It is awfully silent here with seemingly nothing new Samanthan to be saying, but someone needs to put out a post with a 2008 dateline, and I've discovered quite by accident that Passport has mysteriously and silently migrated back to noon Eastern on weekdays, a good thing in my opinion (even London and a Pimm's Cup today). Of course it may also be that some Travel Channel intern is randomly stuffing discs into trays after a long day's partying. You just never know.


I happened to get two Christmas presents that were vaguely Sam-like, although no one in Tuttle's family knows of his secret weakness (or even that he's Tuttle for that matter). One was Audrey Hepburn in, yes, Two For the Road. IntlDoc will appreciate this, I'm sure. Still not a great movie, and you better like Henry Mancini's lush but so 1960s music if you watch it. But Audrey's driving through the Gallic countryside, even pausing once at I think the same Loire Valley chateau now shown in the opening credits of Passport although Sam in fact never got there, couldn't help but again unite the two people in my addled mind. But I'm sure Sam did much better than that loud arrogant jerk of a husband Albert Finney plays.


And a niece gave me Bill Bryson's Notes From a Small Island. Since people know I love going to England, I get asked a lot, "Surely you've read Notes From a Small Island?" but in fact I never had, and being very stubborn, the more people asked me that, the more determined I became to in fact never read Notes From a Small Island. But when your niece gives you a copy and you have lots of free time at present, you end up gobbling it down as it is of course a wonderful little book: witty, observant, great travel writing and very true in most cases. Surely Samantha has read it.


I was very pleased to see that he loved Lincoln and Durham and the wondrous ancient cathedrals there. Luckily I seem to get far better weather than he so frequently ran into on that tour, but much of what he says, including his hatred of so much insensitive architecture in the last generation there, I heartily agree with. Makes me want to re-read some of Samantha's journals on this site.


I have one Bryson-esque English train story I don't think I've told before and then I'll disappear again. I'd rolled back by an empty rattling local bus from a wonderful but lonely country house named Burton Agnes into Bridlington way up on the east coast of Yorkshire and fell into the train station to find by incredible luck that a little train south passing Beverley was about to leave. So I hopped onto it for a bonus visit to the fabulous gothic masterpiece of Beverley Minster on my way back home to London. It was a deeply rural ride, and in the passing fields some farmer was dumping some kind of decomposing rotting something as fertilizer and the stench was unbelievable even in the train. The other people in the car, average age of about 85, of course all remained politely silent as if they could actually breathe normally with that awful smell. But eventually one prim lady quietly opened her purse, pulled out a tiny air freshener can and demurely spritzed the air around her and then returned it without a word. A great travel moment for me.

Happy 2008 Samantha.

Happy New Year, Capttuttle and all Brownheads. I hope the year (all 2 days of it) has been good to you all. I celebrated by shopping, thanks to gift cards from Christmas. I've been avoiding break homework by watching the old Bon Jovi SNL and reading Libba Bray's new book.

Yes, the forum has been quite quiet. I think we need the new China specials to perk us up. When do they air?

Another horrific stock market day to start off the year as the national gloom just continues (and no travelling for Tuttle in the forseeable future, that's for sure), so yes, Kelsey, we do need those China specials of Samantha's, and soon. They seem shrouded in mystery, though. No surprise, I suppose, being about the inscrutible East...

By the way, I've been on that legendary Carlisle to Settle railway line up in the north of England mentioned at the end of the Bill Bryson book. Went way out of my way once just to ride it while it still remained in operation. Like me, I think many others that day (on a pretty full little train) were along just for the fabulous views over their central ridge of mountains. I most remember a very friendly and gentle big dog also on the train I got to play with for a while. I've even been on local trains on warm summer afternoons out in the country when kids would get on with their bikes and dog, ride for a stop or two, and hop off again waving cheerfully to the engineer as we pulled away. Nothing quite like it... But I promised no more English train commentaries...

Happy New Year! I hope everyone is staying toasty warm. If I could hibernate for 3 months, I would just to avoid Winter.

