Thursday, March 31, 2011

An Idiot Abroad

yes, yes... I know that's Paris, but look what he left behind across The Channel
This site will go dark for a few days while I head off to London in the company of The Admiral and Steanso.

My understanding of London comes mostly from movies and TV.  At that, it comes mostly from sci-fi, Bond and other genre movies and TV, so while I am prepared for a Dalek invasion or hitting on Miss Moneypenny, I am less ready for, say, finding a public restroom or a solid cup of coffee.

Just a couple dudes in England.  What could go wrong?
For some reason I had processed I was going on a trip, but not really the destination of the trip until last weekend.  London, unlike Austin, is an absolutely ancient city by American standards, and especially by Texas standards.  London was old and lived in before Columbus landed in the West Indies, and Austin was more or less a seasonal camping ground for Native Americans until the 1820's.  So I'm looking forward to my first trip to see streets trod upon by my fellow humanity for countless ages.

Today, of course, London is an extremely cosmopolitan sort of berg, so I don;t exactly expect quaint old British customs, nor for my Jane Austen fantasies to come true.  I expect Starbucks and BP gas stations.  And Justin Bieber (a star whose talent knows no boundaries).

We hope to partake in fine dining with charming locals
It occurs to me that all sorts of things could happen to me while I'm overseas.  Pirates.  Squid attack.  Hurled into The Land of the Lost.  So wish me, Steanso and The Admiral lots of luck as we embark on this whirlwind adventure.

Wish us luck.

1 comment:

Simon MacDonald said...

Oh man, you are going to love London. It is such a fantastic city. I was there for 3 weeks one year for work. Most of that time was spent in at the office but all of the time I could get free I spent walking around the city. There is so much to see and do there.

Check out the Mummies and Library at the British Museum. I think they are open late and for free on Thursdays. There are a ton of comic book stores around town but I'd suggest finding a Forbidden Planet to see what's what. You will have no problem finding a good cup of coffee wherever two streets meet you will find a Starbucks, Cafe Nero and Costa each on one of the three corners. My favourite place to grab a coffe was Pret a Porter though.

Hit me up off blog and I can feed you some more info on Londinium.