Kim in London

Day One Done

2009-04-01T17:28:00.000-05:00

We had a near cancellation scare coming from Nashville to Dulles, but
after running our butts off, we made our flight. Very uneventful,
really. I slept more on the flight than I ever have. Unfortunately, I
think that left me TOO relaxed and I managed to leave my damn backpack
on the plane-my Treonwas in it, along with my straightener, my itouch
ac adaptor, my FAVORITE gold ballet flats and my cash previously
pictures. Thankfully, I'd taken my dad's camera out and had my
passport and debit cards in my other bag, so it wasn't as bad as it
could have been. I'm trying to just let it go..no stress.

Great tour guide, Gwen, and our hotel in a. great Earl's Court location.
Very clean and my room is HUGE for London.

We walked around Covent Gaedwn today. That's one place I never need to
see again. I'm really done with it: lots of tourists, pigeons,
overpriced food and bumpy cobblestones.

Dinner was Indian-some sort of curry chicken. Quite good. Early back
to hotel to deal with that clusterfvck and get folks in rooms, luggage
sorted, etc. I threw everyone into a tizzy by taking the wrong
suitcase and not realizing it. after freaking out one of my group for
thirty minutes, I realized the mix up.

Scary that I'm taking thirty people to the theater tomorrow night on
my own, isn't it?

Mudt go eat-I do it every hour here, without fail. Tomorrow is PRIMARK
DAY! I can hardly wait!

I'm Tired of Summits, Thank You Very Much

2009-03-31T13:55:00.002-05:00

As mentioned, I was in London on 7/7. What I hadn't realized was that the bombings were linked to the G8 summit. Somehow that had slipped my mind. That's making the news of the massive protests over the G20 a little more unsettling to me. I just pray that my kids' parents aren't watching the news like I am right now. It's going to be a traffic and security nightmare as it is. I'm thinking the less we're on the Tube, the better and the sooner we're out of London, the better I'm going to feel. It really pisses me off to say that, too, since there is really no city in the world I'd rather be in than London.

I'm packed and about to change into plane clothes and load up the car. It's going to be a long night, but I'm hoping the cough medicine will kick in and knock me out on the way over. I don't want to be jetlagging on top of all this damn stress.

2009-03-31T04:45:00.001-05:00

Testing posting via text even though my phone won't work overseas.

Email Posting

2009-03-31T04:43:00.001-05:00

Just testing blogger via email.

Here We Go Again!

2009-03-30T21:07:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow I leave for London on another school trip--10 days to London, Paris, Florence and Rome. I'm especially psyched because I've never been to Italy AND I have a better camera thanks to my daddy letting me borrow his. This trip will be more about pictures (and clothing, of course) than the chotski I usually buy. One can only have so many tiny Eiffel Towers and Big Bens, you know.

I thought that it would be best to document this trip from the earliest stages since I'm all about detail in the beginning and not so much at the end. ADHD in action, folks. Some may remember the great suitcase search of 2005--that was quite a struggle and I'm sorry to say that the suitcase is not making the trip this time because it was so frigging big I kept overloading it on the return trip. I've had to throw away books and overpack carryons every time, so that sucker is in the attic and in its place is a gorgeous new black Delsey that was a gift last Christmas...and I've probably already blogged about it because I lvoe my suitcase, but it's just that fabulous. Much better.

I'm trying to keep it to one suitcase and one carry on, plus my travel bag (which is enormous beyond all reason, but will look very chic in Paris). Packing has never been my strong suit, but I'm trying desperately to cut down on the clothes so I can bring cool new clothes home. The weather is going to be tricky since London and Rome are quite different, but so far, fingers crossed, rain isn't a big issue and it should be fairly warm. I'm the Queen of Jackets, so I'm doing the travel-wardrobe layering look. Shoes are a concern, but I'll make them work. Black is very forgiving.

I've waited to pack until tonight--aka the night before I leave. This is unlike me. Usually I have most non-clothing items packed, but not tonight. I started at 7:00 and, well, you can see how it's gone thus far:

Phase I: Sorting it all out. This is a rough phase, made that much harder by the fact that I've managed to lose my French electric adapter. I do, however, have two that can be used on my next trip to Fiji.

Obviously, this is not all going to fit in the carry on...and I am NOT taking a bigger carry-on...I hope.

I'm going to take lots of black clothes since it's Europe and they hide the dirt, so I thought, "What the hell, let's get a shot of the lens cap, too." It was on purpose. Really.

Suitcase--until 7:45 this is all that was in it. Three jackets, a pair of jeans and a belt (leftover from my birthday trip to Jasper).

This is it at 8:29...there's a lot more in it. Progress is being made. Note the gray and black skirts on the top of the pile--you will see them in many photos. Not sure about that plaid coat because it's gonna wrinkle like hell. And that watch is about as ugly as it can be, but I needed one with an alarm...What that white stuff is, I have no idea since I don't usually pack much white for London since it all just gets icky.
I found the passport last week--for those who don't know, this is not always such an easy task. I'm very proud to announce that THIS passport is going to make it through 4 overseas trips! A personal record for Kim's passports. I had one that made it one trip and another that did three...well, technically, I think it actually made it to Mexico, too, but that wasn't really OVERseas, so this passport--#3--is the winner. Evil #2 hid in the storage drawer in my van and cost me $100 and a near heart attack when I was heading to London in 2005 (note the stamp in #3). I made it, though, and was there just in time to see the Olympics announcement, go to bed and wake up to the subway nightmares. I didn't realize I had the July 6 stamp.
I rounded up the pounds and euros to take along. That would be 22 pounds (I'm too lazy to find the symbol) and 3 euros and some change or roughly $31 and $4. Not bad. I found the ten pound note when I was cleaning all the Tube passes and receipts out of the passport holder. That's my trusty EF phone card there, too. It's been on several trips with me as well.

Now I have to go see if I can find my Top-Up card for my London mobile phone or else I'm afraid it's going to be useless. That I found the charger for the damn thing is a bloody miracle.

Trip Update.

2007-10-06T16:50:00.000-05:00

I've been woefully neglectful of this, but I've just been busy and tired. Here's a summary and I'll update more later.

MONDAY
Flight from Nashville to Chicago. I slept at the airport and the entire way to Chicago. Short layover there--like 2 hours. Uneventful, if cramped, flight to London.

TUESDAY
Arrival at Heathrow. Waited about 30 minutes in Passport Control and then on to baggage where our bags were all waiting for us. Quick trip to the loo to change my clothes and we were off to Heathrow Connect to travel to Paddington Station. While there, we hit the ATMs for some pounds and EAT for some lunch.

Arrived in Paddington with our piles of luggage (as God is my witness, I shall never travel with a big suitcase again) and grabbed a cab to take us to the flat's check-in site. We were there at 11.30 and couldn't check in until 2.00, so we dropped our bags and went out--after I changed clothes yet again because I was FREEZING in a skirt and tights.

We walked up and purchased our Travel Cards to use while there--23.10 (so 46 bucks) or so each. The good news is that Five is able to use a child's 1 pound card for all day travel, so that sort of balances out. Once we had our travel cards, we headed over to Oxford Street for some shopping at Primark. Then we took a bus up to Westminster so that Five could see the Abbey and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. He was suitably impressed. Rode the bus and got an idea of what was where.

Back to the office to check in. The trek from the office to the flat was hellacious, to put it mildly. Did I mention that I am NEVER taking a big suitcase to London again? We were nearly dead by the time we arrived. The flat turned out to be lovely--small, but it's a studio in London, so we expected that.

Once we had settled our stuff in, we headed up to Tesco Express on Queensway for groceries--ended up stopping at a Spar (?), too. Bought milk, water, butter, juice and the like. Early night that night--we were all half dead--ate leftover sandwiches and Five made mac and cheese (we brought from home).

WEDNESDAY

Five and I were going to go on a Beatles tour while Mom checked out the National Gallery, but I'm a bonehead and didn't check the brochure, so we were at the right location, but three hours too early. Ooops. He took it well--we're going next Wednesday instead. We had three hours to kill before we were meeting Mom, so he and I made it to Trafalgar Sq. from Tottenham Ct. Rd. via Leicster Sq. and Chinatown (there was preparation for a movie premiere going on in the square at the Odeon, which was cool to see). At Trafalgar we took pictures at the foot of the Nelson Column with the lions, then we decided to head down to see Buckingham Palace--we walked the Mall. Not a short walk, but not too terribly painful, either. We wandered around there for a bit and then walked on up to Victoria Station to catch a bus back to Trafalgar. Went into the station just to check it out, grabbed a snack from Starbucks and hit the bus. When we arrived at Trafalgar, Mom was waiting for us, so we all went over to the Pret there for lunch and then back for an hour to look at the pictures. Five was fairly bored, but did find some that interested him. I cannot for the life of me remember what we did that night--I'll have to check the pictures and figure it out.

THURSDAY
Big touristy event day: Tower of London in the morning and British Museum after lunch. This? is a helluva lot of walking. I mean a HELL of a lot. Feet were screaming by day's end, but we had a great time at both places. Excellent guide on the Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour--Paul. Spent a lot of time in the Egyptian exhibits at the museum. After all of this, we decided to make our way to the Eye for them to ride. I waited and read the paper--they enjoyed it. Only abouta 30 minute wait from ticket queue to getting on the ride.

Dinner in the pub.

FRIDAY
Leather lane
Silver Vaults
Borough
St. Paul's
pizza

SATURDAY
Portobello Rd
Camden Town
Kensington Gardens and Broad Walk
Waffle House in Bayswater
London Walk Ghosts of the Old City

Heading back

2007-09-30T23:16:00.000-05:00

Five and I are leaving tomorrow for his first trip to London. We're packed and pretty much ready. I think it's a personal record--I don't need to run buy anything tomorrow, I'm not waiting on anything to finish up in the dryer and I am not dead tired or all jittery.

Will update once we arrive--assuming we survive the trip and the schlep of 100 lbs. of luggage from Heathrow to Bayswater--still not sure on the best method of transport. We're going to assess our level of deadness upon arrival and choose between tube and a train to get in from the airport.

Ten days, staying in a studio flat--we'll probably be bat shit crazy after all that together time in such a confined place, but I'm looking forward to the trip. Very excited to see how Five reacts to seeing the touristy things and also looking forward to hitting the markets: Portobello, Camden, Spitalsfiled and Borough for sure. Oh, and Primark on Oxford St. I'm soooo going shopping this trip. Can.not.wait!

Busy Weekend

2007-04-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

We did a great deal of touristy-type things this weekend. So far, so good.

On Saturday we made our way to Camden Town for the markets. It is much better to visit them in sunshine than in rain and while wearing tennies instead of flip-flops as I did during my last visit. We wandered the stalls for over an hour and found all sorts of fun things. I got a very cute hat.

We decided to take a bus from Camden to the main part of the city, so we hopped on the number 24, which takes a straight shot into the heart of London, past all the touristy spots. A great route, but it doesn't stop at Victoria Station as I thought it did, so we ended up getting off at Pimlico. Typical for me--I have to overshoot my destination at least once every trip. It's much more frustrating when you have six other people tagging along, though.

