As mentioned yesterday I had supper with Michele and her husband. As part of the discussion he told me he had found where there was a laundromat, because Michele needed one soon. She had already found out there is no guest laundry in the hotel. She checked prices for the hotel's laundry service, and found it was $3.50 for just one pair of underwear. He eventually told me he got the info, not from the desk clerk, but from Google. I told him how accurate I found that information in Venice. We asked the desk clerk. She knew of no laundromat.
I checked the hotel's prices for what I needed to wash – five day's worth. It came to $62. Nope, not doing that. This morning my first stop was to change the last of my Euros into Pounds. Then I went to the street where the laundromat was reported to be. Didn't find it.
I went straight to a nearby information center. The person there indicated a street a ways to the northwest. Since I wanted to head east I saved it for later.
Late in the afternoon I searched out the laundromat. It was actually a dry cleaner. I told the owner I wanted to wash the amount of clothes I could fit into my backpack. She quoted a price, which comes out to $37. I asked where I might find a coin laundry. She said there was nothing in the downtown area. One had to go 20 minutes – by car.
So I spent more than an hour this evening washing clothes in the bathroom sink. It didn't take long to have trouble finding room to hang things to dry. I'll have to do it once more anyway.
Strange that the room next to mine is the “ironing room.” I checked – it does indeed contain irons and ironing boards. With hand washed shirts, I may need to use it tomorrow evening. An ironing room but no laundry room.
I headed east from downtown to the Catholic Cathedral. It is quite an architectural marvel.
The the inside was rather dark because very few lights were on. Even so it is quite pretty. Especially what is called the lantern, the part that sticks up above the altar and looks like a crown from the outside. The claim is this is the largest stained glass window. The small platforms and ladders along the side makes me wonder if trumpeters stand there on Easter morning.
The historical displays at the entrance say the place was built in the 1960s. Alas, it leaked. In the 1980s a great deal had to be restored to correct the problems.
Here's a photo of the interior.
From there I walked past the Anglican Cathedral (I'll be back) and on to Chinatown. This is said to be the largest Chinatown (it seemed rather small to me) and the largest such gate outside of China. Alas, the street is very much not open for lunch.
I found this bit of fun in a small park. And I do mean small. These things and the trees are all there is.
I did find a good restaurant for lunch, then did some shopping for supplies and books. I had mentioned I needed one for the flight home. I bought three.
Tomorrow is the start of the International Handbell Symposium. The schedule through Saturday is quite full, so I don't know when my next post will appear. I've already started meeting handbell people who are staying at this hotel. Some I've met from previous symposiums, others I've gotten to know by name through the handbell email list.
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