I am happy to say I've booked a reservation at one of the boutique hotels that Samantha visited, Nine Zero in Boston. I'm treating myself and 2 girls from work to a night there. It's their Christmas present and my "last year's birthday plans fizzled" gift to myself. We'll spend the day in town and also try to land some half price tickets to Blue Man Group.
One of the girls is also a Great Hotels fan so she's beyond excited.

A belated Happy New Year from the Samantha Western contingent! Hummingbirdlady FINALLY managed to get re-registered on the site. It's great to be back among friends.

My family survived Friday's 'storm of the decade' here in Northern California. I have lived here for more decades than I care to admit, and I can tell you this was the storm of the half century! I don't think I've ever experienced winds with that velocity before. We came through the day relatively unscathed save the north fence blowing down. Since I was at work along with the neighbors, my poor husband had to get out in gale force winds to prop it back up on his own. Talk about a hurculean effort! This is nothing when compared to the 200 hundred people in the homes to the east of us who were without electricity from late Friday afternoon until last night around nine o'clock. It was quite creepy to look out and see pitch black darkness. It almost felt like we were camping. Several home owners suffered the loss of 50 year old trees as did the nearby neighborhood park. The sound of saws and commercial tree shredders is pervasive.

That's enough about me. I hope the the new year bean more calmly for rest of you.

Any rumors when Samantha's China special will air? The Disney special placated my Samantha fix for a time. I'm looking forward to her new travel weekends series. Until then, the PTE DVD's I got for Christmas will have to sustain me.

Happy New Year to everyone. I've been out of town for a while and am glad to be back. I'm hoping for a good year watching Samantha do her magic on the TV screen. May she never quit her job. Let's keep this forum going strong. Brownheads forever.

OK, back again from what seemed like an inspection tour of US airports this time. After returning from London a few weeks ago family summoned and I heeded, so off I went again. Burning frequent flyer miles has never seemed so fun – except for the slight complication that frequent flyer miles are only upgradeable with cash. Ah well.

Tried something new this time and went without any checked bags. For the overhead compartment, I picked up a leather flight bag at a store famous for – not to put too fine a point on it – leather flight bags, and packed as wisely as I could. It seems that I got about as much in the carry-on flight bag as I could have in my well-worn check-in Pathfinder suitcase. With shoulder strap, it seemed an acceptable trade-off, even without wheels.

After a brief delay at the security check-point where my deodorant and shaving stuff was confiscated (judging by what was left in the respective cans, a total loss of about $1 USD), I was publicly chastised over the public address system (TSA has no mission to provide customer service, folks). Not quite as interesting as the time a guard threw my computer on a table so hard that it bounced or another time when an elderly colleague (~ 75 yrs old) was assaulted by a TSA rep because he didn’t take off his shoes fast enough – but interesting enough.

Spent a little time at Puck’s sipping wine and brunching with the daughter and elsewhere dining with friends. In the “far too gratifying,” department, when a colleague (same elderly one as above) and I visited our favorite Chinese restaurant, the owner’s wife wept to see me again. I hope it was because she was happy to see me but I didn’t ask, in fear her reason was quite the opposite. I flew through Dallas twice (FF miles responsible for the detour), and recommend AA Concourse A for everyone. Not for the stores, mind you, but for the people who work there; i.e. the little girl at Fridays who called me “honey” and the jetway ticket checker who said “howdy” and meant it. I wasn’t there long, but I sure as heck knew I was in Texas.

So, as the last semester of the academic year begins, let me wish all the very best, each and every one – and with more Samantha on the horizon, how can we go wrong???

Happy New Year!

Cheers and bon voyage, friends --

Intl Doc

Por fin! The site would not let me log in for days! Finally it's working and I can post again! As the Doctor would say... fantastic!

Well, I'm glad to hear your travels went well. I've never been to Texas, but if I go I'll keep in mind the nice people at the airport. Actually, the employees at the Denver airport, I found, were quite friendly, much more so than those at Chicago's airports. The man at security even asked if I had a good visit in Colorado.

Does anybody know when China's going to air? I'm so excited to see it. I recently watched Anthony Bourdain's China episode, and it looked like he ate some really freaky food. But hey, what's odd to us is normal to them, and vice versa. Though I don't think I could bring myself to eat scorpion. Ooog.

Happy new semester to you, Intldoc. Mine will be starting Wednesday.