From Pimlico, it was on to Harrod's for requisite touristy shopping and lunch in Knightsbridge. Much shopping was done, lunch was eaten in a very crowded McDonald's (where three of us carried in our Eat bags and just bought chips and drinks). Then we headed bac to Earl's Court to drop our stuff and make our way over to Covent Garden to look arounda bit before dinner. It was packed with people and I took two of the kids on a search for the Foot Locker. We were given at least four sets of directions as to how to find the silly place, but none of them were exactly spot on. We walked most of the way around the piazza of Covent Garden, then up the hill to the tube station and down one of the side streets. We made it all the way to Leicester Square and still no Foot Locker. Up another little side street--still no Foot Locker. We sat by a pillar for awhile, just assessing the situation and Matt asked several folks for directions, but none of them had any idea. Finally, we just decided to try one more street and set off back up the hill to the Tube and just on past it. Tucked in among all sorts of little shops, on a tiny little pedestrian street, we found it. We were jubilant. He was able to look around and find some shoes that he liked, but since they were 54 pounds, which is about $108 right now, he didn't get them. But we foudn it, which was most impressive.

Dinner was Chinese, but since Matt and Erin aren't big fans, we sought out another choice and ended up at Bella Italia. We had pizza and it was really good. Garlic bread too--yum.

To wrap up the night, we went to see Blue Man Group. Weird show, but that is to be expected, I suppose. Lots of flourescent lights, fluids flying and great percussion. I wouldn't go see it on my own again, but would absolutely take kids. It was very dynamic.

Sunday we headed to Oxford and Stratford--lots of bus riding for very little touring time, IMO, but it was nice to get out of the city. Stratford is incredibly overdone--very Gatlinburgish, so I don't really care to go back. Cute little shops and stuff, but overpriced.

Will wrap up the trip tales soon. Must recover from jetlag now.

Universal Truth

2007-04-15T23:25:00.000-05:00

No matter what country or time zone you may find yourself in, it is no fun to be awakened from a dead sleep by the sound of a fire alarm at 1:47 a.m. Nor is it amusing when the damn thing goes off again, five minutes later.

This is the truth according to Kimmah.

fun with keyboards

2007-04-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

not even going to try to use the caps because the shift key is in an unfamiliar place and when i try to use it, i end up with \\\\ instead. so no caps. sorry.

it's saturday--we're about halfway done with our trip . we spent today on shopping excursions. we started off in camden town at the camden market, which was fun. i found some killer coats and i am hoping that they will still have some type of coat in june when i come back...didn't want to buy one today. i bought a hat instead. it's olive and all distressed and soooo not something i would spend money on back home, but i like it, so bought.

then we went to harrods, which was positively mobbed with touristst and since i'm no longer eating sweets, sort of a bore for me. it was nice to see reactions to it, though. after that we went to lunch at mc'ds. yum. not. two of the adults and i stopped at eat. on the way and got a sandwich, then went to get fries. mcds was crammed full of people and we barely managed to get a table for the group, but we did. i saved half of my sandwich to eat later ebcause i can't eat a whole one of the ciabatta ham and swiss. well, somehow the stupid thing got thrown away when we left. that makes me ill, partly because it cost £3.53 9 (X2 for the dollar amount), but mostly because i was looking forward to eating it tonight when i got back to the hotel. oh well.

then we headed over to covent garden after stopping at the hotel. i wandered around covent garden, all the way back down to leicster square and then finally to soho looking for a foot locker for one of the kids. i thought we would never find it--we got different directions from every person whom we asked. finally, after almost 40 minutes of looking, we found it.

dinner was chinese, but all i would eat was the carby part and two of the kids wouldn't eat any of it, so we went and had dinner at bella italia instead. very good. we had garlic bread and pizza---carbs go better with cheese.

am off to go see blue man group now. it doesn't start until nine. i imagine i will be sound asleep 10 minutes into the show. i'm starting to feel the sleep deprivation today.

Bullet Points So Far

2007-04-13T02:36:00.000-05:00

I need to write more, but I'm so freaking tired that I can't make cohesive paragraphs, so here are random notes:

1. I still adore the Tube.

2. Leicster Square gets less amusing and entertaining the more I go there.

3. London hospitals rock--they give out free crutches and health care to Americans who trip on bumpy sidewalks and get bad ankle sprains (not me, one of our group).

4. Wicked is a phenomonal musical.

5. there is really no reason to eat baked beans for breakfast that I can think of.

6. Americans have no room to talk about dominance and superiority until they can match the Tower of London in age, grandeur, backstory or bling.

7. EAT. is still my favorite restaurant.

8. I love to hear people say, "Cheers".

9. London women wear some bad, bad makeup.

10. I would move here in a heartbeat.

Weird Look-A-Like Things London

2007-04-11T17:07:00.001-05:00

i cannot use caps--the shift key is in a weird place. those of you that may have read my french ramblings a few years ago will remember how fond i am of foreign keyboards--not much. so no caps, which is also nothing new for me in general use because i don't cap in posts or in emails, but i do try to observe some semblance of professionalism while blogging (stop laughing).

annnnyyyyywwaaaaaaay. on the flight yesterday--wow, is there more to that story, but will have to wait until i'm rested--i looked up from my seat in the fantabulous business seating and you will never guess who was sitting in front of us. seriously, go ahead and guess. you won't get it. i'll wait.
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jack black. i did a quintuple take and then asked the girl next to me who, as soon as i said, 'jack black' pointed to him. so i wasn't the only one. naturally, i was intrigued ebcause why would jack black be flying business class and not first class and why would be fly out of dulles. so, i had to get up and walk around and look. the full frontal facial view didn't have such a strong resemblence, but i am still reserving final call until i do some research.

then, tonight, we went to see wicked--best musical i've seen in a long, long, long time--and at intermission, i nearly tripped over a guy who looked really familar. cary--are you reading? i swear, it was brad the delt's twin. it was eery. he was with a woman and a child--the woman didn't look anythign like the chick--lisa?--frm college--at least not that my feeble memory can remember, but who knows. it was uber strange and if it wasn't him then he has a twin running around the uk at this very moment.

have had almost no sleep since i got up at 5.30 tuesday morning--it's after 11 wednesday night here, so i am leaving and will try to do a better, less psycho blog tomorrow when i've slept and showered.

Make That Kim In Nashville

2007-04-10T06:56:00.000-05:00

Oy.

I've had some adventures in travel--kids with lost passports, running through Newark to make connections with 15 kids, getting stuck in Toronto for two days due to an ice storm, kid stranded in Chicago due to same ice storm, busses having minor wrecks, students getting sick, and then the whole 7/7 thing a couple of years ago, so this latest installment in Travel With Kim is not that extreme, really, but it is irritating and frustrating beyond belief.

Instead of lunching in London this morning, I am breakfasting at the La Quinta Nashville airport eating oatmeal and toast. It's all free (damn good thing) and we'll be leaving today for London around 1.00. We have $25 worth of food vouchers to use at the airport, so we plan to stock up on whatever we can for free. Then we'll attempt to get to Dulles once again.

The problem? Not weather, not mechanical--just flat out ineptitude. Evidently, from what was announced, United had TWO first officers show up for the flight instead of one, which didn't seem like a problem initially, just a delay. Welllllll, then about fifteen minutes later, and when we were supposed to be about to take-off, they announced that the flight was CANCELLED due to a lack of ANY qualified first officer. Seriously. From two to zero, just like that.

At first, I assumed they would just fly us to Dulles on another airline or let us go via another hub, but it soon became obvious that wasn't going to happen. No other flights to D.C. on any airline and precious few to a city where we might get to London at night. So we resigned ourselves to staying another night.

After much working and manuevering, the best ticketing agent ever, Stacy, rebooked us on a flight today to Dulles and then on to London (actually on two flights that arrive twenty minutes apart). Business Class. So I'm not as irate as I might be, provided I do actually get to sit in THIS on my way there:

Sooooooo, we'll see how it goes. Hopefully next time I log on here, it will be from London.

Airport Fun

2007-04-09T16:44:00.000-05:00

Why do we have to be at the airport three fricking hours before our flights? Why, why, why. It is the dumbest rule ever. I normally wouldn't get here that early, but since I'm responsible for other people, I figured it was good to follow the rules, however stupid they are. So now I sit here, using the non-free internet in Nashville and drinking a $2.11 bottle of Nestle water. Yes, about 3.5 times more than I would pay at home, but they hold you captive with the new security rules.

It's a total racket.

Crisis Averted

2007-04-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

New camera purchased, spending money diminished considerably. Now just have to wait until it's time to go to the airport. I hate waiting.

Typical

2007-04-09T08:19:00.000-05:00

My digital camera is broken as of this morning. I tried to turn it on and the lens is totally screwed up and won't go back in. It just keeps saying reset camera. I did NOT need this today. Ugh.

Almost Ready

2007-04-08T19:42:00.000-05:00

Most of the clothing is packed with room to spare. Carry-on bag is packed. Just have to put together my stuff in my laptop bag and I should be set. This is far too easy. I feel as if I must be leaving something very important behind. Not good.

Packing Sucks

2007-04-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

I'm a terrible packer. I do this every time I travel--I try to plan out "outfits" and end up taking far too much crap wherever I go. When I get there, invariably, I only wear the same three things over and over, in different mixes, because the weather sucks, my other shoes are uncomfortable, or whatever. Yet, here I sit, two days before I leave and my suitcase is brimming with clothing. I can't make decisions, so I have about four lightweight sweaters. I have three or four jackets to take--lightweight, outfit jackets, not coats. I have long and short sleeved t-shirts. Jeans and pants. Etc. I wasn't going to take my giant suitcase because, well, it's giant, but now it's clear that I will have to if I intend to make any purchases or take things such as shampoo and a hairdryer (and I must take a hairdryer because those in the hotels that our tour company provides are usually not that great, if they are even present).

I read on a travel board where a woman said she was going to Europe for three weeks and she was taking two pair of pants, two skirts, three shirts and a couple of cardigans and jackets. At this moment I have at least five t-shirts packed--some long, some short-sleeved. And then there are the three light-weight sweaters and the jackets and the blouse or two. Granted, she's planning on doing laundry and I'm not, but SERIOUSLY? There is just no way. I guess since I am not really crammed for space--the big suitcase is not a big deal except being a bit unwieldy--I should just embrace the wardrobe and move on because I know that as sure as I leave a long-sleeved tee back here, something will stain one and rip the other and then I'll freeze to death. If I'm prepared, I'll just wear the black one over and over and y'all can laugh when I post pictures.

Crises Averted

2007-04-04T08:32:00.000-05:00

Iran has released the hostages. This is great news on a number of fronts; selfishly, I am most glad because that means I don't have to worry about some international incident causing me grief on my trip. BTDT and I don't want to try it while accompanied by other people's children.

Second, I've found my passport and have placed it securely in my underwear drawer until such time as I put it in my carry-on bag. I would have put it in the freezer (in case of fire) but I was afraid we'd have another ice-maker melt down. The lock box isn't a sure bet either, since knowing me I'd lose the key suddenly. So drawer it is.

