Thoughts on London

Some people seem to feel that looking at the miracles of creation—the arm of a spiral galaxy or an electron photomicrograph of a dragonfly’s wing, for example—is supposed to make a person feel small and insignificant. In my career as a science student, and later as an amateur nerd, I never foundit that way! I guess it’s a measure of how strong my ego is—but I would look at some distant nebula or some amazingly complex structure magnified twenty thousand times and I’d think “Sweeeeet” … but it never made me feel small against the creations of nature.

The creations of mankind are a whole ‘nother matter.

Need a dose of humility? Go to London. I was walking the streets once paced by people like Elizabeth the First, Winston Churchill and Charles Dickens. I mean seriously! It’s hard not to get a little intimidated—to look at one’s own quiet little life and just kind of shake one’s head.

“It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.” – Tom Lehrer

Of course Mozart didn’t hang out in London much, but Edward Elgar hung out there sometimes, and G.F. Handel lived there full time, and Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a symphony about the place…well, you get the point.

Note to friends: this is not me being “emo” or dissatisfied with my life—please understand that no one is a bigger fan of me than…well, me! But there’s nothing wrong with a taste of humility.

Here I was, amid places where many great works of art were created, historical decisions made, great scholars born and educated, and famous entertainers launched their careers…it’s more than a bit daunting.

I fell in love with London in my two weeks there. I spent too much money, walked enough to give myself blisters, and made a lot of friends. I will go back when I can. Unless I find that giant gold meteorite I keep talking about, it may not be soon, but it will happen.

Another note to friends: I've now replaced the pictures on the other blog posts (except the first one, where it's just a pic of a Union Jack and a pic of an airplane) with pictures I (or in a couple cases, Dimmie) took. Please feel free to go look. I mean, you're here already and all.

Home again, home again...Jiggidy Jig!

5^th May, local time unknown (probably something around 17.00), Flying over the Atlantic Ocean

Dimmie went home on Friday, and I really didn’t feel like writing much in here after that. Suzi came in on Saturday night, and, on Sunday…we rested. Today, it’s back to the USA and our regularly-scheduled lives.

I do have one great anecdote, relating to a restaurant called The Texas Embassy. We saw this place as we were taking a bus tour of the city, right there, overlooking Trafalgar Square. I looked and saw the Texas flag, outside this place that looks like a restaurant. Turns out to have really good food of the sort we have here. Dimmie took me there on her last day in England. (note that in the picture, the sign says "Michelob IMPORT!" hehehehe things are different in other countries)

The place surprised me, the music, food, and ambiance are all very authentically Texan. I may even write the place up for E2. Over margaritas, I explained the concept of chicken fried steak to Dimmie (even thought that wasn’t what I got for dinner).

Chicken fried steak, called “country fried” or “southern fried” virtually EVERYwhere outside the South, is basically a cutlet, tenderized, breaded and fried. Served with cream gravy and usually with mashed potatoes. Great stuff…not exactly health food, but very tasty.

So, instead of chicken fried steak, I opted for nachos, while she got a salad with fried chicken strips. The nachos were authentic, the beef was a little better than you’d usually find, the sour cream mellower, and they were a touch stingy with the jalapeños, but nacho making is NOT an exact science, and these were well within the parameters for a regular order of nachos. The nachos were good enough to make me homesick and the salad was bigger than my dainty Danish dame could finish. That was another accurate thing, huge portion sizes.

She’s never been to Texas, but she did catch one minor inaccuracy. Upstairs was a cantina, and over the bar hung a huge and lovely painting of a completely naked lady. Not hard-core, but definitely nothing you could show in a PG-13 movie.

“She’d be wearing something if these were actually Texas, wouldn’t she?” my travelling companion asked.

She learns fast.

Dimmie and I had a lot of fun. We walked and talked and shared, we saw London together and talked. I miss her, but we were together the right amount of time.

Suzi also had a good, if exhausting time, at the wedding in Cornwall, then spending time with Jess. I am constantly impressed by the level of friendship and love she’s found with this little tribe of amazing people…individuals she met, more or less by chance, on the Internet, of all things!

