Further Musings from W1
Yesterday (::cough cough::) was a nice day, once we found Nigel's brother at Liverpool Street Station. Not only did we not know *where* his train was coming from, we didn't have his cell phone number with us. It all worked out in the end, and we had a wonderful time walking the City (the financial district), climbing the Monument (all 311 stairs), visiting the Tate Modern, and finishing up at one of our favorite pubs, The Founders Arms, which has one of the best views in the city. It sits on the south bank of the Thames, facing St. Paul's. It was a beautiful day and a nice way to spend it.
Today Nigel is off with family and I got a pass. Yay!
I'm in an Easy Internet Cafe with a Subway inside and it smells like home. Strange.
Tomorrow is Good Friday, which apparently, is actually Bloody Miserable Friday since everything, pubs included, is closed. I guess Jesus wanted us all to suffer.
Speaking of religion, the only sign of Passover I've seen this whole time was a few minutes ago in a Sainsbury, where I saw two boxes of matzo. What's up with that? If you didn't know it was Passover, it would never cross your mind. No macaroons, no jelly (jam here) rings--nothin'.
This is a nation of low-talkers. Though Nigel says it's just that Americans are too loud.
Bird flu was all the talk here a few days ago when they found an infected dead swan in Scotland. They carried on and on about it for about three days and then suddenly nothing. A news reader stated that perhaps the fear was overstated. Really? Now the talk is Prince Harry and the terrible state of the National Health Service.
Tony Blair sure isn't popular here anymore. They'd blame the weather on him if they could.
Airing cupboards are a genius invention! Why don't we have them? And why don't we have electric kettles?
Strange to see muffins and cookies here--everywhere. Must be part of the Starbucks invasion. Strange also to see Roasted Guinefowl in Waggledance on a menu yesterday. Whatever that is. I'm not actually sure I want to know.
Boots (think Rite Aid but nicer) advertises free Chlamydia screenings for under 24s in their store windows. Interesting.
Public transportation remains inefficient as always. They've introduced plastic fare cards called Oyster Cards. Like a Metrocard in NYC, you fill it up for seven days or whatever. The problem here is that they still operate with travel zones, so our Oyster Cards are good for Zones 1 and 2, but if you need to go out to 6, as we have, you've got to queue to buy the additional fare. That makes an awful lot of sense. I hope by the next time we come over they've realized that the NYC way is the way to go (buy one card, good for the whole of the system and you're done with it). Even if the card ran out faster the further out you travel, that would make more sense than having to queue anytime you need to go to a different zone. Nutty.
Well, I'm off to stock up on provisions and such since everything is closed tomorrow. Did I mention that? Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and all the rest of it.
Today Nigel is off with family and I got a pass. Yay!
I'm in an Easy Internet Cafe with a Subway inside and it smells like home. Strange.
Tomorrow is Good Friday, which apparently, is actually Bloody Miserable Friday since everything, pubs included, is closed. I guess Jesus wanted us all to suffer.
Speaking of religion, the only sign of Passover I've seen this whole time was a few minutes ago in a Sainsbury, where I saw two boxes of matzo. What's up with that? If you didn't know it was Passover, it would never cross your mind. No macaroons, no jelly (jam here) rings--nothin'.
This is a nation of low-talkers. Though Nigel says it's just that Americans are too loud.
Bird flu was all the talk here a few days ago when they found an infected dead swan in Scotland. They carried on and on about it for about three days and then suddenly nothing. A news reader stated that perhaps the fear was overstated. Really? Now the talk is Prince Harry and the terrible state of the National Health Service.
Tony Blair sure isn't popular here anymore. They'd blame the weather on him if they could.
Airing cupboards are a genius invention! Why don't we have them? And why don't we have electric kettles?
Strange to see muffins and cookies here--everywhere. Must be part of the Starbucks invasion. Strange also to see Roasted Guinefowl in Waggledance on a menu yesterday. Whatever that is. I'm not actually sure I want to know.
Boots (think Rite Aid but nicer) advertises free Chlamydia screenings for under 24s in their store windows. Interesting.
Public transportation remains inefficient as always. They've introduced plastic fare cards called Oyster Cards. Like a Metrocard in NYC, you fill it up for seven days or whatever. The problem here is that they still operate with travel zones, so our Oyster Cards are good for Zones 1 and 2, but if you need to go out to 6, as we have, you've got to queue to buy the additional fare. That makes an awful lot of sense. I hope by the next time we come over they've realized that the NYC way is the way to go (buy one card, good for the whole of the system and you're done with it). Even if the card ran out faster the further out you travel, that would make more sense than having to queue anytime you need to go to a different zone. Nutty.
Well, I'm off to stock up on provisions and such since everything is closed tomorrow. Did I mention that? Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and all the rest of it.
posted by Kay at
2:20 AM
4 Comments:
"Tomorrow was a nice day" is making me giggle. :p
Did I really say that? I blame the crap keyboard here. I'm sure this is riddled with typos. That *was* a typo. :b
Are the keys in different places? That was the hardest thing about studying in Switzerland -- the damn keyboards were all screwy.
Anyway, enjoy the rest of your trip, if I don't 'see' you!
You should have gone to Golders Green - all the Passover a girl could want.
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