Now, on to the next disaster-in-the-making. As of just a moment ago, the UK/US exchange rate is 1.97. Fuuuuuuuuuuck. That's obscene. Truly. I was distressed about 1.75 last time. Who knew that I would be tickled to see that number again. This means that I will be bringing back no souvenirs for anyone other than my children. They will be getting whatever free shit is in the hotel and maybe, maybe a cheap plastic toy in the .99p bin. I'm aghast. This is going to suck rocks. I'm thinking my plan to go see a play on the cheap is a no-go unless I can get tickets for about 20 pounds (need to find the pound symbol key, but I'm too lazy).

Damn You, Iran. Damn You.

2007-04-01T19:59:00.000-05:00

WHY can I not plan an international trip without some drama simmering in the background or exploding in my face upon arrival? Seriously, the last overseas school trip I took was in April following 9/11. Finally, after years of building up the idea, we get another trip together, albeit with a much smaller group, and dammit, an international incident involving Britain has to come up.

Perhaps I am a travel jinx?

It's That Time Again, Kids!

2007-03-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, time to get packed and ready to head back to my second favorite country, jolly old England. I'm taking a very, very small school group over on the 9th and we're staying for ten days. I've packed nothing. I've planned nothing to wear. I don't even have a suitcase for this trip. The one I bought the last time-described here--is just entirely too large for this trip. I am trying to keep my stuff more managable this time around, plus I've lost a bunch of weight so I don't actually need as much room for my clothes as I used to. I haven't even actually laid eyes on my passport in months. I guess I better get in the mood. I think I'm going to read old blog entries to fire up some excitement.

In Limbo

2005-08-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

I'm still jetlagging a bit. I'm almost back on a "normal" sleep schedule, but I wake up about twice a night and cannot get back to sleep. I'm also just still dead tired from the lack of sleep, travel tired, etc. I hope that it will all get caught up by the weekend.

I find myself missing certain things from time to time. I can't believe that I was able to look up at any time and see St. Paul's. I miss hearing Kate's lilting voice calling us to this or that activity. I can also still hear the staff at Eat or other little stores saying, "Can I help?" It was just so much more civilised than here, you know.

What Time Is It?

2005-07-30T18:50:00.000-05:00

I'm home now--back in Tennessee after what feels like the longest day of travel ever in some ways and in others, a relatively short one. Coming home on a day flight from Europe is just hell, in my opinion. It's daylight all the way, there are loud children who refuse to sleep, people don't close the window shades, sleeping messes up your nap schedule...I hate it. Right now it's almost 1 a.m. in London. I got up at 5:15 a.m. London time, which was 11 p.m. local time yesterday. I'm so screwed up right now that my brain hurts--numbers have that effect on me.

The flights were both some of the most painless I've had coming home, though. I was able to sleep and I had good books. I didn't even try to watch the movie and Delta has plenty of leg room and head room in coach. On the Atlanta to Nashville leg I splurged and spent $50 and upgraded to first class. It was nice to have a little bit more room, although I sure wouldn't pay the first class prices for those seats. It wasn't THAT much nicer for such a short flight. The biggest perk was getting off the plane in such short order.

I was greeted at the airport with flowers, which was lovely. We stopped off at the farm to see the new piglets--six of them and are now home. I've had a shower and I feel truly clean for the first time in a long time. I don't know if it was the hard water or the soap or a combination of things, but I've never felt more ookey in my life. Next time I'm packing a bar of Dial.

The little boys will be home in a bit, so I'm going to go dig out their gifts because I'm sure they'll be asking for them very shortly. We'll do dinner and then BED! Tomorrow I must unpack. Egads.

RenAYsance Dance

2005-07-29T23:35:00.000-05:00

Today we spent a couple of hours learning a pavane and a pastoral dance from one of the dance masters here. I'd explain exactly what those are, but you could just go google instead and save me the time and effort.

It was funny to see us trying to be graceful and wearing capris and tennies as we listened to music from the period. I was quite proud of us by the end, though, becauase we really had it together AND there was a small group of tourists walking by the open door who stopped to watch us and they clapped and clapped for us when we were done.

The title of this post is in reference to the English pronunciation of the word Renaissance. I just love to hear them say it. It's so much prettier.

Thanks, Friends.

2005-07-29T23:24:00.000-05:00

Who was it that told me it was a good idea to bring all these clothes? ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! Now I have to find a place to put them.

I do love to pack for the trip OVER, but I hate, hate, hate packing for the trip going home. My room is awash in trash, tags, shopping bags, empty water bottles, wrappers and all sorts of flotsam here and there that I've been dropping in a vain effort to try and make 25 days worth of expenditures fit into one extra carry-on bag. Okay, so I didn't purchase something EVERY day, but when I did, i seemed to buy the most bulky, space-eating things in Great Britain so I am having to be very creative in my approach to loading it all up for the return trip.

Oh, FYI, the detergent isn't going to make it back. I'm going to consider it some sort of nice charitable contribution to the college students of London. There is no way on earth I can make room for it. The bathroom cleaner, paper towels and unused soap are staying, too.

I can't believe tomorrow morning. It doesn't seem possible that this is all over. I'm ready to come home, but I'm also not ready to leave....and I can't wait to come back again. We're already hoping for TSTP II.

I'll have to put some more details about various activities on here when I get home and can process things more clearly and figure out what is what and what I've left out, but for now....

Cheers.

Bravo!

2005-07-29T02:20:00.000-05:00

The lon-awaited debut of Kim on the Globe stage has now passed. It was every bit as momentous as you might imagine. It was loads of fun and noce to seee the long hours of work pay off.

The task that we had was to present act 1 scene i of The Tempest with only props and text, no sound effects or vocal effects or instruments. There were three other groups and they had limitations as well: one was only text, one could only use vocal effects and text, and one could only use musical effects and props. If you've never seen or read the play, then this might not seem that difficult, but trust me, it is. The scene takes place on a ship in a storm. It's important that you create the sense of the stgorm building on the stage.

Our scene was a lot of fun. We had a phenomonal director, who also took her time to teach us things to use in the classroom, which was most helpful because that is what the essence of this experience is. Our little group really group really bonded during the process and we learned to trust each other and feel completely at ease in our exercises--it will be hard to say good bye tomorrow night.

Seeing the four interpretations was amazing. It's so incredible to see the four very different ways that the same scene can be played. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a copy of a video to use in class to demonstrate that and to show how there is no one "right" way to do anything.

It was very envigorating to be on that stage. Acting is such hard work, though. I realize that as I sit here and I'm dead tired. We've run ourselves to death for this scene and it was only seven minutes long--an entire play of The Tempest here is two hours or more. I can't even imagine the toll those rehearsals must take.
b
We start late tomorrow, so I'm hoping to sleep in. I have the most arduous of all tasks still before me--packing. It's going to be a challenge. I fear I am not up to it.

Bomb Scare Closer to Home

2005-07-28T19:59:00.000-05:00

Evidently there was some sort of bomb threat at my tube station tonight. bAs I was coming home from the Globe in a cab tnight, we drove past the Southwark tube station. there was a huge crowd of people forming outside of it and naturally, being me, my first though wasn't, "A bomb!", it was, "Wonder why there would be a LINE at the tube?" Duh.

I don't think it was anything serious because we're not hearing sirens constantly, but you never know. I'm not there, though, and shouldn't be on the tub again for my stay unless there is some unexpected event tomorrow. I am officially taking a cab to Victoria station on Saturday--not out of fear, but out of sheer volume of luggage.

I'm behind on updates and I'll try to catch them up later. We've been very busy the past two days and I'm off to nap and then rehearse again for now.

Typcially London

2005-07-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

And suddenly there was rain. And lots of it. We went from the heat wave to rain and cloud. Last night I wore a sweater and a jacket to the theater and I was still chilly in the a/c. This is the way the weather here works. You never know what you're going to get.

Greenwich was lovely yesterday. No rain while we were there. It was much larger than I had expected and much more spread out. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked, but I saw the Cutty Sark and popped into the Naval Observatory to see the Prime Meridian (it was an utter madhouse) and wandered through a couple of exhibitions in the Maritime Museum. We had a delicious lunch at a pub, too. All in all a nice afternoon.

Our mode of transport was the DLR or the Docklands Light Railroad. It's a train that feels basically like the tube only not underground and a bit slower. It has the advantage of allowing you to see the city, but the majority of what you see is rather depressing because the area of London that it takes you through is the very epitome of blighted. That it is until you get to Canary Warf and then suddenly it's as if you're on a movie set and then VOILA! It's a city! Very hip, urban, and smart. I got off there on the way back to change to the underground to go back to Southwark and wandered around a bit. Some people had said it wasn't wort seeing because it's nothing special, but I disagree. It's gorgeous, for one, and it also shows you a totally different side of London where masses of people live and work. I wouldn't go there for a day or anything, but it was interesting. Nice shops and restaurants, too.

And now I must ready myself for a morning of shopping and walking in the rain. We have late rehearsals tonight--11-2 again--so today and tomorrow are the last days to do any touristy things before we go home. I'm anxious to get the last few things done so I can then worry about packing all of this stuff somehow...and then there will the monumental task of getting to the airport, but I'll worry about that on Saturday.

It's Pricey to be a Brit

2005-07-25T23:02:00.000-05:00

FYI, it costs nothing short of a boatload of money to live and work in London--even the modest borough of Southwark (which, by the way is pronounced Suthuk, not South Wark in case you're interested). Considering the horrendous exchange rate, it makes me fairly ill to think about how much money I spend on something as simple as lunch, but there really isn't much choice, so I've just had to suck it up and do it.

When you come to a foriegn country and deal in another currency, I firmly believe that it's in your best interest to just adjust your thinking to that currency, so that's what I've done this month. I cannot let myself worry to much about the exchange rate everytime I buy something or I'd go mad. things in the gift shops, bottles of water, etc.--it's not like I can get them back home or anywhere else at this time anyway, so I just take the money that I have in pounds and budget accordingly (yes, I used the word budget with a straight face).

Some examples of prices, for the record, all prices in British currency--p=pence which is like cents back home.

bottled water--1 liter from Marks and Spencer, still, not bubbly 66p
bottled water--1 liter from a market, still, anywhere from 1.79 on up
bottled water-16 oz or so from EAT or Pret or a cafe 70p-90p
muffin from Starbucks--1.30
ham and cheddar sandwich from EAT--2.60
lemon cheesecake from Pret a Mange--1.70
crisps--60p
croissant w/jam from cafe--1.00
Coke-equivalent to 16 oz-anywhere from 1.00-1.20
Pizza at Pizza Express for one person, VAT included, no tip--7.35
glass of house wine-3.00
pint of Fosters at most pubs-2.70-3.00
pint of Kronenberg--4.00
candy bar--60p-80p
shampoo-1.99
lotion from superdrug--on sale! .99p
curling iron from Boots-11.99
hair dryer from Boots 4.99
theatre program for West End show 3.00
ticket for West End Show-12.00-50.00
ticket for "groundling" at The Globe--5.00
ticket for restricted view at The Globe--13.00
one day travelcard for London transit-4.70
one trip bus fare-1.20, day time, .80p night
taxi from Manna Ash to the Globe 4.00
cheesecake from Marks and Spencer--2 slices--1.79p
chicken and bacon sandwich from M & S--2.50
London Eye--12.50
admission to Queen's Gallery-7.50
a postcard at most tourist attractions-.50p
a postcard stamp to the US 37p
mobile phone call to US on Virgin-2op per minute
mobile phone call in UK on Virgin--15p for first 2 minutes, then 5p after that
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince--11.99 at Waterstones, 7.99 at Tesco
full English breakfast at The Founder's Arms--4.95
A tour with The Original London Walks-5.50
souvenir magnet-2.99
poster from museum-7.99-15.99

Now, multiply any of those by 1.73 and you'll see what it costs in dollars. I end up spending at least five pounds on lunch every day, even when I don't mean to, it happens. I've had to use the bus and taxis more than I thought due to my knee and I've not been able to cook much here because the kitchen has very few dishes and we're never here at meal times. I keep telling myself that this is why I have a job and I'll just enjoy the trip for what it is and worry about the money later---that sounds reasonable, right?

