(Lola, you would have liked the Tower of London, we got to see a rack, and another torture device that sort of squished people instead of pulling them apart.)
I thought I had solved my computer power issue, but alas, I have not. Down to 25% juice, I shall have to try again tomorrow. I spent a little while at the British Museum, an amazing collection! I guess being the colonizer for a lot of years gives you a head start on collecting antiquities. I will post a few photos once I have a way to recharge my tablet. (Lola, I took a picture of an actual human skull).
I have tried, but failed, to figure out which side of the sidewalk is appropriate to walk on in England. Since they drive on the left, I wondered if that changed the usual rules about walking on the right. If there is some protocol, I could not tell. I seemed always to be going against the grain, whichever side I tried.
Today I took my first of several train trips, from London St Pancras to Brussels. In order to board the train I had to go through French passport control, which was a surprise. I should have realized, but did not, that I would be going through France. I was excited about the Chunnel, but it was a rather dark and sleep inducing interlude. My seatmate spoke only French, so we had very little to talk about. The train hurtled along at a high rate of speed (Clay, I need that app you have for telling the speed of the train). At the places where we ran parallel to the highway, we were going much faster than any autos,
The French countryside looked amazingly like Wisconsin from the distance of the train. I saw fields of corn, some legumes, and some plowed and empty fields, holstein cows and brick houses. I wish I could have said when we left France for Belgium but it was not marked as far as I could see. As soon as I got to Brussels, I went in search of a ticket on the train to Bruges. I had some language problems, and had no Euro coins for the toilet. Not the most comfortable hour, but eventually ended up with a ticket and here I am. I had thought that with the summer over, Bruges might not be so busy, but boy was I wrong. And of course I failed to note that this is Friday. So when I went to the hotel I had picked out, it was full, as was the one across the street. Ok, deep breath, there will be a place somewhere. I walked on and saw a sign for a B&B, and rang their bell. They had no room but Benedict and Rita took my under their wing. First I was invited in while they figured out who might have room. Then I was upstairs in their living room while Rita searched online. Then Benedict decided to escort me to the place that they thought had room. This turned out to be a false lead, and so we went on, with Benedict pushing his bicycle (he planned to ride it home after getting me set) and asking each innkeeper, who then suggested another. One finally called the place I am staying now, and it was as much a relief to get Benedict off the hook as it was to get a room. I am pretty sure he was repenting of his good deed by then, but unable to desert me. If anyone is going to Bruges, check out B&B Huyze Walburga (www.huyzewalburga.be), I can vouch for Benedict and Rita. I still can`t believe they went so out of their way for a complete stranger. I have this room only for tonight, so I will have to make a new plan tomorrow. But first I will explore this town. It is incredibly beautiful, with canals, and medieval buildings.
Until I get my power issue resolved I will be offline from here on out, I fear.
Grand adventure
![Grand adventure](<table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(https://www.gstatic.com/pwa/s/v/lighthousefe_20141019.00_p1/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/117262794551578669230/TheGrandAdventure?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QFD-iUPqGjY/VB27twViKmE/AAAAAAAAGc0/p6UhZsdj3Dc/s160-c/TheGrandAdventure.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/117262794551578669230/TheGrandAdventure?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">The Grand Adventure</a></td></tr></table>)
the unknown road
Friday, September 19, 2014
a few photos from London
Early morning Chinatown
On Trafalgar Square
Clay, this is for you
On the way to Buckingham/Palace
Westminster Abbey
St Paul's Cathedral
Teri, I found your bike
Tower of London
The Traitor`s Gate, where Anne Boleyn entered before her untimely demise
Tower Bridge
All the cabs I saw were this type of carThursday, September 18, 2014
unplugged
In the days leading up to leaving, I couldn't quite get my mind around this trip-I felt as though I should perhaps pinch myself, because how could it be that things would work out to allow me the opportunity for such a trip? Already after one day here I have settled into a traveling frame of mind, and this now is my reality. Real life has fallen away, helped by not having a phone to check, not being able to text or call folks at home.
