this limited-time sculpture called "Throne" which celebrates the 160-year-old diplomatic relationship of France and Japan.  

We never knew the Louvre had its beginnings as a castle.  You actually walk through the moat of the ancient fortress on your way to the first of the art collections on display here.

Venus de Milo - CHECK! 

Mona Lisa - CHECK!

The massive scale of some of the overwhelming amount of art here is shown here with how small people look next to it.

Inside Napolean III's "apartments."  Dude had a lot of nerve calling this gigantic place "apartments."

Although not doing it any justice with this picture, it was cool to see the Eiffel Tower flickering in the distance from a window in the Louvre.   What a magical and special city this is! 

Saturday, October 27 - It was travel day again as we headed to the beautiful Gare de Nord train station to take the Eurostar train back to London via the Chunnel.  

The Eurostar was a super-smooth ride.  At one time were going over to 209 MPH!  Going under the English Channel which we had flown over just a few days ago was pretty surreal. 

We arrived at the equally lovely St. Pancras station back in London in time to grab some McDonald's for lunch (another travel tradition of ours is to have American fast food - usually McDonald's - toward the end of our trip).  

If I hadn't goofed and prepaid for our second  place to stay in London, we would have definitely been back at the charming Chamberlain, but instead we were staying at the nearby Tower Hotel.   And it was fine.  We had kind of a cool inner harbor view from our room which was spacious and comfortable, and the hotel was in a great location.  

We met back up with our friends, Danny and Brenda,  tonight fresh from their jaunt north to Scotland.  We all decided a while back while planning this trip that we wanted to see a show over on London's famous West End.  We decided on the  musical "Kinky Boots"  since none of us had seen it.  Little did we know it was going away so soon.    We had a great dinner beforehand at The Ivy Market Grill near the Adelphi Theater.  

Wow!  What a tremendous show!  No wonder  "Kinky Boots" has been running for years!  The music, the songs, the story and the cast were tremendous.  Our seats were up high but dead center and the Adelphi Theater while getting along in years had great sight-lines and acoustics.  The show was still sold out even after its long run here  We are all so glad we did this! 

Sunday, October 28 - Our original plan today was a day-long tour out to the White Cliffs of Dover, but the weather was just not cooperating to the south of London with lots of wind and rain in the forecast, so we decided to save Dover for another time with better weather, and just do some stuff in and around London where the weather was pretty good.    In fact, Ashlee and I decided to split up for the day as she decided she wanted to go to Windsor Castle to see Meghan Markel's wedding dress which just opened for display,  while I wanted to check out the WW II bunkers and war-rooms of Winston Churchill that you can now tour.   So, after some coffee and breakfast at a Starbucks with the Tower Bridge looming above us, we headed out in different directions with plans to meet for dinner tonight.   

After a successful day of sightseeing for both of us, we did meet back up tonight and had a great "American" dinner at  the Byron Proper Hamburgers location at Canary Wharf.  We went there for two reasons...first: because this burger chain shares the same cool name of one of our newest kittens, and that's just funny; and, secondly, and much more importantly:  they had fries and Ashlee WANTED fries and the first pub we met at did not have fries which flabbergasted Ashlee.   "What kind of pub doesn't have fries??"   So we went to the Byron as a goof and guess what...the food was outstanding!  And they had craft beer and wine too!  What's not to love?

Monday, October 29 - We had a smooth and easy flight back home today from London and even though our British Airways non-stop flight had gotten cancelled and we had to connect through Charlotte, everything went easy and fast thanks to American Airlines and our new Global Entry cards we got last month.