Hello! I am typing this, not from my laptop in a Starbucks in Hammersmith, but from my actual home computer! I can scarcely believe I am home. It is a strange feeling.
My flight was originally supposed to leave around 11 this morning, but when I did the online check-in yesterday it said the flight would leave at 13:15, which is fine, I got some time in the morning for one last Full English Breakfast before I left.
EXCEPT for two small problems:
1) My brain is no longer functioning at 100% capacity (based on average norms, not on any assumption that my brain has ever run at full capacity); and:
2) The London Underground chose a most inopportune time to finally fail me.
I got on the Tube to go to Paddington station and pick up the Heathrow Express, a 15-minute express train. However, about 3 stops into the journey I realize that I am instead retracing the route to Euston station, where I had gotten off the Caledonian Sleeper yesterday morning. There is no Heathrow Express from Euston. I'm going the wrong way!
Quickly jumping off the Eastbound Piccadilly Line (to Cockfosters) to the Westbound (which actually goes as far as Heathrow but takes significantly longer than an express train), I made for the South Kensington stop, where I could change to the Circle line to get to Paddington. But no, the Circle has chosen this particular Tuesday morning to experience catastrophic crippling delays, and as an alternate route would I please take the District line in the opposite direction for a few stops then get back on the Circle line going in the opposite direction to no no no I am going to miss my flight that is way too far out. Back to the Piccadilly, where I took my chances timewise. I ended up getting through Security with little time to spare.
The plane ride was significantly better than last time, mostly because of the entertainment system. The little TV was a touch screen and there were a lot of different things to watch and you could make your own music playlists and wow it was mind blowing. Since the flight was 7 and a half hours, I had time to watch almost three films. Appaloosa was really good. Ed Harris is one of those actors who never gets enough credit. City of Ember, which I thought might be crappy but took a chance on, was significantly better than I thought it would be. How To Lose Friends and Alienate People was the one I didn't get to finish, but I'm not too worried about it. It gets plus points for having Simon Pegg, Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson and Jeff Bridges, but minus points for being not all that funny really and having Kirsten Dunst in it. Seriously.
In between all these films, I found that they had some episodes of that old Paddington Bear stop-motion show. I've been looking for a DVD of these forever, so this was probably one of the highlights of my trip (which sounds like my trip must have been awful, but you underestimate my love for stop motion Paddington). I was watching Paddington doing "Singin' In The Rain" and I was seriously thinking that my plane could crash directly into the ocean right then and I would just have a big stupid grin on my face the whole time. SERIOUSLY.Thank you, YouTube, for illustrating my point.
Anyway, I'm not going to complain about the airplane food, everyone does that (but a salmon & cucumber sandwich? Really?), but I will reveal that there was a famous person on my flight today! I walked down the ramp right behind her! We waited for our luggage less than five feet from each other! She smiled at me once because her daughter said hello to me! ZOMG I WILL NEVER WASH THESE EYEBALLS AGAIN!
Gwyneth Paltrow is prettier in real life than in the movies, and her two kids are a handful, like most kids their ages. Where's Coldplay Guy? Probably stealing bass lines from Les Claypool or something. I kid! I like Coldplay, but they're so incredibly pretentious. Still, "Clocks" is seriously a great song. But yeah, Pepper Potts herself. New York is pretty great.
The subway ride home was interesting, since I had the privilege of making a direct comparison between it and the Tube. My comparison is this: the Tube has been around since the 1800s. It is the oldest subway in the world. They have escalators all over the place. They have mostly fabric-cushioned seats. The New York subway is dirty, smelly, and has no escalators that I've ever encountered. There is a lot of work to be done here.
I swore I'd get a pizza tonight and I ordered one on the train ride home. I tore it up, there's like two pieces left. Modern is great! I haven't driven in like two weeks, and it's not like you forget but I was a little nervous. I was driving too fast. It'll come back. On the way home I had to stop to get milk and almost paid with pounds (crap, I still have pounds!), then when I did pay with dollars and got my change, instead of saying thank you I said, "Cheers, mate," like I was back in the UK. I don't think the clerk heard me. I hope not. I expect that sort of thing will happen here and there for a few days. And jet lag, aaaaarrgh, it's like almost 3 AM for me right now.......
I'm happy to be back home to see my friends and eat pizza, but I miss being out and about already...and it's so cold...so cold here...
