September 13, 2004, Part II

Hi, all,

Change of plans. I know I wrote that I was going to go to the half price ticket office for tonight's performance, but checked my school schedule and discovered that I have class from 6-9 tonight. Went down anyway just to get out. Leicester Square was already hopping at 10:15 am as the lucky stiffs who can attend the theater tonight were queuing up for tickets. We went on a walkabout through China Town and Leicester and Piccadilly Squares. Duck is very popular here judging by the number we saw hanging in restaurant windows. Yum, can't wait for some of that on a pancake with sauce and spring onion. We comparison shopped Dim Sum and found a reasonably priced place to try some time.

The big Swiss clock in P Square is always wrong. Please note the correct time on my watch in the bottom right corner. Not very good advertising for Swiss clockworks. Let's hope they do better when it comes to taking care of money.

We stopped in at a Kabob shop for lunch. Avoid the lamb. Trust me on this. The camera timer went off just as I discovered I should have done.

On the way back to the tube station we ran into these guys on scooters. Not sure what that was about, but they were friendly enough and waved when they spotted us. I think Kate got a better picture of them. If so, I'll forward it on later. All that and back at home by 12:30. More soon.

Love from London,

Robin

September 13, 2004

Hello from London,

Last I wrote, I was headed off to a festival. As it turns out, we were a day early but had fun anyway and went back Sunday. Kate and I arrived in Banglatown at noon when the festival was scheduled to kick off. Lucky us. By the time we left at 2:30, there were so many people in the area we couldn't control where we were walking! We did find some very good curry to eat. I thought I didn't like curry; I was wrong.

We were also back in that neighborhood today, because as we were wandering
around on Saturday we found a very inexpensive fry shop. Lunch today was fish and chips for 1/3 the price of the same in our neighborhood. Greasy, delicious.

Before we accidentally met up (odd to run into someone you know while out in a strange city), I spent some time this morning in Harrod's. It's the most extravagant department store in the world. The food halls are incredible. The display cases have butter carvings of Pavarotti among others. One hall is dedicated to meats, one to cheeses, one to chocolate and the like, one to fruits and veg...you get the idea. Weirdly though, when I went to the ladies “Luxury Toilet”; it wasn't so luxurious. Hmm. The perfume hall is huge. There are at least 75 black-clad perfume girls swarming around trying to spray everyone. I didn't make it through the entire store, but I will go back to check out the pet and toy departments at least. I'll probably wait until December though, because their decorations and displays are supposed to be fantastic.

Before we went for lunch, Kate and I went down to Christie's auction house to thumb through catalogs of upcoming sales and check out the preview rooms. Beautiful clocks and furniture were on display today. I will try to get back there for an auction while I'm here.

What all this doesn't tell you is that I must be walking 5-10 miles a day. We take the tube to the general area where we think we need to be, but Kate and I have a habit of getting lost. We have learned to embrace our lostness, though, because we have run across some really incredible sights. I am enclosing a couple of photos of one of our stumbling-down-an-alleyway shortcuts (don't worry, it is remarkably safe in this city, and we don't do this alone).

September 10, 2004

Hi all,

Last Sunday Kensington Garden was full of people enjoying the scorching 80º F temperatures, running, walking, reading, napping, sunbathing, playing sport. On one of the winding trails, I found the statue of Peter Pan; I've attached a photo of it to this email. It is difficult to see in the photo that the animals surrounding its base have been worn smooth by many little hands, but the bronze there is lighter, and the details have become a little fuzzy. It's lovely.

We've been in London for 10 days and it was only yesterday that we experienced our first rain. It was a light rain that lasted only half an hour. This weekend is supposed to be the first with fall-like weather, but so far this morning it is sunny and warm. It looks like a good day for the Curry Festival and River Race. I should have some good shots to send of those. Hope all is well where you are. Love from London, Robin

September 4, 2004

Okay. Saturday night. We closed down the local pub. That’s not saying much, because last call is 11pm. Met lots of interesting people from all over (the U.S., the U.K., Jordan, etc.). Loads of fun and good beer. Some went on to SoHo, but the more sensible of us are home. Unbelievably, the weather is still perfect. I continue to carry my umbrella everywhere, because I’m deluded enough to believe it is keeping the rain at bay. Everyone here is fretting over not bringing enough summer clothes. Attached is a picture of some of us at the Imperial College pub. The diehard soccer fans are not present as they are inside watching the game.

