Day 7 -- Bed, take us to the Isle of Naboombu

I suppose at this point the trip is winding down. Actually, at this point, there's really nothing left to do but go to sleep, get up, go to the airport, sit on a plane for 8 hours, go home. Sounds easy enough, maybe it will be. We've already got everything packed and really didn't have any trouble fitting the junk we bought--which wasn't that much--in our bags. But enough of tomorrow.

Since we had already done all the tourist stuff and more or less anything else we wanted, today was a totally free day. So that meant a trip to the British Museum this morning to see all manner of really old items. I suppose the most relevant aspect of the trip to this blog was that I saw the actual Rosetta Stone. Yes, long before it was a somewhat expensive way to learn a foreign language it was a big old rock with a whole bunch of hieroglyphics. And not surprisingly, the key to understand the entire ancient Egyptian culture.

As for the rest of the museum, I didn't make it all the way through. It is huge. In fact, I didn't get past the first floor which was primarily Greek/Roman/Egyptian artifacts. I think Andy did make it to the Middle Ages at least, which was what he wanted to see anyway. And the best part of all? The museum is totally free; a pretty good bang for the buck I'd say. Of course, they did have donation buckets to help keep it free. We ain't suckers though; we rode free and let some other poor sap pull our weight. Being an American is great.

We did split up for lunch with Andy going to some restaurant that he claims last year served him the best meal he has ever had. Natch, they'd changed the menu so he couldn't get what he was served previously but he didn't seem to mind a whole lot. I think it was dog or ambrosia or something icky. He dug it; I guess that's what's important.

Believe it or not, at this point in my nearly 35 years of life, I've spent almost a month in the UK and have never been in a real, actual British pub. Not being much of a drinker or a dart player, which is to say none at all, I've never really felt the need. But today, faced with the prospect of another McD's lunch or the Pizza Hut--both of which I can have as early as tomorrow--I thought we'd go for the real deal and have the pub experience. Can't say that I regretted it. I had a burger that was most tasty whilst my Dad had the customary fish and chips. The service was a bit slowish but again with nothing much going on, it didn't really matter. It just gave us more time to sit and stare at each other in silence. On the whole, we're not what one would call "talkers".

The big news on the lunch hour telly was that the London police chief had resigned as one does after being so asked by the mayor. Not being privy to the in/out of London police work or politics I really can't say who is in the right. Nevertheless, I paused for a moment mid-burger and offered a silent prayer that London would come together. I think they were holding a candle light vigil tonight. I keed.

What ended up being the last stop for me for this trip was finally seeing Portobello Road. Ever since I saw Bedknobs and Broomsticks as a wee lad, I've had the urge to go there. Not so great that I made it a destination in 1997 or that had assumed a place greater than on the if all else fails list this time, mind. But an urge nonetheless. Unlike the movie, which is generally regarded as a weaker retelling of Mary Poppins though I actually prefer B & B, there wasn't a big production number nor were there all cultures represented.

Apparently, the weekend is when the place really gets jumping.

Perhaps the best way to describe Portobello Road is as a giant flea market consisting of an awful lot of antiques and all manner of out and out junk. On a Thursday afternoon, it's pretty empty which was fine by us. We walked from one end to the other and didn't find anything really worth our hard earned money, but the junkiest, most cramped bookstore I've ever been in saved the day. (Bonnie, you could have spent all day in there) Resisting the urge to buy used issues of various, ahem, gentlemen's magazines, I ended up getting a couple of books about music for a whopping total of 5 pounds. They were most certainly worth that.

Unfortunately, due to an unfortunate "person under the train car" incident our tube route back was altered and we ended up walking about 2 miles. Not our train, mind, but that is in fact how the delay was officially explained throughout the station. It's yet another cultural cliche that the British can still be so prim and proper. Like most cliche's it's also true. The announcements were most apologetic, if somewhat more explicit than one would expect on Marta, for example.

A side note and further example of the extremes of British order/etiquette, from our Normandy trip. Most Americans probably know the U.S. landed on Omaha/Utah beaches on Dday. Some may even know that the British/Candians landed on Juno, Sword and Gold beaches. What I didn't know and had wondered was how the British/Americans came up with their beach names. Still unsure about the U.S. names, but leaving nothing to chance, the British had theirs all figured out: they had a book of code names.

Sword and Gold were the next two in the book with Juno originally being called Jelly (hint: they're all fish) until the Canandian commander announced he simply was not going to be known for leading the charge on Jelly Beach. Juno being his wife's name.

I love this country and hate to leave but I guess we do. Besides, I miss Merisol and Buster, Poppie and the other MB, Patty Hearst and (Just) Missy, Maureen and Madeline, maybe even the Esteemed Probate Judge a little as well. Plus, it's time to get serious about marathon training.

Anyway, assuming this is most widely read tomorrow, we'll probably already be in the air. We leave at 11 am (London) and get to Atlanta at 3:30 pm (Atlanta). I probably won't get around to it for a couple of days but I'll have a post mortem on the trip up eventually. As mentioned previously, I this blog will remain active with the focus shifting to my training and whatever else tickles my fancy. The world waits in anticipation, no doubt. Cheers.