Showing posts with label underground. Show all posts
Showing posts with label underground. Show all posts
15 February 2009
It’s Called New England For a Reason
Since I didn’t really meet up with any locals on my tour yesterday (though I did meet some awfully nice Australians), I decided not to try to go to the meeting on Sunday in order to ensure that I make my train to Swansea. Which I did. This left me some time in the morning to get some photos with Buzz and Woody. I figured I’d take them up to Cockfosters, since everyone seems to think the name is hilarious. Nobody goes to Cockfosters, by the way. It’s at the end of the Piccadilly line and takes forever to get to.
Anyways, one I checked out of my hotel, I got on my train and headed to Swansea. There are some beautiful scenic views of West English countryside, I mean absolutely stunning. I wished I could have stopped the train and gotten some pictures. Much of the area is still relatively green (green enough for sheep to graze), though there were patches where snow is still stubbornly refusing to melt completely. Then again, I did see automotive junkyards, high power lines, and areas of urban sprawl as well, so it isn’t all amazing. But it’s good to know that those rolling green hills where sheep and horses graze are still in existence on the English countryside. It looks an awful lot like New England, only less built-up. The main difference seems to be that the trees are all twisty and gnarled and there’s a whole lot more brush and vines and briars.
Also, just so you know, first class rail travel is great.
I like Wales from the window of the train, but once the exorbitantly-priced taxi was taking me out to the castle it lost a lot of its romance. Driving through all the beat-up little towns that look like they haven’t been maintained since 1845, you see some beautiful neighborhoods and some that are less awesome, shacks with aluminum siding for a roof and that sort of thing. The kind of thing a neighborhood association would never allow.
Wales is also friendlier than London by the simple fact that I have actually had two conversations in the course of three hours, and only two in the previous three days while in London. But it’s still pretty restrained. Looking forward to Ireland’s much-reported hospitality!
Overheard on the tube:
Boy: “What is our stop? Is it Artist Grove?”
Daddy: “We’re going to Covent Garden today.”
Mummy: “And that station’s called Arnos Grove. Arnos, like Davros.”
Boy: “Davros! You are arrogant, Doctor!”
Girl: [cackles madly]
Boy: Silence, Dalek Caan!
Moments later, an Eastern European (we’ll say Russian for simplicity) couple next to me:
Man: “russianrussianrussian Davros russianrussian”
Woman: “russianrussian Doktor russianrussian”
Both: “hahahahaha”
Doctor Who has, apparently, completely permeated British culture.
Things I saw today: a guy who looked like what would happen if David Cross ate too much Burger King; bilingual signage for monolingual people; a bowling alley in Bristol called the Hollywood Bowl (get it? GET IT?); a building in Cardiff which said BRAINS in huge letters on the side. Hopefully I’ll figure that one out tomorrow…
Things I smelled today: the New Haven Coliseum. The walkway over Neath Station had the exact pigeon-poo/rotting concrete/decaying steel smell as the Old Barn (I have never called the Coliseum “the Old Barn” until just now).
Anyways, one I checked out of my hotel, I got on my train and headed to Swansea. There are some beautiful scenic views of West English countryside, I mean absolutely stunning. I wished I could have stopped the train and gotten some pictures. Much of the area is still relatively green (green enough for sheep to graze), though there were patches where snow is still stubbornly refusing to melt completely. Then again, I did see automotive junkyards, high power lines, and areas of urban sprawl as well, so it isn’t all amazing. But it’s good to know that those rolling green hills where sheep and horses graze are still in existence on the English countryside. It looks an awful lot like New England, only less built-up. The main difference seems to be that the trees are all twisty and gnarled and there’s a whole lot more brush and vines and briars.Also, just so you know, first class rail travel is great.
I like Wales from the window of the train, but once the exorbitantly-priced taxi was taking me out to the castle it lost a lot of its romance. Driving through all the beat-up little towns that look like they haven’t been maintained since 1845, you see some beautiful neighborhoods and some that are less awesome, shacks with aluminum siding for a roof and that sort of thing. The kind of thing a neighborhood association would never allow.
Wales is also friendlier than London by the simple fact that I have actually had two conversations in the course of three hours, and only two in the previous three days while in London. But it’s still pretty restrained. Looking forward to Ireland’s much-reported hospitality!
Overheard on the tube:
Boy: “What is our stop? Is it Artist Grove?”
Daddy: “We’re going to Covent Garden today.”
Mummy: “And that station’s called Arnos Grove. Arnos, like Davros.”
Boy: “Davros! You are arrogant, Doctor!”
Girl: [cackles madly]
Boy: Silence, Dalek Caan!