Hi everyone! I've actually never been the biggest fan of Texas (Dallas and Houston to be specific...I love Austin and San Antonio). I lived in Dallas for awhile and found the scenery a bit...ugly. Lots of concrete strip malls. But growing up in Newport, RI and Scottsdale, AZ probably spoiled me. Definitely lots of friendly people in Texas!
I think I remember reading that the China series is going to air in July just prior to the Olympics in Beijing. I found out that I'm going to China this summer for three weeks and I'm so excited!
Cruiseluver...I'm with you on never eating scorpion! And I heard mainland China eats dog, which makes me sick to my stomach. I remember one of the episodes where Sam tried horse meat and she expressed it really well..."It's just really tough to know it's horse" or something like that.

Intldoc -

I haven't seen you on the Wiki site for quite a while. I left you a couple messages there. Hope all is well with you this new year. Take care.

Greetings, everyone,
It's about time I joined this thread to wish a Happy New Year to all of the loyal Brownheads. I'm not really late, as Chinese New Year is not until Feb. 7. I would love to still be there for it, but I reluctantly came home after nineteen memorable and illuminating days in the Far East. I am happy to report that I did not get killed in traffic, nor did I get blown off the Great Wall by a freezing Siberian airmass moving south through the Mongolian plateau, though I did lose my hat just as Samantha did in Punta Arenas!
It is a wise move to follow in Samantha's footsteps and visit China while it is still affordable. I sampled many new things, including one night in my first five star hotel with great toiletries, my own doorbell, and a view of a pagoda and vast ornamental garden that knocked my socks off, as Samantha might say. I enjoyed the street food, but will never be sure if I ate dog or not, and I graciously passed on the chicken feet and seahorse on a stick. Glad to hear you will get to go to China, Bluebelles. I'll send you on another food related mission if you like, since you made it to the Prague Strudl.
I don't think anyone really knows when Sam's new China shows will air, but I can hardly wait!

Finally recovered from jetlag,
Mother O.

I find that I am in great company here on this board and that when I tell a travel story it won't be met with dropped jaws of amazement, as everyone seems to have had some trouble whilst traveling...or at least some story.

I'll bet noone has actually left their teenager behind at the tube turnstiles in London like hubby and I did! No, it was not child abuse, it was because we were intently involved in conversation. We had just bumped into the British actor Kevin McNally at Holburn and he had talked with us whilst riding both escalators to the top level and let us take pictures (bloody Yanks!)....so we were discussing this and our youngest son had lagged behind....we got outside before we realized he wasn't with us and we turned to go back and get him when he emerged from the station madder than a wet hen. In exasperation he had waited for a lady to go through the turnstiles with her ticket and then he jumped through too! Somewhere on video in London is now a picture of our son breaking the law.....he still loves to tell people about it.

It's very nice to find a pleasant lively conversation still alive here even in such a bleak and forbidding month of January, where Samantha's smile is so in need. Faithful Leia has been by, following Sam's diminuative footsteps in Boston's Nine Zero I see, HummingbirdLady has at last been able to flutter by, and I'm very happy to see her here again; CruiseLuver of course, maybe accepted by the college of her choice already, Bluebelles and IntlDoc and Nunesy too. Mother O has been to the mysterious East (!), I'm sure with a little bit of Samspiration (is that her word? I think it may be and I know I didn't make it up) giving her that extra nudge of courage. I haven't gone anywhere of late, except back and forth in time (and a murder mystery set in Venice recently as well).

But the welcome Champagnesparkles reminds me of the London Underground tonight (whose Aldwych station plays a grim role in the movie Atonement, I bet because I'm pretty sure it's closed on weekends and was easier to borrow for a couple of days). I have very mixed emotions about the tube, much unhappiness in frequent unscheduled ends at the dreaded Edgware Rd. stop, and I remember once becoming so baffled while trying to change lines in one station that I somehow found myself up and out in the street altogether instead of on the Bakerloo to Paddington some stops away. I still don't know how that happened.