I'm starting to worry about packing. Must jettison some junk or else I'm not sure how on earth I'll get myself to the airport without breaking my back. I've got a stack of newspapers a mile high--probably don't need every one of them from the bombings and all. I need to cull some and take out the pages that have nothing to do with the events. It's just too much to think about right now. It also irks me to think that I'm going to have to leave behind my box of detergent that I forked over 3.99 for and it's still over half full. That's the most expensive detergent I've ever owned, but I can't see how in the world I'll get it in the suitcase without spilling. Grrrrrrrr.

In short

2005-07-25T18:32:00.000-05:00

as of today, I'm being paid to be here, sort of. That's nice. School started today--inservice (I'm taking personal days for now). When we were at dinner tonight, it dawned on me that if I were back home, I'd be getting ready to go to lunch. Methinks I'm getting the best end of that bargain.

I'm skipping Mousetrap tonight because my knee is really, really, really sore. Not sure if it is the weather or the weekend or a combination, but I'm not doing very well, so I decided to be as imobile as possible in order to be able to participate for the rest of the week.

Today's class was mostly spent at Tate Britain which wasn't as good as I had hoped. Lots of Turners, Reynolds and the like, but I was so tired and in so much pain that I couldn't really concentrate. I also think that by this point I'm pretty much museumed out. I did get some nice posters, though. We also took the boat to and from Bankside to the Tate up the Thames, so that was nice.

Tomorrow we see Greenwich, so I'm going to go ice my knee a bit and do laundry. I am totally out of clean clothes and even sort of clean clothes. This is the last load of outrageously expensive laundry I'll have to do (1.80 pounds for washing and at least 40 pence to dry). I have to start thinking about packing, too. Yikes.

More later. Laundry is beckoning me.

To Market, To Market...

2005-07-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

to buy a pashmina? Well, I never claimed to be Shakespeare, now did I?

I ventured north to Camden Town today and experienced a totally different kind of market--Camden Market. Basically, it's a flea market. If it was back in the states, I don't think I would have even crossed the street to go there, but since it's London, I lugged myself up the Northern line into Zone 2 in the freaking rain to see what they had to offer. I went with Andy, a lovely gentleman who is from Louisville and teaches drama to middle schoolers blesshisheart. We were the oldest people there, I do believe. Camden Market is skewed for the young hip crowd and I'm not sure that we qualified, although we both did make purchases. I, the aforementioned pashmina in a stunning shade of gold, and he a bag to use to take souvenirs home. I suppose the market experience would have been more pleasant if it hadn't been raining, but it was, so it was fairly nasty. In addition to having to manuever an umbrella, I, for some reason that defies explaining, wore flip flops, so I was trying not to slip and kill myself. Needless to say, I wasn't sorry to leave old Camden Town.

After mulling around with the youngsters for a bit, we headed to Covent Garden which is a tourist trap, but I still love it. I found an adorable purse at a shop called Octopus and I had to purchase it, as well as the matching coin purse, even though I am not really a purse person (and yet, I bought three in NYC?). Then we headed over to the Theater Museum which was interesting for awhile, but got old before we were done, so we left. At that point, my feet were killing me and my knee was sore. I suppose this is where I should mention that I'd actually slipped and nearly fallen flat on my face stepping onto a curb in the Leicester Square due to the incredibly ill-advised footware. By this time, my knee was throbbing as a result of that incident and I was just ready to call it a day.

We trudged back south and I collapsed in my room with a bag of books that I'd purchased up in Camden. I'd stumbled (literally and figuratively--they has some amazingly slipperly terrazzo tile in the entrance that was just like glass when it was wet and one is wearing flip flops in the rain) upon a sale at a shop where they had some good title on sale 3 for 5 pounds. They also had The Da Vinci Code for 3.99 which was a huge bargain since I'd almost paid $16.99 in the states for it in paperback. I was happy to be able to relax in my room and read for a bit.

Dinner, however, has to be eaten, and eventually, I was rousted. Met up with some friends at the local pub and we all shared what we'd done for the weekend. It's fun just to meet up and talk and catch up. Since we're not all in the same hall, we don't see each other on the weekend, so we don't know what's going on. Sitting there it was so nice to see familiar faces walking by and be able to call out to them and talk. Then I went with three others to a lovely little Italian place called Paradiso for dinner. Company was excellent, food was so-so.

Now I'm going to take the longest shower possible and then collapse with my Da Vinci Code (I'm on page 149) until I fall asleep. Late start tomorrow, but I've got to figure out a way to do laundry in the morning because I think I'm out of clean clothes and I'm too tired to mess with it tonight. I'm going to try to go see Mousetrap tomorrow night and it would be nice to have something clean to wear.

Long day.

2005-07-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

Whew! I kept myself very busy today just like I had planned, which is not normally what happens. I usually make plans and they fall apart, but somehow I slodged on.

I started my day with brunch in Kensington Gardens. This was quite a treat. I had a sandwich and stuff from Pret a Mange that I had picked up in thetube station at High Street Kensington. I wasn't planning on eating first, but I was so frazzled by the time I got there I decided that I deserved it. I'd forgotten that the Circle line isn't running and there simply isn't an easy way to get to HS Kensington from the south side of town, so I had to take a slight detour through Earl's Court. The upside was I was able to see a tube station that I'd never been to. The downside was that it was rather a busy one and it required waiting a bit on exactly the right District line train lest I end up at Tower Hill (I say this because I almost got on said Tower Hill train and went clear across London in the wrong direction. Thankfully, I regrouped before I did).

Anyway, I had a paper with me, so I read and ate and enjoyed people watching for awhile and then toured the Palace. It was very enjoyable. They have a lovely exhibition of Court attire and some of Diana's dresses and the Queen's clothes, so it's not just furniture and the like. I was glad that I went.

From there I had to make my way to Buckingham Palace and that's not as easy as I thought it would be. Since HS Kensington tube is such a pain, I decided to take the bus. I had the good sense to ask which bus to take and that made this leg much more simple than it would have been had I tried it on my own. It's not nearly as close I always imagine it--I am terrible with distances. I took the bus to Victoria Station and then walked up to the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham. This is a spectacular little exhibit of royal art, furniture, jewelry and miscellaneous stuff that has been rounded up from all the palaces and is now open to the public. They were quite strict about security and made me put my bag in the cloakroom--this was the only place I've had to do that. I was also burning up and sweating and the very nice attendant asked me if I needed some water or something. It dawned on me later that he might have thought I was a bomber or something.

This is a fabulous exhibit and I highly suggest people go to it. It's also small enough that you don't get tired looking at it--I was actually a little disappointed that it ended so soon. There was also a nice exhibit of Dutch paintings that was includeded, too. I've suddenly become a fan of Rembrandt, so that was a nice touch for me.

From there I changed my original plan and decided to skip Sir John Soames and do the National Portrait Gallery instead. I didn't feel like trying to go to Holburn all the back way and such. I'm not sure it was the best idea--I was rather pictured out by the end of the museum, but I did see what I went for, which was mainly the Tudor and Jacobean paintings anyway. My feet were killing me by the time I left there, so I found a nice spot to sit and read more of my paper in Leicester Square and wait for Erin who never showed up--she must have gotten detained in Windsor.

I had hoped to see Les Mis, but there weren't any tickets at the half priced booth and I suddenly wasn't in the mood for a crowded musical, so I ended up going to see Some Girl(s) with David Schwimmer. It's a comedy, so it sounded like more of what I was in the mood for and it was. I enjoyed it. Some of the acting was a little stilted and one of the actresses had the WORST accent I've ever heard--I don't know where she was supposed to be from, but once it got rolling, it was very entertaining and I cared how it ended, which is always a good sign, I suppose.

Now I'm back in my cell contemplating tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to go to Canterbury as I had planned (see my plan falling apart?). It's supposed to rain all day and the train tickets are more expensive than I had thought they would be. I also feel yucko and just not in the mood to spend another day out on the run from dawn until dusk, so I may just do laundry, do some shopping and maybe find something free or cheap to go investigate. Not sure. I think I've done almost everything on my "must do" list that is feasible or that I still want to do, so now I've just got to make sure that I don't waste any of my precious free time that I have left. This time next week, I'll be getting back home. Tick tock!

Week Two, Done!

2005-07-23T00:31:00.000-05:00

Yikes! Time is flying. I'm not ready to be 2/3 of the way through with this program. I cannot believe that it will be time to leave soon. I've still got so much to do. It's amazing how you never get everything done on vacation no matter how much time you have.

We're deep into our scene rehearsals for our final project and that will continue to be our focus next week, which means we'll have late starts and late, late nights. I'm hoping to get some sight-seeing done in the mornings. I'm going to be dead tired by the time I return to the States, but I suppose it will all be worth it in the end.

We've finished up with all of the Globe's Master Practitioner classes. I am sorry to see that end. The classes with Glynn were my favorites. I can't really explain why, but she really connected with us. If there is any way I can perhaps bring a group back to London, I will do my best to get them into a session or a meeting with her. She is just amazing. Such a presence. there aren't words, really.

Tomorrow I shall be a total tourist and go to the places that are still on my list. I'm abandoning all of my comrades and shooting off around London on my own. I'm taking the Tube, which is the source of some controversy here. Most of them won't now, but I'm not ready to give up on it, plus I simply don't have a choice. I can't walk to the places that I want to go and I'm not going to sit around this godforsaken place all weekend, so I'll just be in and out as quickly as I can. Part of me feels like I'm foolishly courting danger, but on the other hand, I rationalize that if I walked, I am more likely to be caught up in some sort of accident in a crosswalk or something. Muggings are more frequent in London than bombings and we don't worry about walking down the road at night.

So, just for the record, I'll be traveling from Southwark tomorrow on the Jubilee line, changing at Westminster for the District line so I can hop over to to High Street Kensington. Then from there, I'll be on the District Line to St. James Park. the from St. James Park to Embankment change to Northern Line and forge on to Leiceister Square where I'll check on theater tickets and then take a bus over to the Holburn area for awhile, then bus BACK to Leiceister Sq. via Covent Garden to meet up with some people to hopefully go see Les Miserables and after that, take the Tube or a cab home to Southwark. This is the plan. The interesting part will be to see how much of this I actually accomplish. I want to see Kensington Palace and gardens, The Queen's Gallery, and Sir John Soane's Museum as well as get some shopping out of the way. I'm not sure how much my knee will allow me to do, though. It's been rough the past few days.

