April 6th (Day 7)
Tuesday, April 6th, 2004 Mostly cloudy with hail occasionally, 50ºF
I woke up at 9 AM and finished the chips and swiss cheese and wraps off for breakfast. Since my travelcard expired, I bought day passes for today and tomorrow. I then took the Tube to St Paul's and followed "The City of the Dead" walk in my book. I saw criminal courts on Old Bailey. Anyone for a good hanging? I then saw the Golden Boy that marks the end of the fire in 1666. I saw the place where William Wallace (of Braveheart fame) was tortured and killed. Wretched English!
I followed the guidebook ignoring churches and landmarks. Small hail or sleet began to fall. Miserable. Off of Cornhill I took a left down St Michael's Alleyway. Down there is the Jamaica Wine House. Drab and dark it is the model for Ebenezer Scrooge's shop. I stopped in the rear courtyard of the St Michael's Church to relax and write notes. A man was sitting at another bench contently enjoying his lunch and the day. I continued through the twisty Victorian alleys past George and Vultures. I could not hear London traffic and these alleyways could be creepy at night! After snappnig this photo a guy came out of the tavern and gave me a dirty look. Ah, the English cheerfulness!
St Mary's has an evil history: murders passed off as suicides and sections of the building collapsed several times killing people each time. I walked past Williamson's Tavern which is the exact center of the City of London. I stopped in front of St James Garlick Hythe Church to make notes. The rain stopped temporarily. As I started for the East Thames Path, the rain returned. I took the Thames Path to the Tower Hill tube. A newspaper headline touted the efficiency of the Metropolitan Police: "Tube Terror Strike Foiled." I believe the intention was to release a nerve gas in a busy station, like Piccadilly Circus. With total trust, I took the train to Green Park.
I walked the two parks. It was raining steadily by the time I was on the far side of The Serpentine in Hyde Park. The Serpentine is a man-made pond that is large enough to actually have a slight current on a windy day. It is impressive. I stopped for lunch in a cafe called the Lido. Yuppie over-priced health food crap and service with a scowl were the winning combination for this dinky place. I ignored the Yuppies and workers and they ignored by dripping wet clothes. I ate leek & potato soup, chips, a banana, an apple, and Blackthorn Cider. It was all good but very overpriced (£3.25 or $6 for a small bowl of soup!). The Cider was excellent and heavy. Worn out by the rain it was nice to stumble out of that cafe. I was warmer as I returned through Green Park to the tube stop there. Dinner was the usual magnificence of sandwiches and chips! I watched a documentary about the Union Pacific Railroad construction. I liked the re-enactment device of storytelling. It's much more exciting than the Ken Burns' method. I used to doze off watching Ken Burns while waiting for Doctor Who!
I walked about 5 miles today.
Wednesday, April 7th, 2004 Partly cloudy, 50ºF The hotel held my bags for the day. I was wondering if I would have to lug them around London waiting for my afternoon flight! No maps for this day, just words. I'm tired of scanning in maps!
On the way to Gloucester Road an Asian guy asked me for directions. At the station I was asked for directions by another attractive girl. Phew! After riding the Underground for a while, I walked around Kensington Gardens and most of Hyde Park. There's a lot of fancy car dealerships and clubs on Bayswater Road north of Hyde Park. I walked by Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College. I looked at exhibits outside of the Natural History Museum. They were photographs taken from a helicopter of landscapes around the world.
I fetched my bags and got on the Tube to Heathrow. The bags were a bit awkward and I made a good fool of myself by nearly falling over on several occasions. One girl kept making eye contact. I assumed that she was a sympathetic Brit so I said hello on the escalator. She turned out to be another foreigner. I should've known because she wasn't ugly like a lot of British women. Sorry, UK but your women are not known for their beauty. Just like you all have bad teeth!
The plane ride was good. This plane was full. I watched Paycheck and a low budget British epidemic film named Breakout. The stewardess was, yet again, amazed when I asked for pop instead of soda.
I was happy that I hired a car to drive me home from the airport. The driver, Richard, reminded me of the chauffeur in Joe Versus the Volcano. He was intelligent and sure about himself, and of little importance a slightly greying black guy. He has some interesting ideas about the power of the brain and the actual level of our perception. I was not at the top of my game because I was quite tired. However, I seemed alert enough for him. He is writing a book that he hopes to publish soon. He told me the title is Sensory Synchroncity. Watch for it.
Back home and tired but happy.
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