Mind The Gap

So intones the stern voice in the Tube stations of the Underground, as a train arrives and opens its doors. We heard this warning many times during our week in London, but it wasn't until we got back that I started thinking of the Gap in a more figurative sense. More on that in a bit.

First up, a list of what we saw and did, or at least what we saw and took note of - it's hard to walk a block or two in London and not see something of deep historical or cultural significance, or at the very least really damn old, so I'm sure we saw things there that we glossed over without much in the way of recognition. But we did manage to see: the Tower of London, British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace/Gardens, the Museum of London, Pollock's Toy Museum, the London Eye, Globe Theatre, and Harrod's. We spent a lot of time on the Tube, caught opening night of the Chronicles of Narnia at an art-deco cinema in Notting Hill (how very British of us, yes?), saw the enormous mutant ducks and geese of London up close, took a Jack the Ripper walking tour with one of the world experts on the Ripper, went shopping on Oxford Street (and went to the Ben Sherman store!), met up with Ryon and Milena one evening and had a few pints, and went running in Hyde Park (that was just me). We then managed to survive the flight home sitting next to two devil-children and their incompetent parents. Fun trip, but as always, good to be home.

Now, for the Gap(s):

• You're not going to find a more expensive city than London. We knew it was pricey when we planned the trip, but it's hard to believe until you get there. Everything costs more, usually a lot more. Makes Manhattan look like a bargain. Seriously.
• People there are soooo image/fashion conscious. Jenny and I, of course, looked fabulous as always, but our couture often paled in comparison to that of most Londoners. They like their clothes there.
• The sights are swamped with tourists, even in December! Everywhere we went, same thing. To use another NYC comparison, Rockefeller Center around the holidays is just a few people milling about.
• Service, other than from the kind folks behind the bars at pubs (which was almost always polite, if not cheerful), can be described with one word: indifferent. Can't say that was too terribly surprising, though.
• Think the USA is crazy about its sports? Gimme a break. During the oil depot fire that occurred outside of the city while we were there, the on-site anchor cheerfully discussed football scores and news with flames and active explosions in the background. That's dedication to the game! And the newspapers and TV after the World Cup draw was announced? Not much else to talk about but England's group, and how they would fare against Sweden.
• While I imagine that driving in London is probably fun in a manic kind of way, it's a bit scary for pedestrians. Maybe this is the norm in all of Europe these days, but a yellow light to let drivers know that the green is coming? Every intersection becomes a drag strip! Entertaining to watch, just make sure you're not out in front of it.
  

All in all though, a good time was had by both! Now we're back just in time to finish Christmas shopping and getting ready for our New Year's party. Wish us luck.

Now for the standard promise - some pictures from London are forthcoming, I just never remember to bring the memory card to the office with me so that I can add them with the post.