I've discovered that I forgot sunscreen, and broke my sunglasses en route, but these are easy to address. More challenging is my tablet charger. Last night I had stopped in a coffee shop to get online, and plugged in my adapter, and attached my charger cord. It popped and smoked and leaked something dark that seemed rather vital. I quickly pulled it out and laid it on the table. My neighbor at the next table and I then sort of stared at it for a minute. There is more than one way to connect to people, it appears. The guy at the front desk of my hotel could not give me a name of a store but told me which street it is on, so I am detouring this morning to replace the fried plug and adapter. While the idea of being completely off-grid for a time is appealing, I am fairly sure I will get a bit of that later in the trip.
Yesterday was the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and lots of wandering. I'm reading (re-reading, it turns out) Patrick Leigh Fermor's book about his travels in Europe in, I think, the 1930's. Last night when he talked about Picadilly, the Mint, Trafalgar Square and more, I smiled because now I actually have been to those places and the names have more meaning as a result. Alas, we part ways today, because he headed through Holland, and I'm off to Brussels on the 2:00 train. Why? I don't know, nor do I have a plan, a hotel reservation or even a map. I know I miss things sometimes by failing to investigate in advance, but there is something freeing about this approach to travel. I did read quite a bit about the various places I will visit, but I found myself getting weary of it sometime before I got to reading about Brussels.
how does this power thing work?
The day began early, because of course I could not sleep. Up and out wandering at 6 am, but that worked out well. The city was fairly quiet at that hour. I passed a coffee shop and stopped in. I did not see my usual café au lait on the menu, so I asked for a mix of coffee and steamed milk. Somehow this turned out to be only 99 pence, but I could not figure out why.
It turns out that the Queen opens up some of the state rooms in Buckingham Palace during the summer, so I got in on a tour. I walked, rode the Tube, and walked some more.
This place is closing, gotta go! I have apparently fried my charge cord, so will have to try to find something like Radio Shack. More when I can...
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Which side of the road?
It appears that my biggest challenges on this trip may be things like how to keep Google and my bank from blocking me. Getting the Tube into central London was simple, and there are street signs. London has the advantage of a shared language, although it is delightful to hear English spoken here. So when I got lost in the streets that seem to change names every few blocks, all I had to do was ask a random stranger. Clearly they are used to Yankees and others, because each intersection has a reminder "look right".
My hotel is right next to the British Museum, which gives me a great landmark to find the way home. My room is the size of a large closet, but the price and location are good. It's not as if I planned to spend much time in the room anyway. I tried hard to stay awake on the second leg of my flight but that was a battle I could not quite win. Still, I hope my head believes it really is time to go to bed soon. More soon, mostly just wanted to let you know I've landed on my feet.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
In preparation for the Grand Adventure
If you are reading this, you probably already know of my love for travel, especially to places I've never been, where the language and culture is foreign to me, and where I'm challenged and stretched, in my view of the world, in performing simple tasks such as finding a place to sleep, or the way onward.
For the past four years, I've put much of my life as I knew it on hold. I attended law school at night and worked during the day. Early on I realized I would need to act like an ostrich-for these four years, not much else existed outside the law; in order to survive, I ate, slept, lived law school. This left almost no time for traveling, because the one or two week break between semesters was mostly used for things like getting the oil changed, weeding the overgrown garden and other chores that had stacked up, particularly during the exam season at the end of each semester. And then, after law school, the lead up to the bar exam took things to a completely new level of intensity, with stakes too high to allow for anything but single-minded focus.
Then suddenly, it was all over. Where there had been an endless storm of immense proportions, now there was quiet, and stillness. For days, weeks, months, there were endless to-do lists and the climb in front of me seemed never to end, and then suddenly I had nowhere to be, and nothing that I must do. I won't know until Thanksgiving what the outcome is, and sitting around waiting for the results is not only unappealing, it's a criminal waste of precious days. I took some time for decompression, for all the things left undone for so long. And now, it's time for a grand adventure.
