London Calling

There's nothing like having The Clash stuck in your
head constantly. And when I'm not hearing that, I'm
humming "King of the Road" as a result of all the
signs for "rooms to let" around town. It's an
interesting mix.

After a long flight (I love Virgin-Atlantic, by the
way), a long tube ride, and a short nap, Joey and I
headed into town and walked along the Thames on Friday
night. We passed by the Tower of London, crossed the
Tower bridge, went by the Globe Theater, saw the
London Eye (the ginormous ferris wheel), heard Big Ben
strike eight o'clock, snuck a quick peek at
Westminster Abbey, Parliament, No. 10 Downing Street
(the equivalent of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.), and
Trafaglar Square. Eventually, we made it back to
Joey's house where I promptly collapsed and slept for
12 hours.

On Saturday, we took a train ride south to Brighton
where I experienced England's version of "If you don't
like the weather, just wait five minutes." We left
London in the cold and rain, arrived to bright
sunshine and clear skies in Brighton, then watched an
amazing front roll in while we ate fish and chips by
Brighton Pier (imagine Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
extending out over the water). It rained sideways for
a while, and we loitered in the restaurant way longer
than we should have. Eventually, the rain let up, and
we began a foot tour of Brighton's narrow alleyways
which were cluttered with tons of shops and even more
people. By 5 p.m. the clouds were gone again, and we
were treated to a great evening sky. (We celebrated by
heading into a pub for a couple of hours where I
consumed an unknown English favorite--Coronas with
lime.) :)

I'm anxious to get a bit more removed from globalized
society, though I'm not sure if that will ever happen.
It's hard to feel "away from it all" with Starbucks
and McDonald's at every turn. Maybe in Greece...