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London, Part 3

By Brian | June 16, 2006 | Share on Facebook

Just to wrap-up the UK story:

Another successful day in the office. We split up at the end of the day, so I had to make my way back to the hotel, change clothes, and then head out to Picadilly Circus to meet a colleague for dinner. It’s amazing how 24 hours in a new city is enough to get you oriented. I was able to navigate the Tube (including adding money to my Oyster card and transferring lines halfway through the trip), and was able to walk around downtown London enough to find the hotel and Picadilly. Next time I’m there, it’ll take even less time to get my bearings, I’m sure…

As for the evening, we had dinner at a small Italian place right off Trafalgar Square (by the way, why is that one a square, while everything else is a circle/circus?) After that, we walked toward Buckingham Palace, and then down the Thames’ bank to see Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, and the Millenium Eye. By the time we got to Big Ben, it had grown dark. IMHO, Big Ben’s much more impressive when it’s lit up at night. At any rate, it was great to see some of the sights before heading home.

And oh, by the way, for all the political bickering that goes on around here, there is still something indescribably comforting about touching down in the United States after having been away.

Topics: Travel Talk | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “London, Part 3”

  1. Jeff Porten says at June 20th, 2006 at 9:27 pm :
    Oyster card? That’s new since I’ve been there. As in “London is your…”?

    And where the hell does “the world is my oyster” come from, anyway? Weird Al has a line, “the world was my burrito”, which if you think about it, doesn’t make any less sense.

    something indescribably comforting about touching down in the United States

    Yup. Me, too. I get chills the first time I see the US flag when I’m back on home soil, every time.

  2. Brian says at June 21st, 2006 at 12:08 pm :
    The Oyster Card is the debit card they use so you don’t have to deal with all those coins every time you travel. Their website says absolutely nothing about why it’s called Oyster. Maybe just to confuse the Americans? ;-)

    I get chills the first time I see the US flag when I’m back on home soil, every time.

    Yup. I just wish it wasn’t right below a sign that says “Welcome to the United States of America. All Major Credit Cards Accepted.” Quite a step down from “Give us your tired, your poor…”

    But I guess customs comes first…

  3. Jeff Porten says at June 22nd, 2006 at 11:05 pm :
    No wonder they don’t let you take pictures.

    My favorite customs moment: got pulled aside in Atlanta for a full luggage search looking for drugs; of course, if they find any, I’m sent to jail until I lose the rest of my hair. After 45 minutes of watching my dirty laundry spread out across an airport table, he thanks me for my time and hands me a card so I can write back to DHS about whether I was treated professionally and courteously.

  4. Brian says at June 24th, 2006 at 3:05 am :
    Heh… I’m guessing that has something to do with this.