I'll be gone for two months, and I've found that planning for an extended absence involves some logistics. Fortunately, since taking the bar in late July, I've had time to work my way down the list. It required a bit of faith but I sent my passport off to London in early August to get my visas for Belarus, Russia and Uzbekistan. Just last week it returned, dressed up by colorful and exotic visas in strange script that excites and entices the wanderer in me. But off again the same day it went, this time for a visa to China. So I wait as patiently as I can for its return, scheduled for mid-week. And then I shall keep it close at hand until my departure on the 16th.
I've ostensibly been working on learning some basic Russian, but I confess that I've been lazy about that. No doubt I'll regret it soon but still I cannot seem to force myself to do very much mental heavy lifting. It's as though after the bar exam and all that went into preparing for it, my mind has said 'enough' for a while. I saw some people studying at Starbucks recently and was surprised at the feeling of almost revulsion I experienced. While I was in it, law school was exciting, engaging and intense. Now apparently, I'm done with that-let's just hope the CA Committee of Bar Examiners thinks so too. So I'll manage somehow on whatever Russian I can pick up. And in other places, I won't know the language at all.
These last few weeks have seemed to pass in slow motion at times, because my daily tasks have shrunk so. Oddly enough, getting those few done is harder than when I had a multitude of tasks each day. I'm ready to hit the road, and more than a little excited about this Grand Adventure. I hope you will come along with me.
For the past four years, I've put much of my life as I knew it on hold. I attended law school at night and worked during the day. Early on I realized I would need to act like an ostrich-for these four years, not much else existed outside the law; in order to survive, I ate, slept, lived law school. This left almost no time for traveling, because the one or two week break between semesters was mostly used for things like getting the oil changed, weeding the overgrown garden and other chores that had stacked up, particularly during the exam season at the end of each semester. And then, after law school, the lead up to the bar exam took things to a completely new level of intensity, with stakes too high to allow for anything but single-minded focus.
Then suddenly, it was all over. Where there had been an endless storm of immense proportions, now there was quiet, and stillness. For days, weeks, months, there were endless to-do lists and the climb in front of me seemed never to end, and then suddenly I had nowhere to be, and nothing that I must do. I won't know until Thanksgiving what the outcome is, and sitting around waiting for the results is not only unappealing, it's a criminal waste of precious days. I took some time for decompression, for all the things left undone for so long. And now, it's time for a grand adventure.
I'll be gone for two months, and I've found that planning for an extended absence involves some logistics. Fortunately, since taking the bar in late July, I've had time to work my way down the list. It required a bit of faith but I sent my passport off to London in early August to get my visas for Belarus, Russia and Uzbekistan. Just last week it returned, dressed up by colorful and exotic visas in strange script that excites and entices the wanderer in me. But off again the same day it went, this time for a visa to China. So I wait as patiently as I can for its return, scheduled for mid-week. And then I shall keep it close at hand until my departure on the 16th.
I've ostensibly been working on learning some basic Russian, but I confess that I've been lazy about that. No doubt I'll regret it soon but still I cannot seem to force myself to do very much mental heavy lifting. It's as though after the bar exam and all that went into preparing for it, my mind has said 'enough' for a while. I saw some people studying at Starbucks recently and was surprised at the feeling of almost revulsion I experienced. While I was in it, law school was exciting, engaging and intense. Now apparently, I'm done with that-let's just hope the CA Committee of Bar Examiners thinks so too. So I'll manage somehow on whatever Russian I can pick up. And in other places, I won't know the language at all.
These last few weeks have seemed to pass in slow motion at times, because my daily tasks have shrunk so. Oddly enough, getting those few done is harder than when I had a multitude of tasks each day. I'm ready to hit the road, and more than a little excited about this Grand Adventure. I hope you will come along with me.
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