Final Days in London

We did something before we left England that I wish we had tried to do more; we booked a tour bus to visit sites outside the city. Unlike the journey to Oxford, we had a talkative guide and a long, meandering journey across the countryside. The hardest part of the trip was getting up early in the morning to take the tube to the bus station. After that, everything got easy, and my only complaint would be the bus seats, which were designed for very, very small people with bent spines.

Our first stop was Stonehenge, and it was truly a profound experience. Not only are the mysterious stones standing in their classic arrangement on Salisbury Plain, but also the surrounding quiet countryside is littered with ancient burial mounds which give the place a real Druidish feeling (is that even a word?)

Jayne at the Roman Baths

From Stonehenge our chirpy guide took us to Bath, and it was the prettiest drive and city we have seen to date. I wish we had booked our time to stay at this place rather than the dreary environs of Brick Lane. There was far too much to see of this lovely place in the three hours we were allotted. Bath was filled with charming streets, old buildings, and lots of different places to shop and eat. Our tour included admission to the Roman baths, which was an incredible museum built so that one could feel as if he was seeing the place in the first century AD. It is a pity the water is so polluted that you cannot get in it because this is Britains only hot spring, and it is truly lovely.

Following our return to London, we spent our final day on a trip to the British Library, which in many ways was the highlight of the trip. There we saw the Magna Carta, the Gutenberg Bible, and even lyrics written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. What a treat! A true library that actually takes their custodianship of books to be their central mission, I found this place to be an almost heavenly alternative to the digitally obsessed profession in which I find myself.

Today we took our leave of our London apartment in order to journey to Brussels. We were glad to leave because our Brick Lane flat was, by any objective description, a dump. Aside from the obvious mold, dirt, and Pharaoh ants, I had to toss a bum from our doorstep on two different occasions. I saw the second miscreant walking down the sidewalk before we left and took a surreptitious photograph of him as he cruised looking for another doorway in which to pee or sleep.  (But the photograph was mistakenly deleted from this entry --addendum Dec. 20, 2013)

The students at the Saint V Day beer bust in Brussels

We boarded the Eurostar train this morning, a sleek, bullet transport that goes under the English Channel in almost less time than your gaseous correspondent can describe it. A quick dash across norther France and we were in Brussels. I found the city maps here just as incomprehensible as London, so I splurged on a cab to take us to our next apartment. Here is where I sit typing this entry, and I must say it is PARADISE compared to our last crash pad. This place is a one bedroom palace, with a large bedroom, bathroom, spotless kitchen, and comfortable living room. No sooner had we taken possession than we left to investigate the booming crowd no more than a block away. Imagine our surprise when we stumbled on thousands upon thousands of college students swilling beer in the streets as they followed trucks around distributing brew from kegs. It was Saint V Day, and who would have known we would be stumbling into the heart of it entirely by chance. A fantastic coincidence! After viewing the revelry we required to our apartment for a quiet dinner, a few beers of my own, and some bizarre French television before bed. Tomorrow: Bruges!