But the most fascinating thing I ever saw in the London tube (that I can mention here, anyway), was one crowded day I witnessed a blind gent and his trusty seeing eye dog who, amazingly, knew the system down there, got his master down to the stop through the escalators, steps, and winding passages somehow, onto the proper train, gently lay down once the train started to move, knew which stop it was to rise again and led his master to (I assume) the correct Way Out (after of course Minding The Gap). Presumably this was a daily routine; I don't know how it could have happened any other way. Quite incredible to me. But more and more I prefer to stay above and walk in that fascinating city.

Indeed, it is pleasant to read hummingbirdlady and bluebelles (whose rare appearances we covet), and Mother O! And, of course, all else who drop by too (hi, Kelsey!). Always a pleasure. Capttuttle, if I may offer, perhaps it was the blind gentleman who was counting the stops and knew the correct way out, not the dog. Just a thought.

In any event, the Bakerloo entrance at Baker Street is actualy one flight of stairs below the Circle Line tracks and is the Aldgate/Uxbridge line - hence, easy to miss if you're looking in the wrong spot. [Spent a lovely evening in Uxbridge recently.] The Hammersmith Line should take you there as well, albeit the Circle drops you inside Paddington station and I believe Hammersmith drops one nearby. I say this all rather modestly, as I too was turned around and found an understanding attendant who pointed the right direction. Never did see the Holmes silhouettes though.

Capttuttle, accept my congratulations for writing "Samspiration" and not being jailed for it!

Best,

Intl Doc

happy new year everyone! it's been awhile since I've been here. no new Sam and no travels on my end. My dad, brother and stepmother were planning on going to the Philippines next month for my cousin's wedding, but my dad had a sudden health scare last week that is forcing them to cancel the trip. he's doing fine now-he's being discharged from the hospital today.

I finally got around to filling out the paperwork to renew my passport. All I need to do is take a picture. when I send in my old passport, will I get it back with my new one? I'd hate to lose all the stamps I've gotten over the years.

if anyone is interested, the latest Disney special is on youtube in several parts. I may just grab those videos and put them on my ipod.

-the poster formerly known as "bigse"

Yes, eci ex-bigse, unless things have changed you should get your old passport back with the new one, but it's stamped "invalid" or "void" or something and even a hole is punched in the front cover. (This is unlike Samantha's Passports, which, if only 22 minutes in length, will last forever.)

And Intl Doc! I really think the dog was running the show, but I only saw them first getting on the car, where the dog found the empty seat for his/her master and then upon the train's movement, gently lay down until a few stops along when he knew it was time to depart and led him off again and into the surging masses once more down there. I have no idea how they got through turnstyles but maybe attendants helped with that. Clearly this was a routine affair for them, though, and the impression in my memory is that the owner said no words to his trusty companion throughout, but this was years ago and you know how memories can be.

And of course for all I know they could have ended up somewhere in London where the man eventually said, "I say, Prince, this isn't the office at all. This is a doggy Burlesque show, isn't it! Bad dog!!! No walkies for you tonight!"

It probably was on the Central Line, likely Notting Hill Gate, where I was trying to switch to the District and found myself scratching my head in the street. But my memory is fraying everywhere these days. In fact looking at a London tube map, I now see the Aldwych stop isn't even in use anymore and probably hasn't been in decades (so they had as long as they wanted to film down there), and is among those creepy Underground stations in the dark, forgotten and disused, but still way down there...

The tiny Sherlock Holmes profiles line only the Bakerloo station at Baker St., I'm pretty sure. They're not on the Circle or Metropolitan version, which has strange architectural lighting that I can't even describe. But I always get directionally turned around when I'm down in the tube, and the train I'm waiting for invariably comes rushing from the opposite direction I expect. I will say that I've gotten pretty good at picking my spots on the platform for getting the emptier cars when the doors open.

Supposedly once Winston Churchill, in middle age, took a ride on the Circle Line. He'd never been down there before and had always had everything done for him his whole life, and had no idea what to do to get out of there and just sat there terrified in this strange unknown world. Eventually some kindly old lady got him out, but if not, he could still have been there circling under London in perpetuity...

P.S.
I know it's questionable etiquette to follow one's own post, but since we've started talking subway systems, and this is certainly a good time to become mole-like creatures burrowing into the ground until better times and weather returns, passers-by might want to tell their underground stories here.

