Today, the focus is on getting the wife to the Chiropractor I found, so we slept late, had another nice egg, toast, and coffee breakfast and ambled out of the flat by 9:30am for our 10:30am appointment.
The Tube was a snap, as usual, and we popped up to the street right on Praed Street. A short walk down the street and we found Norfolk Street with no problem. We were quite early, so we backtracked just a little and stopped at a coffee shop, Bonne Bouche, for a couple of coffees and a bagel at a table on the sidewalk.
It's nice to not be rushed.
It was kinda cool seeing St. Mary's Hospital just down the street from Dr. Vice's clinic. My wife quickly remembered that this is where Kate Middleton had given birth to baby boy George just a couple of months ago.
Supposedly, heroin and penicillin were discovered AT this hospital.
It was still early, but we went on inside the London Spine and Joint Clinic. We checked in with the lovely receptionist (I swear, I have never seen so many beautiful women in one area in my life), filled in a short form, and in short order, Dr. Ashton R. Vice, a South African, appeared and called her back. He said I could come along too, so I did.
The doctor took a personal history of my wife (that took awhile!!), and then had her get up on the adjusting table. He first used a rather large massage unit on her back which she just loved.
All the while he was working on her, we had quite the fascinating conversation. This guy is a world traveller, working with heads of state in Dubai, the UK, Turkey, just all over the planet. Oftentimes they send a personal jet for him. The fact he was able to see us was rather amazing.
He performed many procedures on her, some of which made her cry out in pain, but the relief that she was already experiencing outweighed any pain.
He pushed his elbow into one of her buttocks, he grabbed her neck and manipulated several nerve points, twisting, snapping, squeezing and finally placed four large cups on her back that sent gentle pulses into her muscles. She was in heaven.
I cannot overstate how much relief she got from this doctor. After so many rather unsatisfying chiro visits back in the states, she was rather upset thinking about the chiros she had seen in the states, none of which had given her this much relief in a short period of time.
Dr. Vice didn't hold back his disdain for many of the non-scientific chiropractors that infest the United States. If he cannot see it or feel it, it does not exist to him, which is actually just fine by us. He said that if he adopted some of the practices of American chiropractors, he would simply be laughed out of his profession in Britain.
She liked this doctor so much, we made a second appointment to see him on Tuesday, 17 Sept. It might have been sooner, but he was jetting off to Geneva for a scientific conference on Thursday through the weekend.
I felt like a genius finding this guy. Very lucky is more like it.
We left his office and jumped back on the Tube to the flat to rest a bit. Since the weather was holding off on the rain, we decided to take advantage and headed south to Trafalgar Square, one of our chosen destinations, and maybe stop in at the National Gallery, another outstanding free museum which borders Trafalgar Square.
The tube ride from Marylebone to Charing Cross on the southbound Bakerloo line was smooth and fast as usual.
The Brits really have it together regarding mass transit. This city of London has about 9 million inhabitants, and during the workday, the population swells to some 14 million. Can you imagine?
5 million people commuting into the city every morning, and 5 million commuting outward every afternoon. That's 10 million mass transit riders (at least) every day!! Over the course of a year, over 2.5 BILLION people ride on London's transit system, and those are just the ones coming from outside the city.
Here is a map of the Tube and Rail. It looks like a mess but is actually quite easy to navigate once you get here.
5 million people commuting into the city every morning, and 5 million commuting outward every afternoon. That's 10 million mass transit riders (at least) every day!! Over the course of a year, over 2.5 BILLION people ride on London's transit system, and those are just the ones coming from outside the city.
Here is a map of the Tube and Rail. It looks like a mess but is actually quite easy to navigate once you get here.
Trafalgar Square is huge, with beautiful fountains, monuments, and is flanked by two fine, free museums, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Houston should take some pointers.
This is an odd art installation on the Square. Cock my doodle-do.
Since we were here rather late in the day, we didn't have time for everything, so we just sat for awhile on the fountain and watched the people and took some pictures. Quite the conflagration of people speaking every accent and every shade of skin imaginable. Fascinating.
By now we were hungry for lunch, so we happened upon The Silver Cross, a traditional British pub just steps from Trafalgar. We had a couple of pints of Stella Artois and a very tasty hamburger.
By now we were hungry for lunch, so we happened upon The Silver Cross, a traditional British pub just steps from Trafalgar. We had a couple of pints of Stella Artois and a very tasty hamburger.
After lunch, we went back to Trafalgar Square and decided to just hit some of the highlights of the National Gallery, so we picked up a program and went straightaway to our favorite type of art, the Impressionists section: Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Cezanne, Pissarro. It's a very nice collection.
I cannot explain it, but when I happened upon the "Water Lily Pond" by Claude Oscar Monet, I was transfixed, and I actually began to cry. I don't think it is because I am getting old and sentimental. No other painting in the National Gallery affected me this way. I stood there for a couple of minutes with tears running down my face. It was quite glorious, really.
After taking in some of Rembrandt's works, our feet began hurting, so we left the museum and hung outside at Trafalgar Square a bit more before catching the Tube back to Marylebone. There is a Tube access point right on the Square, which could not be more convenient. It had begun to rain again, so it was time to go.
For some reason, I had a hankering for Thai food, so I did a quick search around our area and found Two Points Thai. It was within walking distance, so we took off around dinnertime and had probably the worst Thai food ever. I will be going on to Trip Advisor and slamming this place.
It started raining again while we were in the restaurant, but by now we were carrying our umbrellas everywhere we went. so we stayed dry. In no time we were back to the flat and crashing.
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