Ambling Through London Town

This week is brought to you by the letter Al. That's right Al. Al yesterday, Al today, ummm lots more Al, you get the point.

Why Al? Well, I have been listening to Al Franken's, "Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them, a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." Which I downloaded on Audible and have been listening to it for the past several days. I like Al. Al is to me who people on the left should be listening to instead of blowhards like Michael Moore. I know I raise a lot of ire by saying I don't like what Mr. Moore puts out, but you know what, I don't. I also don't hate republicans, and I am a liberal. It actually is possible. Anyway, Al Franken is different to me, he seems to be reasonably well informed, open minded, willing to laugh at himself and motivated by something more pure than fame.

So today, in the spirit of Al, I bring you, My Day. To do this I am going to tell you the story of my day, but somewhere cleverly intertwined in the text will be a lie. Lets see if you can find it. Here we go.

Today was a great day. One of those days that I dreampt of when I chose to come all this way for a Masters.

I met my friends at the bus stop this morning for a journey to Southall. Southall is the Indian section of town (like Little Italy or Chinatown). We went and walked around for a little while, looking at the shops and the market stands. It was really a nice day, clear and chilly, but not cold. Then we had a great Indian lunch. Eating with our hands, I had some great samosas and Bombay potatos. Then our group broke up and Patro, this woman from Macedonia, and I went to London proper to do some touristy stuff.

We started at the London museum where we walked through the Egyptian and part of the Asian wings. That place is Great! It is so big, there is so much to see, you could spend weeks there and not see it all, and the best part is that it's free! I saw the Rosetta stone, which is one of those things that you read about for years and years and then all of a sudden you are standing in front of it. The whole experience, seeing all of these amazing ancient things, was humbling. I would say more but I was quite simply humbled.

After we left the Museum we had ourselves anice little walk. We headed down to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, walked by Westminster Abbey. Let me tell you something. There is something about standing there, in Parliament Square with a cold breeze blowing in off the Thames with the sun setting on Parliament, the gilded face of Big Ben glinting in the last rays of sun, that no picture has ever captured, not words will ever do justice to, you simply must experience it for yourself.

Afterwards we went for a nice walk through St. James's Park, which is a beautiful park, this walk from parliament to our next destination through this park, that is what the London we think about is, the one from Mary Poppins. We sat in the park and watched the geese and squirrels beg for food by the lake. It was nice, it felt calm. You almost forget for a moment that there is this massive city surrounding you.

St James's Park leads to Buckingham Palace, which was our next stop. We were there, stood at the gates, saw the guards march around, even saw the Queen's face appear in a window for a moment... I mooned her.

After all this excitement we decided to call it a day. And we headed home. My compatriots on this journey made it all the better. It was wonderful to walk the city with people who were as wide eyed and excited as I am. Easy going and self deprecating. It just makes the adventure so much easier to enjoy.

So that was my day. It was fan-bloody-tastic. I had this huge smile on my face all day. This is exactly how I had intended to spend my free time here.

Did you spot the lie? I'll bet you did... There are no geese in London.

No no, we didn't see the queen and I certainly did not take off my pants, it was way to cold for that. She was in the Palace though, apparently when the Union Jack is flying on the roof the Queen is in the Building, and thar it was as we walked up to the Palace.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen I am going to go to bed now. I will leave you with some Al...

It's easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.
-Al Franken-

Goodnight