I'm off to be for now. A busy day awaits me tomorrow. A week from tomorrow I leave!!! So much to do before then.

Ridiculousness

2005-07-21T15:35:00.000-05:00

Foolishness on the Tube again as some moron have placed bombs on three trains and a bus again today, just two week after the 7/7 disaster. Thankfully it appears that there is only one injury and no serious damage from this latest act of stupidity. As you can tell, I am fine. We were in a class on Renaissance printing techniques and safely on the south side of the Thames when all this began. It has totally dashed our afternoon plans of a boat trip down to the Tate Britain, though, and I am quite peeved as a result.

Much different scenario this go 'round since I am out of the heart of the city. they've shut down central London again just to keep the swarms of people donw, but buses are still running, at least on this side. I saw one just of Blackfriars road as I made my way back to the apartment. I can hear sirens in the distance--nothing like the ear-splitting screams that were wialing outside my window just two weeks ago. I feel much safer over here--as if the river is giving me a great barrier to the evilness that seeks out the city.

I'd planned to go to the West End for a show tonight, but now I'm not sure where that stands. If the theatre district stays open, I'll probably go. If not, it looks like cards and early zzzzs here in Southwark, London, tonight.

Go See Pericles

2005-07-20T23:56:00.000-05:00

If, by chance you are in London this summer, go see Pericles at the Globe. Fantastic production that I would see again in a heartbeat. Incredible use of modern prodcution techniques with original script and new narration that has the audience captivated during the whole of one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays. I was a groundling for this one and it was worth standing for. You MUST be out in front to experience the arielists...yes, as in people who are swinging from ropes. Superb production. Note, though, NOT for children. It's one of the more mature Shakespeare plots and I wouldn't take a child younger than high school age to see it.

An Actor's Life

2005-07-20T02:12:00.000-05:00

Today was rather brutal. I'm back in my room now after a two hour rehearsal that STARTED at 11:15. It was the third one of the day. I am wiped out, but in a good way. So much to do and learn.

We rehearsed on the actual Globe stage tonight for a short while and that was really fun. It's so much smaller than you would think. The entire space is very intimate and when it is dark above, it seemed to shrink the space even more. I was suprised at how much more compact it all felt from that perspective.

We get a late start tomorrow, er, later today, thank goodness. I was going to try to do something with our free morning, but I'm going to be too tired to do much. Today we were free until noon, so I went to the British Library to see the First Folio, Guttenberg Bible, Magna Carta, Beowulf and that sort ofthing. Quite spectacular, of course. Prior to that, though, we stopped at the King's Cross Station memorial area for the bombing victims and that was quite difficult. I couldn't even go into the small fenced in area--it was just too much for me to read the small signs hanging around the perimeter. I signed the book of condolences and I think I'll try to go back there before I leave. I can't put it into words, really.

Must sleep. My knee is screaming at me to find some ice or something. I'm going to be lame for life if I don't do better.

Note

2005-07-17T22:03:00.000-05:00

If you're going to have a clock gonging in the distance alerting you that it's 10 p.m., it might as well be from St. Paul's Cathedral.

For the first time tonight, I was sitting in my room and the traffic and other noises were low enough that I could hear the actual chime and I have to admit it was pretty damn cool.

Today's word is Cacophony

2005-07-16T17:43:00.000-05:00

Being that I had the entire day all to myself I decided to do some fun stuff (remember I'm an English teacher), so today's activities were The Borough Market, the British Museum and middle eastern cuisine.

First, the market. I have to admit that when I read the description of the Borough Market, I was not that jazzed about going. It's a food market and even though I like to eat, I'm not really a fruit and veg kind of girl, but I went because that's where the group was going and I wanted to at least experience it.

Wow. What a magical place. Stall upon stall of the most incredible foods you can imagine--granted I wouldn't eat most of them, but that's beside the point. Just to see them was a feast. Fish of every species laid out on ice, fruit piled high and smelling sooo heavenly. There was every kind of bread you can imagine. Loaves and loaves of it in baskets and stacks and bundles. Cheese wheels that were bigger than bike wheels formed the base of pyramids that stood three feet tall. There were foods I'd never even heard of and couldn't pronounce. All sorts of scents filled the air--you never knew what was waiting around the next stall. In some there were people cooking, in others there were samples. It was just spectacular.

But the sound was what suprised me the most. I can't even really describe it. The noise was just so unique. It was all voices--there were very few cars in the area--and the voices were all happy. You didn't hear shrieks or yelling or unpleasentness. It was just every day life, but with a total blending of sounds and accents and languages. The volume would rise and fall--like waves. It was absolutely magical. I can't wait to go back.

The British Museum was crowded, too, since it was a summer weekend. It was blisteringly hot by the time we got there, so we took it at a leisurely pace. No big hurry and chose to only see certain exhibits because the place is so massive you'd kill yourself trying to do it all in one day under the best conditions. In the heat, it's like a sauna and with a bad knee, it's almost like a form of torture anyway.

As I sat in the Parthenon Galleries, groups of tourists would come and go and once again I was bombarded with sound. This time it was not as welcomed since I was trying to listen to my audio guide, but it was still fascinating. There was an enormous group of Japanese school children in uniforms--plaid skirts, solid jackets with white shirts and ties for the girls, dark pants, white shirts and coats with ties for the boys. I was dying to know if they were local or if they were on a tour because they looked like traditional English school kids, but spoke in Japanese and sort had that touristy look about them (moving in a huge pack, lots of backpacks, several tired teachers, etc). Then there was a group of what I think were Italians who were also quite loud. What struck me with them was how drop dead gorgeous they all were. The girls were stunning. Then there were other mixed groups that would be standing there that you would think "American?" and they'd speak and it would be some language that I couldn't begin to identify. I think at one point I was probably the only person in the gallery that spoke English as a native language and I found that more fascinating than the Elgin marbles that I was supposed to be admiring.

Dinner was at a yummy place just up the street call TAS. It was very crowded. We had to sit in the lower level because all of the upstairs tables were booked. The din was just at the level before you can't hear yourself think. English accents, more Italian, some Pakistani, an American here and there....it was just a smorgasbord of sound that really accentuated the meal, which was much better than I ever dreamed it would be. I tried hummus for the first time. I'm not going to run out and buy some any time soon, but it was pleasant.

So, tonight, I'm sitting here looking at my postcards that I've stuck to the walls from the day and I realize that I have a sort of mini soundtrack in my head and it's a mix of all the sounds from the day playing over and over in a loop and it's quite soothing. This is what London is all about.

Random Complaints, Musings, Etc.

2005-07-16T12:34:00.000-05:00

Just clearing my head since I've got some free time for a change.

1. We're staying in dorm rooms. I thought it wouldn't be too bad and actually, other than the lack of air conditioning and the appallingly horrendous carpet, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been EXCEPT for the incredibly loud people that live in this little "apartment" with me. The nimrods who organized the housing here (not part of The Globe staff whatsoever) didn't put the whole group of 21 into three apartments of 7...oh, nooooo. We're scattered across five different flats and so we're interspersed with colleged-aged people who are either here for summer term or worse, looking for cheap summer digs. My room, 5C7, is right next to the kitchen so when any combination of little dolls from 5C1, 5C4, 5C5, and 5C6 decide that they are hungry, I get to hear pots and pans clattering about right next to my bed. This is generally around 1 a.m. because that's when college people get hungry. And everything they eat has this weird smell that I cannot identify, but it permeates the place.

2. The shower curtain stops a good four inches short of the actual length that it should be so I have a puddle every day, too. That's fun. Thankfully I wrangled an extra towel from them to use a bath mat or I'd have flooded the place out of business by now.

3. English showers amuse me. In the last place the shower was controlled by an entirely separate set of fixtures than the tub. Here we have no tub, thank God, but the shower is still unique. On the right, you have the water control. This turns the water on and off. Rather like a hot or cold faucet at home--it turns front to back, though, not side to side--the knob is perpendicular to you when you're in the shower, you see. Then on the left is the tricky part. There is another knob and this one also has both a series of numbers, a tiny red dot and a small red button. In order to turn the knob you must first press the red button and that can be quite difficult to do. In fact, I didn't even realize it WAS a button until after the first tragic shower which I'll explain shortly. The numbers range from 30-45. Are you with me? If not, read it again or just nod and pretend.

So, you go to the shower for the first time and you expect to be able to turn both knobs because, well, that's what we do back home. TRICK! Nope. Can't do it. Only the plain knob will turn. It controls the flow of the water. After careful consideration it becomes clear that this other knob controls the temperature. Those stupid numbers correspond to that cursed Celcius scale that the British insist on forcing down my throat. I, being totally clueless, have no idea which level between 30-45 I would want. I do assume that 30 would be a bit chilly, though, from what I can remember about mathy things. The shower is set on about 42 (it's actually a big gap from 38-45 for whatever reason). That, my friends is hot. Especially when you've been sweating all day in 80 degrees with no a/c. Miserably hot. So I try to turn the knob. It won't move. Stuck. I turned off the water and tried again. Won't budge. I had to take this shower in painfully hot water, cursing the previous tenant and thinking that this was going to be the longest three weeks of my life. Then, as I was finishing, it hit me. The red button. When I pushed it, nothing had happened--it was stuck due to lime buildup or something, so I turned off the water once more and worked on that stupid button until I finally was able to depress it. Then, with the button down, voila! The knob turned and cold water was suddenly available. Crisis averted.

4. I love the British one pound coin. It is so convenient. Why don't we use our cute gold dollars more? Is it because they aren't the same size as the Brits' version or what?

5. Taxi cabs are the most brilliant creation ever. I love public transportaion.

6. While I think cobblestones are very quaint and rather attractive to look at, I think that I am thoroughly and completely tired of walking on them. I've spent most of this trip looking at my feet trying not to trip. I can give you a lovely commentary on the streets of Southwark should you need one.

7. It dawned on me today that I don't miss television a bit. I've not watched it a week and I couldn't care less. I don't know if I could carry on like that back home, but here it's much easier just to pick up a book.

8. For a country that thinks we know everything about everything, we are woefully behind the British on the art of sandwich making and desserting. It's fun just to read the names of the sandwiches they have here. And they are everywhere on the most incredible breads imagineable. I wouldn't eat 90% of them due to ickey ingredients, but they just sound so posh and gourmet. I don't, however, understand the English obsession with free range egg. They put it on everything. Oh, and butter. Mayo? No, we haven't got any, but we've got some butter.

Week One--Done

2005-07-15T23:31:00.000-05:00

Not the whole week of the workshop, technically, since we've not done a full seven days yet, and I've actually been here well over a week at this point--something like ten days I suppose, but I'm just too tired to think of a catchy title and it's Friday and our first week of coursework is over, so this fits sort of.