Moments later, an Eastern European (we’ll say Russian for simplicity) couple next to me:
Man: “russianrussianrussian Davros russianrussian”
Woman: “russianrussian Doktor russianrussian”
Both: “hahahahaha”
Doctor Who has, apparently, completely permeated British culture.
Things I saw today: a guy who looked like what would happen if David Cross ate too much Burger King; bilingual signage for monolingual people; a bowling alley in Bristol called the Hollywood Bowl (get it? GET IT?); a building in Cardiff which said BRAINS in huge letters on the side. Hopefully I’ll figure that one out tomorrow…
Things I smelled today: the New Haven Coliseum. The walkway over Neath Station had the exact pigeon-poo/rotting concrete/decaying steel smell as the Old Barn (I have never called the Coliseum “the Old Barn” until just now).
14 February 2009
Hey I Am Still In London
Note: I wrote this yesterday but didn't get wifi access until this afternoon. Sorry for the delay. Clearly this will be an issue going forward. For once technology is actually behind my needs instead of ahead.
The two biggest news items here were the 13 year old boy who is now a father with his 15 year old girlfriend; and the 9/11 widow who died in a plane crash. That crash seemed to make all the international news stations. Couldn’t tell you if they all went with the 9/11 angle, because I only speak English. It's a sad story, but everyone seems to be focusing on the tragic irony instead of the bigger picture.
Anyways. So I went to check out the British Museum. It’s a bit like the Met in New York, just without so many paintings. I hung out there for about an hour, took some pictures. I’ll be back tomorrow. I figured I’d stop by St. Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren’s masterwork, but they wanted £11 admission and you couldn’t even take pictures. NEVERMIND. So I kicked around on the tube for a while and then got some lunch.
It was more like an early dinner, actually, since it was like 4:00 or so. But why on earth would I go to the Burger King across the street? Because I didn’t feel like getting wifi from the Starbucks next door, so I figured I’ll just pick it up through the wall while I have a Whopper. After this utterly familiar meal, I checked out the Museum of Science, which was incredibly boring. I mean super boring. LOOK A STEAM ENGINE
HOW EXCITING! And for me to say it was boring…
The Museum of Natural History is a very interesting place. The new wings are pretty typical, but the old museum is basically Darwin Cathedral.
Seriously.
They had some good dinosaur skeletons, though.
Then I decided to kick around the tube a bit more. I was going to see a few sights, but it was getting dark. At one point, I found myself at Paddington Station, which was AWESOME. When I was on my way to Hammersmith, I noticed out the window (that part of the Hammersmith & City Line is elevated) a huge Westfield Shoppingtown (you can run, but you can’t hide from the Westfield conglomerate), where I decided I might find a watch. I found a Swatch that didn’t look like it was from 1988, so now that problem is solved. Some more aimless tube riding, a few pints in the hotel bar, and in bed by 11:30.
Save some fun for tomorrow, hahahahaha!
- The commercials here are insane, but not like you'd expect. I’ve seen tourism commercials for Azerbaijan, Croatia, and Nigeria. They made the places look nice, at least. But come on, Nigeria? There was also a slick-looking ad for Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s #1 bank. All I could think about is whether that was the #1 bank used by those guys who always need YOUR HELP MY FRIEND TO TRANSFER MY MONIES FROM THE COUNTRY. Ray Parker Jr. appears in a commercial for the 118 phone service. Huey Lewis needed some cash, I guess. I'm sure we'll soon be adding "I ain't afraid of no goats," to the Obscure Catchphrase Lexicon very soon.
- Apparently CNN now thinks that showing Australian newspaper webpages on the TV screen is good television news reporting.
- Walking – on the left or the right? I’m still confused. I’ve been trying to walk on the left when possible, but sometimes there is confusion. This probably has to do with the fact that at least 60% of the people walking around here are tourists. There are a few signs on the tube steps about keeping left, but on the sidewalk all bets are off.
- Things I saw today: a family of redheaded French people, four pigeons that tried to dive into my head (one inside Paddington Station, one trying to keep me out of St. Paul’s), the Elgin Marbles, and the inside of a Tesco.
- 1 in 4 people in London is apparently a university-age Asian girl. So if that’s your bag, come to London but remember that all Asian girls are looking for black guys because they're really into the whole ghetto thing.
- 1 in 3 guys around here look like that dude from Coldplay.
Overheard: an older gentleman who said to his wife, “Bloody hell’s bells!” in a way that I only thought could be uttered on television or in film. People here really do talk like that.