I'm actually not all that well-travelled, and the only Dante-esque systems I've ever descended (better to say Orpheus-like?) are Washington's (nice but bland, and the names of the stops always sounded kind of fake and made up to me, nothing like London's wonderful names like Elephant and Castle, Maida Vale, Swiss Cottage, Golders Green and Shepherds Bush), New York's (generally in high summer, smelling like, um... I'll leave this clause unfinished), London's and, surprisingly, briefly Milan's (it was nice; I don't believe Samantha even mentioned it in her episode).

So I am no expert. But others must have good stories (Intl Doc I'm sure on the Paris Metro) while we while away the winter days and nights. Samantha has certainly experienced a great many of them, for good or bad, and seemed impressed by those she found in Mexico City and wasn't it Santiago? I suppose the topic could even stretch to tram systems. I'd love to know more about that beer tram in Helsinki.

OK, a Metro story it is.

I considered writing about the very pretty red-haired girl whose job it was to distract me whilst her boyfriend picked my pocket (or tried) on the Metro, but decided to give you the better story instead. One my daughter would insist I tell if we were all together – which we are.

She and I were en route to Montmartre from the Louvre and, of course, the best way is by Metro, the Parisian subway system. Passing from the Louvre through the adjacent shopping mall (insert dose of reality here), we descended to the train platform and with the crowd piled into the car when the doors opened. Although mashed together like sardines, the daughter was able to find some seats about 10 feet from where I stood and called to me, “let’s sit over here!” I’d been hanging on to a pole near the door and let go to move toward the vacant seats, but at the exact moment I released the pole, the train jerked forward, I jerked backward, and grabbed for the pole. Missed. As I began my fall, I looked to my left and saw a hand rail, so grabbed for it. Missed again. Looking behind me, attempting to judge where I was about to forcibly land (i.e., crash), I saw a nicely dressed woman in her 40s sitting immediately behind me, who had an expression on her face as though she was about to be squashed like a bug. I rolled right.

Fortunately for me, the man I landed on I only grazed and his injuries were minor, which he realized the moment he regained consciousness. About the time I bounced onto the subway car floor, nearly everyone screamed, which nicely covered my daughter's laughter in the background. From their look of horror at my prone body, in unison the Parisians slowly raised a collective glare at my daughter. J’regrete, J’desolé, I apologized profusely with gales of laughter – from my own flesh and blood – in the background. “You’d better sit down, old man, before you get killed,” a homeless man offered in gutteral French as he helped me to my feet.

We were off at the next stop with nothing to show for the event but injured pride and a slightly bruised

Ego.

None the worse for wear,

Intl Doc

While on a cruise in the Lakes District in Southern Chile, I slipped on a stairs while leaving the boat. I got my foot caught in one of the rungs of the steps and required the help of several deckhands to extricate me. I almost lost a shoe to the drink in the deal. In the meantime, the line of people leaving the ship had to wait for this klutz who fell. I was embarrassed to say the least. It dampened a wonderfull cruise.

I simply can’t resist the newly-morphed identity of this thread. I’ve spent more hours than I care to count on the London Underground…an hour a day whenever I’m teaching there. As a result, I have a love/hate relationship with the world’s first underground railroad. I love some of the lines…particularly the Piccadilly Line. What other major city has a line as great as this? It runs very frequently, and in my experience, fairly reliably. It extends directly from Heathrow Airport to many of London’s enchanting destinations, such as Hammersmith, South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park Corner, Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Holborn, Manor House (some great shopping for Iranian carpets near here) and the curiously-named northeastern terminus of the line. I’d mention the name but it might get my post put in jail. I’ll try this. It’s called Co_kfosters.

The hate part of the relationship stems largely from the fact that London’s system is the world’s oldest. The trains are not air conditioned, and they have very poor ventilation. With the 2012 Summer Olympics ahead, this is a rather large concern for Londoners. There was a germ of a plan floating around last summer to place blocks of ice under the seats and blow air across them. I am not making this up. I can’t wait to arrive this summer to learn what the next big idea might be.