We had a Shakespeare Rally today which is absolutely nothing like it sounds--no cheering, no flags or the like. We had to go around London and look at various portraits and statues and likenesses of Shakespeare in public spaces and compare them. Or that was the plan, anyway. Since the bombings, they decided to change it to a walking tour instead of a tube tour and that made my day miserable. My group was all gung ho for the walk which meant we'd start at Southwark and then go to the cathedral, way over to Blackfriars, then all the way to Trafalgar Square, fanny around in there a bit, up to Carnaby Street and then all the way over to Holborn and THEN head back home to Southwark. I think that's about 134 kilometers by foot. It is every bit of seven hours of walking.

There was simply no way my knee was going to make that, so I walked as far as Blackfriars and then my group and I decided that I would meet them at The National Portrait Gallery. They had plotted their walking path and I was taking the underground. I knew their planned cross street, etc. I wasn't worried--how hard could this be? I left them at around 11:15. I arrived at the gallery at 11:40. A 3:00 I finally gave up and went back to Southwark alone. I never saw them. Somehow, and I still don't know how, they went in the National Gallery, came through several wrong doors, yada, yada. Anyway, I just had a leisurely afternoon sitting on a cement stump in the middle of London for three and half hours or so. I went through a full range of emotions, but in the end, I realized that I actually got the good end of the bargain because the rest was the best thing for me knee-wise and I didn't have to trudge around in the heat.

Tonight's event was a performance of The Tempest at the Globe. They performed it with only three actors and I felt gobsmackingly stupid through chunks of it because I hadn't read the play like I was supposed to. I had no clue who was who in parts, which I think would be a problem for the general viewing public. The production was really engaging, though, and I thought the actors were all brilliant--Mark Rylance was the lead. He's one the absolute top classic actors alive and this is his last season with The Globe. We were very lucky to get to see him in this show. The other two actors were also really quite good. Even when I was confused in the show, they kept me engnaged, mostly, which is always good, and I was never totally lost.

Tomorrow is our first free day. I'm heading to the British Museum and I'm not sure where else. I've got to get some stuff straightened up around here and some cleaning done. I'm also tired to the core and sort of discombobulated. I think I'm almost at the breaking point mentally from the tiredness, so it's important that I sleep, but it's sooooo hot. I'm going to have to break down and get a fan. I also realized today that by about Monday I will have been away from home longer than I ever have in my life except for college which doesn't really count since that became home in a sense. I think that's wearing on me a bit, too.

Send me some rain. It's been over a week. I'm melting.

I Wouldn't Teach Them Here or There....

2005-07-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

I wouldn't teach them anywhere.
I do not like them, Sam I am,
I do not like middle schoolers, DAMN.

Sheeeeeeeeesh. We observed the Globe Educators in practice today doing one of their Lively Action workshops with the school kids today. It's nice to know that middle school age children are just the living end anywhere you go--not just in the U.S. They like to play in fountains, mess with each other's hair, sit when they're not supposed to, talk when the teacher's talking and generally be obnoxious no matter where they live. It's universal.

The practioner that I was observing, Anne, had a group of Year 8 students--think 12 or 13 year olds evidently--who were totally full of piss and vinegar. I was nearly bonkers watching them, but she was masterful at dealing with them. I later said that she was the best teacher I'd ever witnessed when it came to actually engaging students--ALL students--in the lesson and really making them get the meat of it. I was transfixed watching her work. Then, come to find out later, that she's an actor by trade, not a teacher at all. Never had any educator training other than that offered through the Globe's program for their practioners, which by all I can tell is quite intense. It was quite telling, though. She wouldn't even be able to get a teaching certificate in the States. Dear ol' George W. Bush wouldn't consider her highly qualified in any way, shape or form, yet she handled this group with more skill than I've seen in teacher's twice her age with classes half the size and ten times as discpilined. It was truly a delight to see because it was a REAL scenario, not one of those ideals that so often one witnesses when it's for show.

We were put into our performance groups and met with our director tonight. I'm totally exhausted from that and the grind of the week in general. It has been very grueling--long classes that are incredibly physical, the walking to and from class--our dorm is about a 20 minute walk, the unusually hot London weather--no rain in days on end and over 80 degrees. It's all finally taking it's toll and we're beginning to fray at the seams. Tomorrow is a "rally", which is evidently sort of British for "send the teachers running 'round London looking for Shakespearey photos and statues and get them out of our hair." They've devised an alternate walking plan, but there's no way on God's green earth I am walking from Southwark to Leicester Square, so I'll be tubing it whether my team agrees or not.

We see The Tempest tomorrow night. Supposedly a very dynamic performance. It's being done with only three actors, so that should be interesting to see. We're doing our scene from the opening of it and we've got five in it and we'll be having trouble working out all the mechanics of it since there are well over five roles in it, so I'll be interested to see how they deal with it there.

Val Says Hi

2005-07-13T23:36:00.000-05:00

Kilmer that is. He's appearing here in the West End in a production of The Postman Always Rings Twice. I have to say that I only went because they were having a Q and A after the play and I'm all about those type of events as those who know me know. We went to the box office looking abominably scungy in our workshop clothes because we didn't have time to change (we were at least clean) and got excellent center balcony seats. The upper rows weren't crowded so we could stand when we needed to see the bits on the most downstage apron and I could straighten my knee. The technical part of the show was impressive. The female lead was not so much. Kilmer made her look bad, I thought, although she definitely improved in the second half. Lots of violence, quite a bit of sex and some nudity as well, but none of it gratuitous. Very plot driven and well done, I thought. The second act is a bit of a mess, but somehow they save it in the end--and I really don't know how because there is a stretch in there that is just chaotic and weak, I think (the whole trial section if you've seen the show). The second male lead was phenomenal.

The Q and A was fantastic. We were able to sit in the second row for that and the people I was with took lots of photos (those will follow later, I hope) with the actors' permission. Some really good questions (I even asked one) and interesting answers. Then we even did the ultimate cheese and stood 'round by the stage door and got our little show flyers signed by the Kilmer and the other guy (I cannot remember his name for anything right now).

Not a bad way to end a day that began with a backstage tuour on the Globe stage where we were able to go up in the attic and prowl around a bit around the props and then walk around on the stage and feel the costumes, look into the trap doors and experience the space for ourselves a bit. Then we had a session with the master craftsman who was in charge of the construction of The Globe and many other buildings in England and around the world, Peter McCurdy. I had been tempted to skip the session and nap, but I'm so glad I didn't. It would have been a huge mistake. His information was like gold--to hear the process they went through to come up with the plan to build the Globe was something else. We were shown slides of the constuction from every stage along the way. I'm just amazed at the detail that went into it. Hand carved pegs. Can you imagine? Hand. carved. pegs. Every last one of them.

We start our scene rehearsal tomorrow and that is a bit intimadating, but I suppose I'll worry about that tomorrow. Tonight I must sleep.

Pardon the Interruption

2005-07-12T00:54:00.000-05:00

I've been offline due to a myriad of reasons--mainly busy ones. "ive officially started the program, which is the reason I'm here in the first place and we've been going a positively mad pace ever since. I can't possibly catch up on all of the events of the past few days at this point in time because it's almost 1 a.m. and I've got to be in class again at 8:30, so I'll simply say for now that things are brilliant. Stunning. I've been utterly blessed. I cannot even begin to imagine how I've stumbled upon this opportunity and why in the world they are letting ME through those doors to work with the absolute masters of the craft, but they are and I am trying my best to soak it all up. Yesterday we had a movement class with Glynn MacDonald in which I learned more in two hours than I think I've learned in every single inservice I've ever done as a teacher. Today we had voice with Stuart Pearce. It was mesmorizing.

Tonight was the first play and I wasn't even really that excited about it because I was so tired (I fell asleep during the lecture before the play), but once it started, it was electric. It was The Winter's Tale, which I'd actually seen before, but it had been over 10 years and it didn't matter because this was at THE GLOBE and it was stunning. The costumes were just spectacular and the actors playing Paulina and Herminone were absolutely spot-on. I actually had goosebumps at three different points during the show in reaction to their lines and characters, even though I knew what was about to happen. The environment of the theater was just magical. I cannot wait to go again and experience The Tempest on Thursday.

Must go to bed. I have many more tales to tell, but they will have to wait for an earlier evening or the weekend perhaps. I'm too old for this all night stuff despite my youthful appearance.

So Very, Very Busy

2005-07-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

It takes a lot of time to get lost, you know, so I can't come be online as much as I would like.

Really, it's hard to believe that I am allowed to have children of my own, let alone bring other people's children to foriegn countries sometimes. I got South Kensington and High Street Kensington mixed up today--this is something that I have done now the the last four times I've come to London, so you would think I would learn, but no. Sort of like me getting lost on Oxford Street every.stinking.time.I.get.on.a.bus. I am glad I'm moving tomorrow. Perhaps the new home away from home will bring me good luck.

I spent the first half of my day, before I got lost, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is called the V&A here. It? is my new favorite place. I will be going back very soon because I didn't get through anywhere near all of it. I was only on the second floor--and there are four--when I had to go. I was just overwhelemed. I'll add more when I can upload some pictures and am not paying for internet by the minute.

After I left, that's when I waddled over the the South Kensington tube only to discover that I was supposed to be at High Street Kensington. In five minutes. Now, they are on the same tube line, but there was no way I was going make this happen. Not even if a train appeared right then, which of course because this was me we were dealing with, it didn't. One had just left as I was stumbling down the stairs. So, I missed my walking tour of Kensington which I had already missed on Thursday. Not to fear, there was another walk that wasn't starting until 2:30 at the Tower Hill Tube Stop and I could make that. It was The London Wall walk. Not one I would have picked as my first choice, but it ties in with what I teach and wasn't about Jack the Ripper or ghosts, so I was game.

I made it to Tower Hill with time to spare...the London Underground is the best transportation system in the world. There is a reason why the people in this city will travel it no matter what the terrorists throw their way. It is absolutely sublime. You can zip across London in nothing flat. It amazes me everytime.

Anyway, I made it to the walk. It was supposed to be about two hours long. THREE hours later, we wrapped up just up from the St. Paul's tube station. I can't tell you how far that is, but I think it's at least 32 miles. Maybe further. I thought I was going to drop dead right there on the remains of an old Roman fort, which I hate to say, looked much less like an old Roman fort and more like the remains of an old junky garden wall, but I wasn't going to burst their bubble. I just hope nobody paid good money for this "fort". Obviously, they've not paid good money for the weed eater to go along with it. The guide was lovely and the story interesting, but really, there's only about 100 yards of the blessed wall left standing, maybe 200 at the most. How in the world we managed to stretch this out to a three hour event, I still haven't figured out. I remember lots of churches and places named Gate. I took notes--I'm a teacher after all--but after we left the Barbican area, I was done. Spent. Ready to go home. I really think there should be some sort of walking tour law that says after 2.5 hours, the guide must automatically stop no matter where he or she is.

I was going to go on a pub walk tonight, but I don't think I've got the energy to try it. I'll pack instead and try to head out to Hampstead Village tomorrow and then move over to Southwark and begin phase two of the great London adventure. I'm rather nervous about that part.

