Posts (page 7)
First thing this morning I needed coffee, so I skipped the Starbucks and hit the local coffeeshop, called Apostrophe. The coffee was amazing and Lindi loved her iced coffee. We next went to the local Waitrose. Wow, this is an excellent local market not unlike WholeFoods in the US, with a wonderful selection, great fresh foods and 'already-made' dishes as well. Bought some beer (a Marston selection pak), and a few assorted needs. It was a hoot.
After putting everything away at the flat, we headed out again. First, we stopped at the British Library. It was a quick 12 minute walk up to Euston Street from our flat near Judd and Tavistock Streets, in lovely Bloomsbury. The BL has a number of incredible books and documents, including the Magna Carta, Gutenberg Bible, and thousands of others. Check the picture section to see more of these, as we get them processed and uploaded. To see the Gutenberg bible closer, just click on the picture to the right for a larger size.
After the BL, we needed to get an Oyster card, for local travel. This is a charge-card of sorts that allows easy access to the London Underground, busses and some local trains. We got it at Euston Station (very close to the BL) and started winding our way toward Regent's Park. Along the way we stopped for a picnic lunch at Pret A Manger. To call this place a deli would be an insult - delicious and reasonably-priced very fresh food, ready for take-out or to eat there. We grabbed some wraps and were ready.
Regent's Park is amazing in size and is quite lovely. Check a map sometime to see the size of it. We'll post more pictures later, of the flowers, lovely guilded gates and the landscape.
After the park we headed out, still on foot (weird, I know considering the great subway system - more on that in a sec.) toward the British Museum. We were still fairly close by so we hoofed it there.
The British Museum is simply amazing. This month is a sacred documents collection with antique documents from all religious backgrounds, and they are simply stunning. Illumination in bright colors, gold and other effects are spectacular. Between the Greek, Roman, Egyptian and other antiquities, this is the place to come for history. The Rosetta Stone just took my breath away for its sheer importance to historical knowledge.
By the end of the British Museum tour, we were pretty tired from walking. Now that we had our Oyster card, we decided to head back to the Bloomsbury area by the Underground, which Brits call 'the tube'. There was no direct route, so we had to change trains in the Oxford Circus station, but it was easy and quick. Since the Oyster cards are 'smart-cards' and use RF (radio frequency) communication, you just wave them instead of 'swiping'. Quick through the turnstiles! Here's Lindi waiting for our ride.
Once we got back to our own area, and the flat, we had a chance to decompress and consider our dinner plans. We heard of a local place for oriental food called Hare and Tortoise. Wonderful Japanese/Chinese dishes. A few beers and some great food - what a nice night.
Lindi's eye is feeling much better, if anyone wonders. And I am doing great except for the sore feet, but that's to be expected.
Lindi investigated the options for transport into central London: a cab (at over 80 pounds!) and the Heathrow Express (at 15 pounds per person but only takes you to Paddington station, and you need either a cab or a tube ride to your lodging). Instead, we got a car hire from Heathrow to our flat in Bloomsbury from JustAirports.com; he picked us up inside the airport, and swiftly whisked us to the car and on our way, delivering us to our address for 37 pounds total (plus we tipped). This place is easy to use, and we loved our driver Steve. Very knowledgeable but not pushy at all - a nice man - ask for him! We believe this is truly the way to get into and out of central London quickly and inexpensively.
Addition (Sept. 4): My mate Julian mentions the existence of the travelcard, now known as the Oyster Card. Please see later entries about this card... it's very helpful for tube, train and bus service, Further there IS a tube stop inside Heathrow, but it's kind of a pain to get all your bags onto the subway car, then perhaps change stations several times with all that -- but lots of folks do! If you want to save a few quid, that's the way to do it.
Here's Lovely Lindi sitting in the Admiral's Lounge in Chicago awaiting our trip out.
We had a ridiculously great leg from Austin to Chicago... the plane had maybe 18 people on it total, so we had an overage of food and service. Plus it was a nice quiet flight.
Once we got onto flight 98 for Heathrow it was time for more food, then we turned over and hit the sack. Even with some bumpy air, it was still a nice uneventful flight. Even the transition through Immigration was easy and quick - we were lucky. If a number of early morning flights come in from Africa or Asia, the wait would be enormous. Good tip: take a flight that arrives Europe mid-morning, to avoid that.
After arriving we both were tired - since the flight doesn't allow for more than about 4 hours sleep, you inevitably arrive in Europe from the US ready to collapse. The best bet is to get a quick nap (45 to 90 minutes ONLY) to give you some staying power, then get up and get some exercise. Since we arrived at the flat around 1:30 p.m, by about 2 p.m. we were about to pass out. We got about 45 minutes of nap-time.
Lindi had been noticing a bit of problem with one of her eyes, and it had been getting worse. So, because we needed a walk and she was concerned, we decide to try and find a hospital. It was a very long walk, as several of the hospitals and heath centers on the map were either closed or were specific purpose facilities. After almost 45 minutes of wandering we finally found one. Unfortunately it was fairly busy and not very well staffed, so we waited over 1 1/2 hours for someone to see her. The exam and treatment lasted exactly 4 minutes, with the doctor handing her the special drops and shooing us out the door. It's weird to use public health-care... no discussion of payment at all.
Once we finally got headed back toward the flat, it was already dark. We stopped at a local restaurant called Balfour, and ordered some tolerable food, but not terrific. It was rated as quite good - maybe they just had a bad night.
We retired with sore feet and a little jet lag, but did OK. It's nice to be here.
It's interesting all the things you have to remember to do.
We are walking around the house turning off things that don't need to be on. Exceptions include our internet connection and 'server' machine, cable and DVRs. What's not needed?
- Water to the washing machine
- Electrical connections to entertainment devices, towel heater (!), extraneous lighting, 'chargers' of various rechargeable devices, like our electric mower, etc.
- Wireless connection to our internal computer network
- All computers other than the 'server', printers, external storage, etc.
- Reducing the air conditioning output by setting the thermostats to a higher value... at least 85 - 90 deg. F.
This all takes time and consideration, that you usually don't remember to budget for.
Oh,... and my bag weighs 40-50 lbs. by my best estimation. Ouch.
OK, well the remaining stuff is stacking up!
- Clothes washing
- Getting the house ready for two months of no owners
- Cleaning so we don't have to when we get back
- Getting a service to do the lawn in the middle of the trip
- Packing!
- What goes where, and will it fit?
Wrapping up all my work related items and leaving all the crazy "I'll be on extended leave for two months..." messages on my phones, email, etc. Fun stuff.
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David and Lindi
I expect I can get the keyboard, my pack of cables and USB supplies, etc. into my luggage and the rest in the Kata bag. It's looking tight and heavy, but that's the deal. Check out my early posting about the contents, and click on the picture to get the full view.
I might even have room in the other bag for some clothes.
Work is going well, with most of my final meetings finishing; I'll be taking Friday off for our final packing day and readying everything for our absence.
It's getting more exciting every day.
We are doing a million things before we take off.
Heads up to my close friends... you might have some extra work to do, if we don't make it back...