Then there are the infamous switchers. Judging by the frequency with which they fail, the switchers on the Circle Line must date to the late 19th century. Although the Circle Line is one of the most valuable lines in London, it is also undeniably one of the least reliable. Switching failures seem like daily occurrences. It’s hard to know if all the switching failures are real. I’ve heard that until 2007, jumpers in front of trains, which cause massive delays, of course, were “officially” posted as switching failures. I noticed a policy change last summer. London Underground seemed no longer to feel the need to list jumpers as anything other than “a person under the train.” London seems to have a lot of these; perhaps more recently with the world stock market declines.

Now, a bit of London Underground trivia for you. Did you ever wonder what happens to the Circle Line trains when the line stops running after midnight? Do they just stop in the tunnels wherever they happen to be? My oldest son discovered the answer a few years ago. He and a buddy decided to ride the Circle Line late at night to discover where it stopped. If over near Tower Hill, they would have a very long commute back to Notting Hill on infrequent night busses. Or perhaps it would mercifully end at Notting Hill Gate. They needed to find the answer. Here’s what they discovered. The train wound clockwise through Paddington, Tuttle’s least-favorite Edgware Road and Baker Street. Everything was normal. Then, as the train prepared to depart Great Portland Street, the normal automated Circle Line announcement was replaced by, “This is a Hammersmith & City Line train calling at all stations to Barking.” They had their answer. They jumped off as the doors closed and caught a bus back to “the Gate.”

Note to Captain Tuttle: If you get stuck in a long delay at Edgware Road, get off the train, leave the station turning right. Walk up Edgware Road a couple blocks to Penfold Place on the right. Pizza Productions in this alley makes a small plain pizza for one Pound. Takeout only. Ask for Arish or Wise.

Just to confirm what has been written earlier here, the wall tiles featuring Sherlock Holmes’ profile are found on the Baker Street platform of the Bakerloo Line, and are not found on the Jubilee, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle Line platforms.

Happy Travels! Hope to see you all at the new forum location, wherever that may be.

Father Orange

Father O,
A wonderful post, and thank you for the Edgware Rd. advice. So it's come to the point where a personal pizza is about a third the price of a single London tube ticket.

But I only returned tonight, on what I think is Tuttle's 600th post, to hope it is not his last, or at least not quite, as I really should retire (even as I contemplate going full-time again in the real world). I'm not sure this is the kind of travel we all had in mind on this travel forum. As they said in the movies (Bette Davis, I think?), hold on tight, this could be a bumpy ride. I hope to see everyone, and Samantha, on the other side...

I usually take the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington Station and it sets me back £14 one way (and no break for a RT ticket). My Tube ticket to Uxbridge from Earl's Court was £6 one way. I can't help but wonder how much the Piccadilly Line ticket is from Heathrow either to Paddington or Kensington High Street. Altogether it must be less expensive since the cab is another £10 from Paddington to Kensington Palace. Nevertheless, it's no wonder there are so many cabs - it's getting too expensive to take the Tube!

Father O, I've run into similar "man under the train" issues in Munich. I was on the S-Bahn platform in Unterschleissheim when an announcement was made that the trains would be delayed for up to an hour and were not shy about the cause (making me quite late for a meeting with the Bayrishes Landeskriminalamt - the Germans were not understanding and we were off to a very bad start). Entlich! exclaimed the guard at the gate when I showed him my ID. I later learned that the train system employs a full-time cleanup crew for these macabre occurrences. Ewwwww.

Hopefully will see you all when we move. Geez, and I just unpacked.

Intl Doc

Happy New Year to all, and I love her shows. In Passport to Europe she did a piece on Venice. Oh how I miss it I loved the Bridge of Sighs and the Gondola rides I also got to see how they made Venitian glass.

Oh, CaptainTuttle, how I miss London, too. I enjoy walking everywhere and have found the Brits to be extremely helpful and warm. Speaking of Bakerloo makes me remember the wonderful Sherlock Holmes shop that would satisfy the most determined collector and I mentioned I had a complete works of Arthur Conan Doyle autographed by the late Jeremy Brett that made the character come to life on television. We toured Granada Studios to see where the series was made back in 1992. We met Hugh Fraser (Hastings in the Poirot series) for tea in 2002 and then Kevin in 2005.