DISCLAIMER:I get sarcastic when I'm tired. I really actually appreciate a good pile of ancient Roman bricks covered with foliage and brush as much as the next person. Honest.

Local Celebrity

2005-07-08T06:50:00.000-05:00

Not.

I was interviewed by one of the Nashville television stations yesterday. That was interesting. I came back to the hotel after a shopping and I had a voice mail message. It was James Lewis from Channel 4 in Nashville. Can you say surprised? Then, in my email today, the local newspaper had some questions for me. Amusing. I suddenly feel so important for one who saw absolutely nothing. I was glad to be able to offer up some firs hand observations, though. I would hate for people to get the impression that London is some sort of unsafe war zone because it is not. It is a thriving cosmopolitan center that is sadly just a part of our time.

Went on a walk in Soho today. Then I went on another in central London today. Both were through London Walks (link at right) Soho is very quirky--lots of different little shops and crooked streets. Our guide, Graham, was positively charming. There were only four on the tour which he said was very low. Normal is about 20. I was glad that it was not crowded--made things much easier me and let's be honest. It's all about me. We went through Chinatown which was a first for me. While we were there, the deliveries were being mad for the day and we were treated to a poor worker trying to wrestle some live eels back into their box. Not the most appetizing site, I can assure you. This afternoon's walk was with Kim and we ended up overlapping some of the morning's walk, but none of the information was really duplicated too much, so it worked out all right.

I took the underground to the second walk. I wasn't going to, but I couldn't figure out which bus I would take in order to get to Embankment and I didn't want to be late. It was very empty and just as hassle-free as I remembered, so I was glad that I did. The Central Line station is just a block from my hotel, so I will probably use it again tomorrow. There is a pub walk that I'm considering tonight, but it's on the line that is closed, so I may skip it. I'm not sure the bus is worth the fight.

I'm burned out on buses because I managed to get lost on a bus AGAIN. Somehow I cannot find my way up Oxford Street to save my life. Twice now, in two days, I've gotten totally off course. Yesterday it was Tottenham Court. Today, I left Soho Square, walked onto Oxford Street and managed to get on a bus and end up at Euston Station. This, folks, takes a talent that few people possess. I was playing with my new cell phone, which is part of the reason I didn't realize the error, but it's not enough of the reason, I'm afraid. It took me about 40 minutes to correct that error. All I had to do was get on a bus and ride a few measly blocks and somehow I ended up dozens of blocks and turns away. I amaze myself.

It's getting to be dinne time, so I must go. Early morning tomorrow, I think. I'm going to try to hit the Portobello Road Market if I can get up early enough.

Chaos

2005-07-07T13:02:00.000-05:00

It's been wild here as you can imagine. No subways or busses most of the day. Sirens screaming literally every five minutes most of the afternoon. Surreal. My hotel is evidently in a central road beccause there would be four or five police cars or amublances whizzing up and down the road every hour or so. I couldn't go anywhere, so I ended up just shopping on Oxford Street for a bit. It was rainy, which made it even more miserable.

People were walking up and down Oxford St. with their luggage in a panic trying to figure out how they were going to get to the airport. One girl told me that a cabbie said the fare to Stansted was going to be £100 and she was in tears. The railroads were all shut down and she had no idea what to do. People were about to come to blow over what cabs they could hail on the street due to the rain and the need. It was rather bizarre to watch.

The buses are back. I went over to Westminster abbey tonight. Was going to go for church, but I was too late due to the absolute craziness on the busses. They are so crowded due to the commuters and I also got totally lost. Outside of the Houses of Parliament there are policemen patrolling with very large machine guns of some sort. There are barracades and other policemen everywhere. I saw them searching a car as it was entering the gates.

Most of the shops along Oxford St. closed early in order to let their employees figure out a way to get home. I imagine it was the case across London. If you've never been here, it may be hard to imagine, but the Tube is truly the heart of the city and people use it the way we back in the States use our cars. Not having it is like not having the interstate for us. While I was in Selfridge's, there were little clusters of employees gathered here and there and they were all talking about how they were going to get home.

I managed to get lost coming home from Westminster. Stupid bus said it was going to Marble Arch and Orxford St and then terminated at Oxford Circus instead. I don't know HOW I ended up at Tottenham Court Road, but I did. And now I am tired beyond belief, so I'm headed back to my room for the night (it's 18:56 here, whatever time that is) to watch tv, eat dinner and hit the bed.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get out and do something that I'd planned, but who knows. I may just go sit in Hyde Park and be glad that I'm here.

I Am Fine

2005-07-07T04:45:00.000-05:00

So today I learn what it is like to live in a big city. I awoke to learn that a bus had been bombed this morning and that four underground stations had experienced problems due to massive power surges. The undergound is shut down, I hear sirens everywhere and the news is going nonstop. I passed a couple of bus queues on my way here and the crowds were ungodly. I can't imagine how horrible it is going to be to try to get anywhere today. I think I may suck it up and cab it to Kensington and just hang out over there today.

It's a scary feeling right now, though, to know that something so random could happen to you. The newscasters discussed the front of the British Medical Association building being spattered with blood from the bus explosion just like the busses I was so happy to be on yesterday. And Russell Square is an area that had come highly suggested to my by the nice cab driver as safe and quiet to stay in.

What a scary world we live in.

Day The First

2005-07-06T15:14:00.000-05:00

Am here and am in sort of state of bewilderment and fuge. The flight was so crowded and loud that I didn't get much sleep despite a cocktail of drugs that should have knocked me out cold at takeoff. I think it was combination of the early flght time and the general pre-trip jitters. Whatever, I only go about 2 hours of actual sleep on the plane. I read, ate, chatted with a lovely seatmate named Michelle and watched bits and pieces of Million Dollar Baby (WHY didn't someone tell me how incredibly depressing that movie is????) and Miss Congenialiy 2 (WHY didn't anyone tell me how lame that one is?). I arrived at Gatwick disoriented and frumpy and a bit sore, but ready for the day ahead.

If you've never been overseas, then you've never had the joy of going through passport control. Hordes of foriegners, many of whome are first time travelers, are forced into gated lines to wait to show their passport and landing cards. They're all tired, hot and frumpy. Many of them don't use deodorant. And, for some reason that after five trips overseas I still don't get, some of them think that the flight attendants hand out those landing cards on the plane as just some sort of suggestion. Like they aren't going to have to actually hand one in when they land, so then they are in a panic in line and trying to juggle 3 pieces of luggage and find a pen and write all while they should be moving along.

I do have to say, going through Gatwick was much less Hellish than Heathrow. It was still humid and yucko, but not nearly so much as Heathrow.

Once you've cleared passport control, you go get luggage. This was amazingly easy for me. I actually saw my suitcase coming 'round the carriage as I approached. I was thrilled to say the least. I added it to the pile on my free trolley (European airports are so ahead of the cheapo US ones) and began to make my way through customs.

Customs? A joke. You walk through a hall. That's it. No people, no dogs, no x-rays. Just like Heathrow. My buggy had a bad wheel and I nearly took out one their barriers. I wonder what sort of reaction that would have triggered?

Once I was through customs, I tried to get cash from the ATM, but both of the two just outside in that terminal were down. I had an instant feeling of dread and then was briefly panicky. What a way to start of the trip. Then I decided to wait and look at the South Terminal where I had to go to catch a train and see if the ATMs were working there before I waited on one of the horrid cash lines. I made my way to the South Terminal via the monorail with little incident. The only mishaps were my buggy and a snarky 13 year old girl who tried to reprimand me for sitting down just as her younger brother was sitting down in the same seat. She appeared to think that the old, fat, invalid chick should give her seat up to the small boy who was jumping all over the place and who was the last on the seat. Needless to say, she was mistaken.

Once in the South Terminal, I found an ATM that worked. I did discover that it would only let me withdraw 100 pounds at a time, but that was more than enough money, so that wasn't a problem. I took my cash and made my way to the Gatwick Express train. Here I ran into my first ooopsey of the day. True Kimmah.

The nextr train was leaving at 8:35. It was 8:30. I thought I could make it--and I could have, if the train hadn't been downstairs. I had to take my suitcase, carryon and bag down a lang fligh of stairs. I was about half way down when the train left. I was irked. And hot. And tired. And very sore. Stairs are the one thing that I'm really, really having a problem with when it comes to my knee. But, I'd looked at the schedule and the next train came soon, so I just kept on going down the stairs, even though I knew it was coming on Platform 1 and I was going to Platform 6. In my head I was thinking I'd just walk across down there.

Yes, Kim will just mosey across five rows of TRAIN TRACKS with her luggage. That makes all the sense in the world.

I realized the error of my ways as soon as I hit the platform. There was no way I was going back UP the stairs, so I looked for the lift. It was where you would expect it--the completely opposite end of the platform, but at least it was level. I made my way down. Went up. Through a hall. Found the lift for Platform 1 and 2. Back down. Thank God. When I finally got there, the train was loading. I lugged my things on and was happy to find a seat and just relax.

The Gatwick Express is a nice way in for future reference. Only about 30 minutes, pleasant ride and they even offer drink service. When we arrived at Victoria Station, I hit the cab queue and realized that I had no idea what time it was. I hoped that the hotel would let me check in. Got a great cabbie. We had a lovely chat and he delivered me to my hotel on Oxford St. The cab ride was £7.40. I over-tipped him because I didn't have change and I was too tired to care. I'd planned on spending £10 and I did. Whoops.

The room was ready and I was so glad. I was absolutely dead by now. Starving, hot and tired. My room is nice, although the bed is incredibly hard and uncomfortable. I'm going to have to get another pillow.

Once I had my room and put a few things down, I set out to find food. Pret A Mange, my fave London lunch place, was right down the road (because it is ALWAYS right down the road no matter where you are in London). I only like one of their sandwiches, though. I'm picky and they pre-make all their stuff. Naturally, they were OUT of what I like. I nearly cried. They said it would be 20 minutes, so I said I'd come back. I took off in search of Marks and Spencer instead. Found it and felt like I'd hit the motherload. I went shopping in the food hall and bought the most delicious sandwich--chicken and bacon. I got some chips, some fruit, some cheese, pasteries, desserts, bottled waters, and then some roasted chicken and rolls. Basically groceries for a few meals. It was divine. I came back and tore into the meal like I'd not eaten a week. I still had no idea what time it was. I turned on the television and it was 11 local time, which meant 5 a.m. at home.

After that, I slept. I didn't mean to, but I couldn't help it. I crashed and burned. I slept until 5. I finally dragged myself up and cleaned up enough to go out. I wanted to go see the National Gallery since it's open late on Wednesdays. I decided to take a bus so I could see the city and get my bearings. Ha! I ended up getting lost because that's what Kim does.

I've been to London four times before this. FOUR. You would think, therefore, that I could find Trafalgar Square when I was on Pall Mall, but nope, I couldn't. I was so lost and turned around that I finally had to ask for help. Then, I was certain that the directions she'd given me were wrong and was was about to just give up in disgust when I stumbled upon the place. How ridiculous. I have no idea where I was or where I thought I was eariler. Obviously, I don't have a map yet. Clearly, I need to purchase one. Will do first thing tomorrow.

