An Adventure

Occasionally I like to go on adventures, which involve going to a place and walking around and seeing what happens. That's my definition of an adventure.

On...sometime last weekend, I went on an adventure through Central London. The first job was getting there, because I got on the Tube and then the train I was on wouldn't move, because the Central Line was being held for some reason or other, so I hopped off and got on the District Line. When I got on the Central Line I had absolutely no idea where I was going, because that line honestly does not go to very many interesting places, but the District Line does.

So I got off the Tube at Westminster, which was packed, and decided that I wanted to wander up by Trafalgar Square.

Did you know that the Houses of Parliament has a gift store? I do now.

Getting there means walking up Whitehall, which is where Downing Street is and also various War Memorials, statues to various generals and earls and also Monty, and the Horseguards Parade.

The sign says "Beware: Horses may kick or bite."

So I made it to Trafalgar Square but then I was like "nah" so I veered off down the Mall and headed in that direction. 

You can't swing a cat in Central London without finding a statue.

That's George VI and Queen Elizabeth, by the way.

There were tourists, because of course there were (strangely, I do not consider myself a tourist in London), and what is at the end of the Mall but the Palace!

I saw no royals.

Forming a vague plan in my head, I cut through Green Park and made my way up Picadilly. It's the area I worked in back in 2010, so it was a lovely walk of 'oh that store's still there!'

There's a little church on the street which has a courtyard of sorts and there was something of a fair happening.

And I was like 'okay.' So I browsed. And there was a Russian woman operating one stall, selling hats and matryoshka dolls and various Soviet coinage, and also a selection of pins from the 1980 Olympics.

I bought the gymnastics one, obviously.

And then I hit Picadilly Circus, and I was thinking it might be time to head back, because Picadilly Circus is nice and all but it was getting dark, so I looped back around towards Trafalgar Square.

On my way, and quite by accident, I ran into the embassies of Kazakhstan and Brazil, which are right next to each other. Earlier I had passed by that of Malta. Now I happen to know something about Trafalgar Square, which is that the embassies of Canada and South Africa are located there.

So one might say I now have a goal of sorts: find as many London embassies as I can. It's a strange ambition, but I never claimed to be traditional.

Classes are going fine. There's a teachers' strike going on, which is exciting because we keep getting emails about it. It's scheduled at very strange times, only for a few hours each day for only three specific days, apparently to disrupt the campus as much as possible. It only affects one of my class times, however, and the teacher of that class is not a member of the union, so she said she will be teaching but we are not obligated to come to that particular lecture. Unfortunately I'm part of a presenting group that day so I do have to go.

Everyone smokes in London, I'm going to come home with secondhand lung disease. They make up for it with their excellent sandwiches. I love sandwiches.

"bits" is British for "pulp." Why?