Intldoc: I am amazed you survived the Metro incident and believe congratulations are in order....it's no wonder the Metro exists as the French don't drive their cars, they aim them and it's perilous to walk above ground!

Well, champagnesparkes, I don't know who that Capt. Tuttle guy is up there in capital letters, but as this thread was so rudely interrupted by the recent, um, technical developments on this forum reducing me to lower case again, it seems safe to dredge it up from below for continuation. In these recent grim days (it's actually rainy here today) I've been re-reading the travel journals I make while over there, this time from 2004, 2005 and last fall's England trips. I do not anticipate returning this year, sadly, but yes, I miss walking London's streets, and those journals have reminded me of that today.

I miss the buildings, the architectural details, the vitality of the place right next to the antiquity of the same. I miss the milkmen in the early mornings in almost silent streets leaving the little cream bottles at the doors of all the offices and businesses for their morning teas, or going past Smithfield Market where all the wholesale meat sellers are ending their workday by about 9 AM. I miss wandering around the St. James area, usually my first morning there right off the plane after dumping my bags at the hotel, passing by the coffee shops and the footsteps of all the people going to work for the day. It's always fun to pass a pub late in the day, too, as Samantha has pointed out, on a warm summer dusk with many of those same office workers spilling out into the street with pints in hand and ties loosened on the guys, shoes half slipped off and waggling in relaxation on the ladies. I love walking back through the streets like Shaftesbury Ave. at night after seeing a play with my (ridiculously pricey) programme rolled in in one hand, waves of people pouring out from their theatre talking about their play as I'm working my way home from mine.

I always love looking in store windows, too. I'm usually too timid to actually enter places like that Smith's Umbrella emporium, or the really posh outdoors outfitters along Pall Mall (but every year I photograph myself in the brass reflection of the street number of the Reform Club there, where Phineas Fogg begins and ends his Around the World in 80 Days). And I do like strolling through the arcades - can't remember whether Samantha showed us the Royal or Burlington one, but there are about 5 of them, with their tiny shops and not tiny prices of fascinating things. Haven't been out often to the Portobello Rd. of Notting Hill and Mother & Father O fame, but it is great fun out there. Only ever bought one thing there.

Right now I'm only mentally playing back these things, but yes, London's streets are a great, great place worth travelling to see. Didn't mean to unleash this essay this evening, but the mood sort of carried me away...

I’m pretty sure it was in the Burlington arcade, where Samantha had her shoes shined, but not spit shined.

In the “not all roads lead to Rome” category, here’s another brief cautionary tale regarding the London train system. Several years ago I was en route to Heathrow from Paddington Station, when I looked at the train board (in lights near the track) and saw that on 12 the Heathrow Express was boarding. I jumped on board and made ready for the 15 minute ride to the airport – but 5 minutes later we came to a stop at some little hamlet along the way, and then stopped at the next hamlet and the next. Finally, the train stopped and an announcement was made that this was the last stop on the line and this particular train was not going to go to the airport because of a personnel shortage onboard.

The passengers, no less pleased about it than I, were given directions to a bus stop about a mile away that would take us to the airport, given there was enough room. I spoke with a ticket-taker before I left and was told that ALL of the lit signs at Paddington say “Heathrow Express” – but only the trains with lights on the side that say “Heathrow Express” truly are – and the rest are “Heathrow Connect,” which sometimes go to the airport and sometimes they don’t.

In other words, if you’re heading for the airport, make doubly sure you’re on the Express and not the Connect train, OK?

As for me, my next trip is to London and Oxford (about 50-50 this time), and as advertised to Rwanda thereafter.

Bon voyage –

Intl Doc

capt tuttle,
Because of your post, today I ordered Two For The Road on amazon. Can't wait to see it!
Tonight I watched a serious movie filmed in Berlin called, The Lives Of Others. It's a good movie.
You may want to see it, but it is a sad movie.

Oh, intl_doc! I feel for you. How horrifying. I do know all about of what you speak! I happen to do the same thing with London busses. Don't ever ride one with me as they always take me to the last stop around dusk and I am frantically trying to get back over the bridge to the heart of London. Twice this has happened. You would think I would learn to hop off before the bridge, but NO, I just journey hamlet to hamlet and then get stuck.