The museum was spectacular as it is supposed to be. I wasn't expecting Ruebens to be my favorite artist.

Had a bear of a time finding the right bus to come home on. Am now going to go eat a bite and go to bed early. I'm planning to go to Kensington Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum tomorrow.

have to go

Oh, and BTW?

2005-07-04T23:45:00.000-05:00

There are not nearly enough people saying WOO HOO.

1 GBP = 1.76111 USD

I think we can do better. Kim is a poor school teacher who has small children to feed and fake red hair to color. You're letting me down, people, you're letting me down.

Check, check, check

2005-07-04T22:39:00.000-05:00

I think I'm ready to go. The new suitcase is packed. All of the kids' clothing is packed. The sleeping bags have been located for their camping trip. The house has been sort of cleaned. I've printed off everything I can think off. I've sent itineraries to various people so if I forget where I'm supposed to be, I can call them...of course, I just realized a few moments ago that I don't have a calling card that I can think of. I'm hoping I can scrounge around and find one from my New York trip. I think I had a free one that I didn't use. If not, I suppose I'll be purchasing something in the airport tomorrow during the generous layover in Hotlanta.

Now I just have to make myself go to sleep. That's going to be the hardest part of all. Eeek!

Shopping? Done.

2005-07-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

I think I have now purchased everything that I could possibly need to take on this trip as well outfitted my children for any and all events that might come up while they are vacationing in West Virginia and Alabama (boy, they are certainly getting the short end of the family travel stick, aren't they?). I made my umpteenth trip to Wal Mart today to purchase the last minute things that we couldn't possibly do without and now I'm ready to put the stuff in various suitcases and bags and zip the whole mess up and be done with it. One more load of laundry and we're ready. I think. I hope. I pray.

I watched Live 8 yesterday. The London concert was fantastic and got me even more in the mood. I had originally planned to go to London on July 1 when I learned of this trip, so it was a bit depressing to know that I could have been in London for that had it all worked out, but on the other hand, I would have never been anywhere near all of that madness and that would have probably been even MORE depressing, so perhaps it's all for the best.

In a sort of weird little twist, the very first time I went to London, it was just as the Live Aid concert was about to take place. We only just missed it. I remember being so terribly crushed that we wouldn't be able to see it (as if we'd have gotten tickets). How very strange that here, twenty years later, I'm about to head back over and just miss it again. This, folks, is the story of my life.

In suprisingly good news, the pound is dropping versus the dollar! Please take a moment to say WOO HOO with me. "WOO HOO!" (did you say it--it doesn't count unless you did it outloud). As of this typing, the exchange rate is 1 GBP = 1.76792 USD which is still painful for me to even type, let alone contemplate, but certainly better than 1.83+ that it had been when I was looking a month ago. I can't remember the last time I was this happy about six cents.

Perhaps it will drop down to say, 1.70 by the time I get there? In two short days? Maybe? If everyone who reads this shouts WOO HOO rather like the whole Peter Pan clapping to save Tinkerbell thing---it could happen. Work with me. Oh, well, no one goes to London for the bargains anyway.

Money, Money, Money

2005-07-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

I've now taken care of the financial end of things. I went to the bank to purchase some Traveller's Cheques as well as to inform them that I would be travelling to London for the month of July. This was necessary because if I didn't, they would report my debit card as a "hot card" and potentially cut off my funds whilst I was there and that could be a bad thing.

I wasn't going to even bother with the whole Am Ex thing this time around, but it dawned on me that if I lost my debit card, I would be up a creek (or the Thames as it might be). There could also be some sort of horrible nationwide electrical disaster that made it impossible to access any ATM machines. Or, I could just lose the stupid card. So, anyway, I purchased the good old fashioned cheques. I felt safer just having them in my hand.

The new card that American Express offers, by the way, is not nearly as easy as it looks. For one thing, they charge you $14.95 just to get one. This is a rip unless you are getting at least $1500 worth of spendy cash to take with you in that form. If so, that fee is offset because Am Ex charges you $1 per $100 if you don't have it as part of your banking fees. However, here's the kicker. When you use that card to make a purchase, American Express charges you more fees. They do not, however, charge you any more fees when you sign one of those little checks over to a merchant or when you drage your sweaty half-dead self in to one of their many Am Ex locations around the globe where you then wait in line for anywhere from 2 minutes to half an hour to exchange your $200 bucks for about half of that in the local play money. I suppose there is something to be said for a small fee, hmmmmmmmmm.

Anyway, I have cash. I can travel now. I also wore my new travel shoes, even if they do look like old lady shoes. They didn't kill my feet. In fact, despite the very clunky thick soles, they were incredibly comfortable. Once I got used to the whole "walking shoe" thing, I was fine. See, a "walking shoe" is much more firm than a standard athletic shoe or my usual flip flop. It's intended for things like cobblestones or tree roots and the like. I wasn't prepared for this at first and so I didn't pick my foot up quite enough when I was taking my initial step, thus dragging on the carpet and nearly rendering my four weeks of post-knee surgery rehab useless. Thankfully, I caught my balance and got the hang of walking and was able to adapt quickly. Any trouble with the shoe was solely operator error. I highly recommend New Balance and ordering them from Zappos. I ordered them on Wednesday and they arrived on Thursday. You can't beat that.

Not So Very Busy Day

2005-06-30T23:54:00.000-05:00

I packed nothing today, in fact, I actually unpacked something. How very counterproductive of me, eh? I actually wore my "flying to London" clothes, or at least I think they are my "flying to London clothes" to a picnic tonight. I was in a hurry and I didn't want to have to look for other stuff to wear. I was very proud of me for not getting anything on myself. I put them back in the stack when I returned home. Yay for me.

I did go to the doctor and get officially cleared to go on the trip, which I suppose is good, although I was going to go ANYWAY, duh. I also decided to take yet another pair of pants. Ooops. Is that progress? I'm not sure.

I think I have to take the pants, though. I wasn't going to. They are just too comfortable for words and since most of what we will be doing is like, workshop stuff, I think I really need these khakis with me. They used to be long, too long, actually, but then I cut them off to make capris--the kind that you roll up, you know like Jennifer Aniston...yeah, stop laughing... and other rich people pay ridiculous sums of money for. Seriously, I read somewhere that she had a pair of $900 cargo capris. I think I paid $9.00 for these at Gabriel Brothers. They're not technically cargo pants because they don't have the side pockets, but I'm not techincally Jennifer Aniston, so it all balances out.

Anyway, I was going to actually put drawstrings in them, but well, Hobby Lobby doesn't actually sell drawstrings and I decided that was just too much of a hassle anyway. They are ridiculously casual and probably terribly unflattering being that they are A. capris, B. unhemmed, C. baggy, D. possibly stained, but not noticeably unless you are, like, really up close to my knee for some odd reason. Oh, and did I mention that they don't have an actual closer thingy? They have the hook half of a hook-and-eye, so I just sewed my own eye half with lots and lots of thread. I'm quite handy that way. It's brown, not khaki, but no one ever actually sees that part because they also have a drawstring waistband that ties and I wouldn't be caught dead in a shirt that short anyway. I might wear unhemmed, lightly marred faux cargo capris, but even I have my limits.

We'll be working until midnight and beyond some nights and comfort is of the essence. These are, strange as they sound, the most comfortable pants ever. In the history of home mutilated bottomwear you will find nothing more comfortable than these pants. So....take? Yes?

Tomorrow, I shall begin the arduous task of packing the children's clothing. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. I've also got to start wearing my really snappy new brown suede New Balance walking shoes so I don't show up in London with brand new shoes and end up with blisters. I was determined to avoid the whole white-shoes-with-khaki fashion statement that just screams American tourist, but if I don't do some serious walking in those shoes, I'm going to be doing the fat-chick-limping-with-Band-Aids shuffle that is not only American, but stupid American.

Pack Mode

2005-06-29T20:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I am in packing mode. I've got most of my clothing sorted out and in my gigantic suitcase. Packing, you see, is the.most.important.part.of.an.overseas.trip. It is. I have nightmares about packing. The last time I went to London, I waited until the night before I left to try to throw my clothes together (evidently I was high on some sort of pain killer or something), but otherwise, I spend at least a week with the suitcase out and in various stages of preparedness.

For this trip, I actually went out and purchased a NEW suitcase. Because I am ridiculously anal about all things travel-related, I researched suitcases, for I kid-you-not, six months. Sizes, brands, styles, stores, etc. I have read three different websites about suitcases. I finally went to TJ Maxx over the weekend and was ready to take the plunge. I found the perfect case. A simply divine brown suede Delsey 28" rollercase that had white leather trim and all kinds of compartments and sections and fabulous striped lining. God, it was beautiful. And a steal at $112. I got it down and rolled it around. It was a smooth as a Mercedes. The handle was like it was made for my hand. But the white leather trim just kept screaming at me: BIG BLACK SCUFF MARKS WILL MAR ME AFTER THE FIRST TRIP! I tried to make the voices be quiet, but I just couldn't do it. The practical side of me was drawn to the deep red Cal Pack that was only $55. Plain black trim. Nice wheels, though, good handle. Rolled like a Lincoln instead of an expensive German car, but smoothly nontheless. Handy plastic interior bag and separate suit zipper area (this matters not one whit to me because I don't travel with suits, but it looks nice).

I can't tell you how much it pained me to put the most gorgeous suitcase ever back on the shelf and take the nice, practical one home with me. I whimpered as I did so, but I got over it when I realized that I should do the smart thing. I spent the money on brown suede walking shoes instead.

Anyway, now I've got my clothing stacked in what is called the "twin towers" method of packing (is that disrespectful now?). Two stacks. I considered rolling, but right now, I have plenty of room, so I'm not going to mess with it. If space becomes an issue, then I may look for other methods. I'm trying my very best to keep the clothing to a minimum, but it's hard to pack for a 25-day trip to a country that is notoriously variable in its weather, plus we'll be out until midnight somenights and outdoors all that time. I've already done two "cullings" so far. I've pulled out four tops that I had packed in Round One. Round Two and Round Three were just a sorting of what I had in the suitcase to see what's missing and what I really didn't need. Round Four will occur when I find the khaki pants that are the basis of about half the clothes I'm planning on wearing and the last striped shirt that I simply cannot find anywhere. Then, I'll go through with my wardrobe list and make sure that I can make outfits with every thing in there and that I've got everything I need to match, etc. Then I'll see what I might still need. Oh, and my pajama pants and robe are in the laundry and I've got to find a rain jacket. That's all I think I'm missing at this point. I need to make final shoe decisions, too. At this point, I've got next to nothing in my carry on and that's good news. I'm usually packed to the gills. I'm glad I got the larger suitcase. It's not even full yet, either. I'm really trying NOT to take a zillion things. It's hard for me because I usually take every thing I own for a weekend.

I packed a shoe box full of meds today. I can't wait to go through customs with that one. I hope Gatwick is as easy as Heathrow is. I've got enough pills to choke a horse. I decided to put them all in a box and put the box in the carry on in order to make them easier to sort out just in case. I'm going to look like Judy Garland minus the bad bangs and the fake lashes.