Wednesday, February 15, 2006

London Calls!

Now that 49er's big mid-winter activity spree is over, it's time to begin preparing for springtime in London. England. Great Britain. The U.K.

Mrs. Dweet's longtime goal of returning once more to the mother country will soon be upon us. Many, many arrangements need to be made vis-a-vis oxygen supplies for her whilst there. But time is also being spent determining which plays starring Dame Judith Dench will still be playing, which day trips will be the most rewarding, and etc., etc., etc. It's quite fun!

Re-establishing contact with our favorite church on line 74 is in progress, too, and viewing our new hotel and it's surroundings, or "digs", via "google earth" has been a high priority.

Travel is fun. Traveling in London is great fun! The tubes, the buses, the trains, the buskers, the language differences, everything! Great fun!

Can't wait.

2 comments:

Juggling Mother said...

It's dirty & cold at this time of year. If you going on the tubes, practise saying Leicester (Lester, not lie-ces-ter) square & avoiding eye contact.

If you're driving remember we drive on the wrong side of the road, everyone has geared cars & swearing/obscene gestures are just par for the course.

Have a lovely time, it's a fantastic city to visit. You could always try pretending to be Australian - they're more popular over here at the moment.

49erDweet said...

Thanks, mrs a, for your comments and well-wishes. We decided last trip to not bother driving - why do so with so much convenient public transit available? But we still took great care as pedestrians at each intersection and crosswalk - so nice of Londoners to post those huge directional warning signs on the pavement at the curb line.

Loved "lester square", and also the "glouster road" tube stop, near our last hotel. This time we will be closer to Paddington Station, at the Hilton, so must quickly learn the neighborhoods around new stops. Thus 'google earth'.

We immediately noticed the 'eye contact' thing on the tube last time, but I was using a cane and so many Brits seemed concerned that I be comfortable, they broke the 'rules' and spoke to us - and then smiled when we smiled back. And as they departed the train at intervening stops, many, many would pleasantly mutter "enjoy your visit" or some such as they swept past us. We were made to feel quite welcome.

(But I got the distinct impression the fact we were Californians made us more acceptable in their eyes than being mere 'Yanks').

We hope the late April weather this year cooperates, but will be prepared if it doesn't.

Thanks again for maintaining the 'mother ship'. It's important we all gain a better insight into our joint history - and that's quite difficult to do in a country as young as ours.

Cheers