Love to you all,

Robin

September 2, 2004

Hi, all,

Wow, it’s great to feel human again. Seems like I overcame the jetlag pretty quickly by following the plan; stay up as long as possible on day 1 and sleep all night. When we checked in yesterday, I got really lucky. I’m one of very few with a private room, bath included. The only downside is my room is on the 5^th floor, and the elevator only goes to 4. Good thing I found a strong, young Brit to help with my bags yesterday. Although I packed as lightly as possible, 4 months away requires some stuff. I’ve already found the best buy in town: a cup of white, sweet coffee for 30p. Hurray for vending machines.

Walked miles yesterday trying to get my bearings. We are really close to a lot.

Haven’t made it to the park yet, but that’s on the agenda today between an arranged city tour complements of FIE this morning and an orientation session this afternoon. Later a group of us is going out to take advantage of our tube cards and soak up some atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the weather has been gorgeous since we arrived. Yesterday was sunny and warm, and today promises much of the same. I’ll be carrying my umbrella, though; one never knows.

Okay. Time to get downstairs for that tour.

My love to you all.

Robin

London Diary Wordle

If you haven't tried this, you must. wordle

Old stuff

So. A few years ago I spent a semester in London. While I was there, I took photos almost every day and sent emails to a bunch of folks back home. Sort of a public diary. Blogging wasn't so accessible back then.

Anyway, people liked the emails. I liked writing them. I have trouble keeping up with files, what with all my computer mishaps. Some of the originals are lost to the ether. I'm going to post the ones I still have here, so I'll know where they are.

The titles will be the original dates of the emails.

Adventure

Hi, all,

So. Yesterday I went to see a patient who lives on a ranch. Her house is surrounded by a fenced yard, and there are various large fenced pens on the property. This week several of the sheep lambed in the bitter cold. Since the barn is rather far from the house, and the family were worried about coyotes taking the wee ones, several of the lambs spent the night in the enclosed porch of the house. The next morning some of the mamas refused their lambs, so they are having to be bottle fed, but the two moms in the photo are taking care of two each.

So cute, but that's not really why I'm writing. No. This is a warning. While I was taking pictures of the lambs, two emus who were outside of the yard near my car were stalking me. At first I thought, "Ah, bless. Aren't they cute."

Then I tried to leave.

The garden gate opens out. When I tried to leave the yard, one of the emus lay down in front of the gate effectively blocking my path. I started nudging it with the gate, and as it stood, it started stamping its HUGE feet. I flashed back to one of those nature programs and remembered that these birds can do some terrible damage with those feet. I must say I was a little scared. But then I remembered what a friend who raises emus--which he keeps behind a tall fence--once told us: if you make yourself appear bigger than the bird, it will back off. Easier said than done as this bird was at least six feet tall. Anyway, I had my visit bag with me, so I raised it over my head and nudged the gate open enough to slip through. This bird was not intimidated, and it swung its head around bringing its beak within six inches of my face. Yikes. I was afraid to turn my back on it, so I did a little backwards shuffle around my car to the driver's side door, the bird keeping pace. The door, of course, was locked, and as I fumbled for the keys--this required that I drop the bag and look small again--the bird leaned against the door. While I was opening it, he was stepping back to avoid being knocked down, but he kept his head above the top of the door (and above my head). Once I got in I felt pretty safe until he and I discovered at the same moment that I had left the window down about six inches.

Okay. I did manage to get the car started and the window up without losing an eye or anything, but I think the stress hormones may have caused some permanent damage.

So now the warning: I know it will be difficult, but stay away from emus.

Love from Spring Branch,

Robin