Day 2 in London

Today was a big day! Pat and I explored Westminster, rode the London Eye, went to the Tate Modern, and enjoyed a night on the town. I'm currently riding a train to Edinburgh, Scotland, and racing my laptop's battery to get this blog posted (I don't have the right adapter to plug it in. Here are today's highlights.

Person:

This is my stellar friend Pat. Not only is he letting me crash on his couch, he's taken the week off of work to be a tourist with me, and arranged the first class train tickets I'm currently enjoying. It's been fantastic to get to spend some time with him. This is a goofy picture we took while riding the London Eye, which is a huge observation wheel that provides some of the best views in the city.Place:

Today's place was the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, two museums combined into one in Westminster. Westminster is where the head of British government is located, and a common tourist destination. These two museums documented the life of Britain's most famous prime minister, Winston Churchill, and the time he spent underground during World War II when there was a threat of Germany bombing London. It was amazing to see the very well-preserved offices of the orchestrators of the British war strategy, but the highlight was Churchill's own bedroom, whose walls were plastered in maps. I imagined him during his few moments of rest, still devoting most of his thought to how he would lead his country out of the dark times it faced. Also, apparently he was a map nerd like me. :-) Sorry the image quality isn't too great; I was dealing with very difficult lighting.

Food:

Pat and I ate a fantastic dinner at a fine dining restaurant with a casual atmosphere called Fifteen. It was begun by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver as part of a charity effort to help disadvantaged youth get involved in the culinary professions. We got a four-course prix fixe menu. I had a crab salad with rocket and a top-notch lemon vinaigrette, a very good risotto with truffle oil, charred trout with broccoli and delicious creamy parsnip puree, and two cheeses with dates, chutney, and walnut bread for dessert (well, cheese course really). Well worth the expense.

Day 1 in London

I had a crazy time getting here (delayed flight, delayed baggage, Tube lines down), but I'm here and had a great first day on Sunday! Each day I'm going to highlight a person, place, and food for that day as a simple way of recording my experiences. Here are today's.

Person:

This guy was carving a whole roast pig in Spittlefield's open air market in The City, which is London's financial district. He was very friendly and let me come back into his cooking area to get a better shot. Just above his left tricep, you can see my buddy Pat looking on while his wierd Yank friend takes pictures of dead animals.

Place:

The Monument is a 202-foot tower designed by Christopher Wren as a tribute to the Great Fire of 1666. Supposedly, if you tipped the monument over, its top would fall on the exact spot where the fire started. Pat and I climbed all 311 steps to the top (I was dying of exhaustion by the end, and Pat was of course not even winded). This picture is of the base.

Food:

For dinner we met Pat's friends Emma and Nicola for Dim Sum at a place called Ping Pong. It was delicious! One highlight was the vegetarian dumplings just like the pork ones I used to love when I ate meat, only with vegetable filling. The Brittish have a definite affinity for covering things in puff pastry, and Dim Sum is apparently no exception. They had vegetable rolls covered with pastry that were wonderful too. I washed it all down with a pear lemonade.

Geotagging!

I bought a Wintec WBT-201 GPS logger the other day! I'll be able to use it to track my routes each day as I explore, and to geotag my photos. I'll post some photos as soon as I arrive! Are you as excited as I am? Probably not, I guess... but I'm excited!

Itinerary

I'm traveling to Europe for the first time this Spring! I'll be spending three weeks there and traveling to four countries. Rather than keep a traditional travel journal, I've decided to take advantage of the widespread wifi connections that now exist and blog about my experience. This will be for my own benefit, to reflect on my experiences, but also for my students, family, and friends to be able to follow my journey and (hopefully) keep in touch while I'm away by leaving comments. I'll be posting daily if possible with my favorite people, places, foods, and of course experiences.

The following is an itinerary of my trip. I've included some information for my students about the places I'm visiting.

Saturday, March 28: I will fly to London, England, where I will be staying with my old friend Pat Burks. I will travel 5426 miles (8732 km), which will take 13 hours and 5 minutes. London is the capital of the United Kingdom, which includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Tuesday, March 31: Pat and I will take a train to Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.

Thursday, April 2: Pat and I will return to London by train, stopping for 10 hours in York, England. Pat went to graduate school at the University of York.

Monday, April 6: I fly to Barcelona, Spain, where I will meet my parents. Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain (the first is Madrid), and is on the Mediterranean Sea. My wife Laurie will join us on April 11.

Monday, April 13: We will travel by car down the Mediterranean coast to the town of Benidorm, Spain.

Tuesday, April 14: We will continue on to Granada, Spain, home of the Alhambra palace.

Thursday, April 16: Laurie and I will leave my parents and travel to Paris, France by train. We will stop in Madrid, Spain (the capital) for 5 hours, during which we will hopefully be able to visit the Museo del Prado (a famous museum). We will sleep on the train to Paris.

Friday, April 17: Laurie and I will arrive in Paris, the City of Lights. Paris is the capital of France.

Sunday, April 19: Laurie and I will fly home to Ontario International Airport.