Queen's house

Long long ago in a greenwich far far away, the queen had a beautiful house by the river (square building, centered). She wanted more buildings as part of the palace complex, but gave her architects the requirement that her 30-meter wide swath of view remain unrestricted....so the entire area has a big open stretch (still) from the front of her house all the way to the warf. It is good to be queen!

Everyone has seen the "underground" public transportation symbols...but how about "river"?

Today so far

I woke up, walked up to the tube station, boarded one tube, changed lines twice, walked by Big Ben, parliment, and through part of Westminister abbey. Then, bought a Thames
Clipper all-day pass at the London eye, took it two stops to the Tower bridge, and have been walking east along the south bank of the Thames since then (about 2 hrs). I have gone through many interesting residential districts of varying ages, seen the HMS Belfast, and just went to a non-alcoholic cider tasting...there is no apple juice like that being pressed into your cup in front of you! I am almost to the next Clipper stop (I think) and will take the next clipper to Greenwich park to pose for nerdy Meridian pictures which I'm sure are the local equivalent of taking a shot at four corners

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Crazy chair in the lobby of the park plaza hotel

Landed safe and its FREEZING

So a month ago, it was 60 and sunny...now it is 40 and foggy? What gives? Who authorized these "seasons"? The flights were good, had a chatty row mate and no middle the first leg and small row mates the second...drank plenty of water and orange juice to prevent an adventure like last time. The handle of my suitcase broke (le sigh) but I think I can fix it...will bring it with me monday, there has to be a workshop stocked with bolts and such in bridport someplace!

Didn't sleep at all, so not sure what to do. Its 7am, but might lay down for a few minutes if they will let me check in. Speaking of, just got to hotel!

Stonehenge some more

Really quaint...right in the middle of nowhere

Stonehenge

One of my favorite henges!

Swift boat

We went out for an hour long boat ride, up and down the coast of what I believe was called Lyme Bay. This is obviously the other boat--they had saddle seats and handles, went 60mph, and got completely out of the water on waves. Fun stuff!

Dinner!

Had fish and chips and a chocolate milk shake for dinner from this little stand.
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Polite notice

Is it possible for something to become polite by fiat? Signs point towards 'yes'
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Mmm...prawny

I was hoping for something more exotic but they taste mostly like vinegar.
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Stairs down to the pub

These stone stairs are down to the pub in the cellar...very non- ada compliant!
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The view from the hotel

Right out the door you can see the english channel!
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Back of hotel

Here is a shot that gives another view of the manor.
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My hotel

I am staying in the Manor House. It is 600 years old and looks every century of it! That is the main lobby door...it reqally feels like an old inn, with a common room in the basement for food and local beers.
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Petrol prices

You might not be able to see but the petrol prices are 1.2 pounds per liter...multiply that by about 6 or 7 to get dollars per gallon. Also, its pump and then pay...very weird when a tank could be over $100, but there are cams everywhere, and a cop will meet you at home if you gas and go.
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Landed safe in london (mostly) no worse for the wear

American airlines international economy is waaay better than united--quite comfortable! I had one of the off center seats in the center 5-row, and lucked out...the very middle was vacant!

Directly in front of me was a family with a baby and a toddler-mostly one of them was screaming the whole flight, but I didn't care that much..I had good headphones and the movie selecion was actually recent--i watched most of "robin hood" before I got deathly bored.

I tried to sleep and was mostly sucessfull but woke up to a perfect storm of unpleasantness: screaming baby, screaming toddler, turbulence, low blood sugar (it had been five hours since meal), dehydration (I forgot a water bottle) and not enough fresh air. I felt like I was going to be sick, so I woke the guy next to me to let me pass and walked back to the lavatory. It was occupied so I stood in the aisle for a minute, started to get a little light headed and...BAM. Out cold, fell straight back into the aisle (sore tailbone and the back of my head) and woke up seeing stars and stewardesses. They gave me a cold towel, some water, and orange juice until I felt up to moving back to the galley, where I hung out and munched some cheese and crackers and another glass of orange juice. I was hoping for a pity pass to business class, but unfortunately I recovered pretty quickly--they said my color was back to normal which means it was probably askew originally.

Anyways, a very odd experience, and I can't quit pin down any specific root cause different on this flight than my other four 6+ hour flights, other than the dehydration factor, which I will go overboard avoiding on the return leg.

Other than a bump on my head and what feels like a hangover, no lasting effects, and I am looking forward to a productive week. The UK country side is beautiful so far (the bits I can see from the taxi)--England startlingly resembles *New* England.

Pictures as soon as there is anything interesting.
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Off to England!

Since international email is free and international data is $Arm+Leg/megabyte, I have decided to resurrect my blogger to keep a running picture account of anything of interest on my trip, as much for myself as for anyone else. Stay tuned for the next week, two to three people who might care!
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