Note: Not sure if I'll be posting tomorrow. I may not have time/access/ability until I get to Dublin on Monday or Tuesday, so if I don't update until then don't worry! I am enjoying all the comments and etc. Please keep them coming!
The two biggest news items here were the 13 year old boy who is now a father with his 15 year old girlfriend; and the 9/11 widow who died in a plane crash. That crash seemed to make all the international news stations. Couldn’t tell you if they all went with the 9/11 angle, because I only speak English. It's a sad story, but everyone seems to be focusing on the tragic irony instead of the bigger picture.
Anyways. So I went to check out the British Museum. It’s a bit like the Met in New York, just without so many paintings. I hung out there for about an hour, took some pictures. I’ll be back tomorrow. I figured I’d stop by St. Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren’s masterwork, but they wanted £11 admission and you couldn’t even take pictures. NEVERMIND. So I kicked around on the tube for a while and then got some lunch.
It was more like an early dinner, actually, since it was like 4:00 or so. But why on earth would I go to the Burger King across the street? Because I didn’t feel like getting wifi from the Starbucks next door, so I figured I’ll just pick it up through the wall while I have a Whopper. After this utterly familiar meal, I checked out the Museum of Science, which was incredibly boring. I mean super boring. LOOK A STEAM ENGINE
HOW EXCITING! And for me to say it was boring…The Museum of Natural History is a very interesting place. The new wings are pretty typical, but the old museum is basically Darwin Cathedral.
Seriously.
They had some good dinosaur skeletons, though.Then I decided to kick around the tube a bit more. I was going to see a few sights, but it was getting dark. At one point, I found myself at Paddington Station, which was AWESOME. When I was on my way to Hammersmith, I noticed out the window (that part of the Hammersmith & City Line is elevated) a huge Westfield Shoppingtown (you can run, but you can’t hide from the Westfield conglomerate), where I decided I might find a watch. I found a Swatch that didn’t look like it was from 1988, so now that problem is solved. Some more aimless tube riding, a few pints in the hotel bar, and in bed by 11:30.
Save some fun for tomorrow, hahahahaha!
- The commercials here are insane, but not like you'd expect. I’ve seen tourism commercials for Azerbaijan, Croatia, and Nigeria. They made the places look nice, at least. But come on, Nigeria? There was also a slick-looking ad for Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s #1 bank. All I could think about is whether that was the #1 bank used by those guys who always need YOUR HELP MY FRIEND TO TRANSFER MY MONIES FROM THE COUNTRY. Ray Parker Jr. appears in a commercial for the 118 phone service. Huey Lewis needed some cash, I guess. I'm sure we'll soon be adding "I ain't afraid of no goats," to the Obscure Catchphrase Lexicon very soon.
- Apparently CNN now thinks that showing Australian newspaper webpages on the TV screen is good television news reporting.
- Walking – on the left or the right? I’m still confused. I’ve been trying to walk on the left when possible, but sometimes there is confusion. This probably has to do with the fact that at least 60% of the people walking around here are tourists. There are a few signs on the tube steps about keeping left, but on the sidewalk all bets are off.
- Things I saw today: a family of redheaded French people, four pigeons that tried to dive into my head (one inside Paddington Station, one trying to keep me out of St. Paul’s), the Elgin Marbles, and the inside of a Tesco.
- 1 in 4 people in London is apparently a university-age Asian girl. So if that’s your bag, come to London but remember that all Asian girls are looking for black guys because they're really into the whole ghetto thing.
- 1 in 3 guys around here look like that dude from Coldplay.
Overheard: an older gentleman who said to his wife, “Bloody hell’s bells!” in a way that I only thought could be uttered on television or in film. People here really do talk like that.
Note: Not sure if I'll be posting tomorrow. I may not have time/access/ability until I get to Dublin on Monday or Tuesday, so if I don't update until then don't worry! I am enjoying all the comments and etc. Please keep them coming!
13 February 2009
12 February 2009
The Story So Far
So just before I left, my man Randy said that two of our friends wanted to go to the UK, so I brought them along.
They preferred to stay in my bag for the trip, but they're pretty jet lagged right now so no real photo ops yet.
I'm pretty jet lagged myself, but here are a few observations from the trip so far:
- It was super warm yesterday, but it's in maybe the 40s here right now. It was sunny when I arrived, but now the sky has that hazy grey that only seems to happen when it's about to snow. It is hilarious, there are lots of people dressed reasonably, but therre are also a lot of people wearing eskimo parkas and furry hats and whatnot.
