I'm back. Whewmmhpphh.
Dec. 4th, 2003 08:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grim23Just got back from London. Spent five days there with Dr. Clay, Psy.D., a professor into that Jungian psychodynamic thing, who won a grant to go to London for a psychology conference---she hated to take another faculty, and took me for spite. Hah! The perks of being a grad student, or something. Most students in the program have gotten a perk or two...and I'd been an exception because I'd basically threatened the professors by preparedness and competency. But, I got this one. Dr. Clay is one of my few advocates in the program and she validates that they really are out to get me. :>
The conference? Basically, blown off after mandatory presence. Instead, hung out with Dr. Clay and her best friend Harma, a beautiful chain-smoking roll-yer-own, drinks-like-its-the-last-wine-ever Dutch woman who's a Train Manager on Aerostar, the Chunnel train. So, we went first class, chocolates and champagne, to Lille, France, walking around and getting drunk, admiring churches, chess players, and Ducatis, and ate a marvelous Steak [deserved to be capitalized], and then back to London. Problem: persistent sinus/headcold thing, jet lag, too much english coffee. Slept all the way back to England.
Rested and recovered all the next day, ate a true english breakfast cooked by Steve (Harma's SO of 18 years), ate incredible Indian lamb a block from their flat,at 10 pm, and slept, slept, slept.
Next day: the Tower of London. Been before, in '86, and this was a disappointment. Yes, there were the armour of the princes exhibit, but overall less armour and weapons than I remembered, and almost no Spanish, Norman, or Shogunate armour at all. I cared less about the artillery and even less than that the crown jewels and more about the history and tradition and the craftsmanship of well-designed and well-balanced tools of killing and protecting the most powerful kingdom in the world at the time. Many rude Americans (ashamed to sound and behave like them, I actually acted quite British most of that day). Saw Big Ben, House of Commons, Hyde Park, Waterloo. Missed Westminster Cathedral by 2 minutes. Avoided much of the tourista crap, able to navigate the tube (stand to the right of the escalator, please, and mind the gap) at high speed. More english coffee. Resisted the urge to tell a loud, rude American to "fuck off, this isn't your country, mate." Wore out the thin and under-muscled Dr. Clay, early and often.
Spent the last night in a hotel (80 pounds for a cheaper place!), but amazing water pressure (30 seconds to fill the bathtub) and a shower head I not only didn't have to duck around but one I couldn't reach.
Most difficult customs: Leaving Heathrow. 7 fully-armed police with automatic weapons, looking for someone. Glad it wasn't me.
Movies Seen on the plane(s): Tomb Raider, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, T3, and Charlie's Angels. None worth seeing anywhere else.
Medications: Fishermen's Friends, by the packet. Equate Sinus Meds. Coffee. Lemosip tabs. Water. Coffee. Coffee. Eye-watering whiskey. Coffee.
Most embarrassing moment: My zipper on my bag snapped clean off, locking my bag shut during bag check going into the Tower. I had to cut my bag open to get the bomb-sniffer device in. I zip-tied it shut to get home.
Most annoying presence: Starbuck's is everwhere. They've even got the concession at the Tower. Evil. Their number is without ending, and the name, Foul Blasphemer, is Egg Nog latte.
I rate this trip: 8.9
Down with rude Americans, little armour, and burnt-coffee chains. Up with Champagne, chocolate, real english breakfasts, tradition and history 186 mph trains, and the tube. Great trip, especially for relatively free. Profound thanks to Dr. Clay and Jungian Psychoanalysis.
The conference? Basically, blown off after mandatory presence. Instead, hung out with Dr. Clay and her best friend Harma, a beautiful chain-smoking roll-yer-own, drinks-like-its-the-last-wine-ever Dutch woman who's a Train Manager on Aerostar, the Chunnel train. So, we went first class, chocolates and champagne, to Lille, France, walking around and getting drunk, admiring churches, chess players, and Ducatis, and ate a marvelous Steak [deserved to be capitalized], and then back to London. Problem: persistent sinus/headcold thing, jet lag, too much english coffee. Slept all the way back to England.
Rested and recovered all the next day, ate a true english breakfast cooked by Steve (Harma's SO of 18 years), ate incredible Indian lamb a block from their flat,at 10 pm, and slept, slept, slept.
Next day: the Tower of London. Been before, in '86, and this was a disappointment. Yes, there were the armour of the princes exhibit, but overall less armour and weapons than I remembered, and almost no Spanish, Norman, or Shogunate armour at all. I cared less about the artillery and even less than that the crown jewels and more about the history and tradition and the craftsmanship of well-designed and well-balanced tools of killing and protecting the most powerful kingdom in the world at the time. Many rude Americans (ashamed to sound and behave like them, I actually acted quite British most of that day). Saw Big Ben, House of Commons, Hyde Park, Waterloo. Missed Westminster Cathedral by 2 minutes. Avoided much of the tourista crap, able to navigate the tube (stand to the right of the escalator, please, and mind the gap) at high speed. More english coffee. Resisted the urge to tell a loud, rude American to "fuck off, this isn't your country, mate." Wore out the thin and under-muscled Dr. Clay, early and often.
Spent the last night in a hotel (80 pounds for a cheaper place!), but amazing water pressure (30 seconds to fill the bathtub) and a shower head I not only didn't have to duck around but one I couldn't reach.
Most difficult customs: Leaving Heathrow. 7 fully-armed police with automatic weapons, looking for someone. Glad it wasn't me.
Movies Seen on the plane(s): Tomb Raider, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, T3, and Charlie's Angels. None worth seeing anywhere else.
Medications: Fishermen's Friends, by the packet. Equate Sinus Meds. Coffee. Lemosip tabs. Water. Coffee. Coffee. Eye-watering whiskey. Coffee.
Most embarrassing moment: My zipper on my bag snapped clean off, locking my bag shut during bag check going into the Tower. I had to cut my bag open to get the bomb-sniffer device in. I zip-tied it shut to get home.
Most annoying presence: Starbuck's is everwhere. They've even got the concession at the Tower. Evil. Their number is without ending, and the name, Foul Blasphemer, is Egg Nog latte.
I rate this trip: 8.9
Down with rude Americans, little armour, and burnt-coffee chains. Up with Champagne, chocolate, real english breakfasts, tradition and history 186 mph trains, and the tube. Great trip, especially for relatively free. Profound thanks to Dr. Clay and Jungian Psychoanalysis.
