London visits

I haven't had much opportunity to post anything. Internet access was rather abysmal. Without fail, every hotel we stayed at had some sort of problem, restriction or exorbitant fee for wifi. So, I'll try to catch up.

Our first night in London, we meet RJH's friend S, who is a Senior Lecturer at a university about an hour from London. He and his wife invited us to stay with them, but it would have been awkward to get there from Southampton, so since they were spending the weekend in London and he could be free that evening, we met him there.




We ate at a restaurant by south side of the river, next to a giant seagull and then walked along it, where we found a giant, inflatable, upside down purple cow. Honest. It was some sort of promotional venue with comedy and music, where they serve drinks all summer.




I took this photo for F, who might appreciate the Dalek across from Parliament.



We wandered a fair bit and stopped for a drink (or coffee to keep half of us awake) and had a good conversation. I learned a few things about Universities in England which I appreciated.

In the morning, we walked the few steps to St. Paul's, where we met birdgerhl (who's reinventing herself in a really inspiring way right now) for coffee. We really enjoyed being in the sunshine, on a patio by the Cathedral, meeting birdgerhl in person, good coffee, pastries and great conversation -despite the unexpected prolonged, loud, ringing of the bells(!). I really appreciated a warm welcome, another person's insight into the UK university system, and we both liked the symmetry of each meeting a friend in London. (Though poor RJH was running a fever and not quite himself).



Yes, it's a giant nail ('Nail' by Gavin Turk, 2011). I like it.


I think I'll have to continue this when more awake...