In 26 years of friendship with the woman whom I think of like a sister, I have seldom seen her so happy, so comfortable, so ALIVE, as when she is discussing her british friends—the adventures they’ve shared, the fun they’ve had, and the plans they are making.

Between my experiences with Dimmie, and the happy times Suzi had with Chris, Kat, Jess, Walter, Matt, etc etc etc etc … I could hardly be happier.

6^th May, local time 5:02pm, in my room, Richardson, Texas

It’s been quite an adventure! I slept 12 hours last night, and maybe the jetlag will have worn off. It’s a little bit weird to be back home, back to my quiet little life, but it was the best holiday…errrm…I mean vacation, that I could have ever hoped for.

Now comes unpacking, getting back to work, figuring out my finances (the airplane tickets were a gift, but the hotel stay was a big ouch!), going over two weeks of junk mail (that’s a lot), and generally trying to re-organise my life.

Big thanks to everyone who read about my trip, who helped out, and who rooted for us on our big adventure. It’s been magical.

Lost, Museums, and Bunny Pals

Wednesday, 4:44pm (16.44), Lynton Hotel, London

I've had a couple more wonderful days of walking, touring, and getting lost. Getting lost is really a lovely thing to do on a trip (better in London than, say, New Orleans or Los Angeles, though). Monday, we took a bus tour which went around many of the sights of this old city. I did not wear a jacket...well, it was warm when I left the hotel. Anyway, it wasn't TOO bad, and I wasn't the only person around with short sleeves, but it was a bit chilly.

After the bus tour, we got lost several times, but that's all in good fun. With the A-Z, and all the streets and tube stops being so well marked, it's almost impossible to get very lost. But it is so interesting to walk down streets and through parks, squares, past ancient churches and brand-new shops. London is a great place to walk.

Yesterday, we got lost yet again...this time in some very posh...er...I mean 'swanky' parts of town. Chelsea, Sloane Square...we saw Harrod's, in addition to hundreds of places which sell expensive clothing and housewares. I'd have loved to linger, but I developed a really bad blister on my right Achilles' heel area...owtch! Blisters aside, this has been a perfect holiday...or ... ummm ... vacation, as we'd say in the states.


Thursday, 8:00pm (20.00), Lynton Hotel, London

Yesterday, Dimmie and I went to the Natural History Museum. Unbelievable...Fossils, dinosaur reconstructions, and a real, live tyrannosaurus rex. Well, it looked pretty real to me, anyway. It was some of the best animatronics I've ever seet. There were also the obligatory taxidermied animals--superb specimens which were a total delight to the biology nerd (not that I know any biology nerds or anything!).

After that, the tube and a long walk took us to the British Museum. Every place is walking distance to my dear friend Dimmie...I believe if the Atlantic were paved (and there were abundant cafes on the way), she'd just walk over to visit me!

Okay...I'd heard about the British Museum...a lot about it...but nothing, and I mean NOTHING can possibly prepare you for it. It's unbelievable. One of the first things you can see is the Rosetta Stone...the genuine, bona-fide, ROSETTA- FREAKING- STONE!!!! In the flesh...or in the stone, more correctly, I guess.

They also have Greek and Roman artifacts galore and a couple of tons of amazing old stuff from Egypt, Assyria, and Sumer. They had more cuneiform that an....than a....well, let's just say that they had a LOT of cuneiform. We only took in a small portion of the museum and yet it was absolutely amazing.

I had my geek hat on pretty much all the way throught the museums--I was finding gods, goddesses, and heroes from numerous cultures...I should have brought a notebook to write them all down for Mythical Beings. Among the Mesopotamian stuff, I saw some carvings dedicated to my favourite Sumerian king...yeah, I have a favourite Sumerian king.... WAIT! Where are you going? No...hear me out....My favourite Sumerian king is the great Ashurbanipal (685 - 627 BCE) ... but mostly because his name sounds quite a bit like "As your bunny pal"... and if that's not a great reason to love an ancient middle eastern potentate, I don't know what is... (and that may be the most Kellum paragraph ever written, in my opinion!)