- I was worried about finding my hotel from the Underground, since the only directions I had said to get off at Gloucester Station. So I figured I'd end up figuring it out...sure enough, it was right outside the station. I can see it from my window!
Pretty neat!
- The flight was uneventful. The most notable experience was probably the luggage carousel. WILL I GET MY LUGGAGE BACK??? The answer was Yes, but the baggage handlers do like to keep you in suspense.
- As we were boarding at JFK, I met an American Japanese couple who were very friendly and appreciated my Joy Division shirt. The guy was saying that he wore his similar (but better, his wife added) shirt to a Killers show (who covered Joy Division's "Shadowplay" to great radio success) but no one commented on it. Kids today don't know their history.
- Airplane food is pretty consistently terrible. But the flight did have an audio station featuring the best of New Order, so that was nice. I must have gotten maybe 3 hours sleep on the flight, but not what one would consider quality sleep.
- London's Underground reminds me of a cross between Boston and Toronto. It's about as clean as Toronto (so far), and a lot of it is overground like the T in Boston. There was a busker who played a violin jig version of the James Bond Theme, but at the time all I had was 20s in pounds and some dollar bills that he probably didn't want. Maybe I'll see him once I break these 20s.
Anyway, I'm going to take a nap and then see if I can find a hall around here to go to.
They preferred to stay in my bag for the trip, but they're pretty jet lagged right now so no real photo ops yet.I'm pretty jet lagged myself, but here are a few observations from the trip so far:
- It was super warm yesterday, but it's in maybe the 40s here right now. It was sunny when I arrived, but now the sky has that hazy grey that only seems to happen when it's about to snow. It is hilarious, there are lots of people dressed reasonably, but therre are also a lot of people wearing eskimo parkas and furry hats and whatnot.
- I was worried about finding my hotel from the Underground, since the only directions I had said to get off at Gloucester Station. So I figured I'd end up figuring it out...sure enough, it was right outside the station. I can see it from my window!
Pretty neat!- The flight was uneventful. The most notable experience was probably the luggage carousel. WILL I GET MY LUGGAGE BACK??? The answer was Yes, but the baggage handlers do like to keep you in suspense.
- As we were boarding at JFK, I met an American Japanese couple who were very friendly and appreciated my Joy Division shirt. The guy was saying that he wore his similar (but better, his wife added) shirt to a Killers show (who covered Joy Division's "Shadowplay" to great radio success) but no one commented on it. Kids today don't know their history.
- Airplane food is pretty consistently terrible. But the flight did have an audio station featuring the best of New Order, so that was nice. I must have gotten maybe 3 hours sleep on the flight, but not what one would consider quality sleep.
- London's Underground reminds me of a cross between Boston and Toronto. It's about as clean as Toronto (so far), and a lot of it is overground like the T in Boston. There was a busker who played a violin jig version of the James Bond Theme, but at the time all I had was 20s in pounds and some dollar bills that he probably didn't want. Maybe I'll see him once I break these 20s.
Anyway, I'm going to take a nap and then see if I can find a hall around here to go to.
28 January 2009
On Mass Transit and the Benefits of Urban Reconnaissance
I'm a big fan of mass transit in general. I think it's a much better way of getting around than everyone owning a vehicle, but the way things are set up here in the States it's tough to get around without a car unless you live in a huge metropolitan area, and most citizens of the US do not. I could get into a whole discussion of how stupid it is that I lived next to a train station for five years and never used it because it was either too expensive or the lines never went where I needed them to, but that is neither here nor there.That said, one of my goals on this upcoming trip is to use mass transit as much as possible, since 1) the UK is well set up for it when compared to America's infrastructure, and 2) I will kill someone if I had to rent a car, what with the whole "other side of the road" situation.
Even the first leg of my journey - the trip to the airport - will be mass transit intensive (to the extent possible in the US). To that end, while checking rail times on the MTA website, I came across this handy-dandy tool.
Trip Planner allows you to enter in your start point and destination within the five boroughs, and it will find you the best route. It gives you a few different choices so you don't have to go near Pelham Bay Park if you don't want to, just in case Robert Shaw and Martin Balsam try to hijack your train.
We'll see how well it works when I do a test run for the purposes of timing and making myself familiar with the route - I rarely go to Queens; I think I went to JFK once when I was a kid and I went to a Mets game, and I've never actually taken the subway out there. What's worse than getting lost on the way to the airport? Who wants to deal with that hassle? In my opinion, a quick recce just makes sense. Adventures in Urban Reconnaisance are most likely forthcoming.
Maybe I'll even take some pictures, who knows...
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