London week 9

Hello!

Well, it has been a whole five weeks since my last update e-mail. I hope I am not going overboard! I am assuming they will be a little less frequent in the winter when I have less to tell you about, but for now you will have to bear with me, this is a long one!

WINDSOR & ETON
I looked at the last update I sent and I am glad to say that I finally made it to Windsor! I still haven't made it to Greenwich though. It's so close I just keep putting it off.

It was just a short (30min) train ride from London. I visited Windsor and Eton (town just across the Thames ("Tims") from Windsor) on 24/06 which was during Royal Ascot (the week or so the queen goes to the horse races). During Royal Ascot people get very dressed up to go to the races and lots of fancy lunch and dinner parties. The men traditionally wear coats with tails and top hats. The women wear fancy dresses with fancy hats. I saw quite a few couples in this dress before I finally figured it out. Before touring the castle I watched the changing of the guard. It is quite a process! It includes a full marching band playing in front of the guard as they march up the street from the barracks to the castle.

The castle is why everyone goes to Windsor and for good reason. It is very impressive! It is a sprawling complex and much of it looks straight out of a movie set or Disney park. After touring the castle I visited Eton which is famous for the Eton boys school. It is a very traditional private boys school. The pupils wear coats with tails and top hats. Princes William and Harry attended as did some absurdly large number of past prime ministers. The campus is very old and the students have carved their names in every imaginable place over the years, including in the stone walls! I guess they want to leave their mark one way or another. After a bite at the Royal Oak pub I hoped on the train back to London.

WIMBLEDON
The next weekend (01/07) the Wimbledon 2006 championships had started so some friends from work and I decided to go. Going to the Wimbledon championships is a process that involves getting up quite early and standing in line ("queing") for hours. Luckily the British have queuing down to a science. We showed up and got in line at 6:30 or so. By 6:45 we had been handed a queue card with our number on it (as well as an " I've Queued at Wimbledon 2006" sticker) which let us know where we stood in terms of getting in. Based on our number and the number of people they allow in we knew we would get in. (Even if we were past the cut off we could get a card and wait for people to leave so that we could get in.) This makes all the waiting less anxious because you know it is for good reason. We had breakfast in line. Played some toss with an "American Football" my Nerf - much to the interest of the Brits in line! We got in around 11am or so and went to watch a match. Wimbledon is huge!! I had no idea! We watched some lower qualifier women's singles match then had lunch. After lunch we were wandering and sat at an empty court for a moment. Andy Rodick (sp?) wandered on with his coach to warm up for his next match. He was the American hopeful and the girls in my group were mesmerized! When he served it was so fast you could hardly see the ball (in the 130-140 mph range). After that I was pretty tired out and some of us left to watch some more world cup football at a co-workers. I don't have any good Wimbledon pictures sorry to say..

SPAIN
As if on some marathon travel adventure I headed to Spain for my Madrid and Pamplona visit 07/07. I arrived in Madrid Friday night but just checked in and headed to bed. I had arrived to the airport a bit to early Friday then my plane was delayed by about 3 hours so I was tired just from doing nothing!

Saturday I wandered a bit in the morning just admiring the architecture of all the old buildings. I wandered through El Parque Del Retiro - a very large and old park just east of downtown. There are so many monuments and fountains in Madrid that you don't need a map to see the sights.. I seem to have wandered across many without knowing where I was going. After the park I visited the Prado museum. It was great! I had seen many of El Greco's, Goya's and many others paintings in books but there is no comparison. They have to be seen to be appreciated! The museum had a Picasso special event for which they had flown in Picasso's from around the world. I was able to see many of his works that I had never seen before in books or otherwise. Quite an experience. That evening I did some more wandering and later on a whim went to a dance club. About half the music was American and half the remainder was Shakira as far as I could tell. Dancing is universal and I had a good time for an hour or two. I got bored after a while and headed back to my room. One thing to note.. The Spanish are night owls. I guess after taking a nap or break for two hours in the afternoon (which they really do) you have more energy. The streets were packed even at 1 or 2 in the morning. Bars don't close until 3am and clubs will stay open until 6 or 7 in the morning!

Sunday morning I wandered and saw the Palacio Real (Royal Palace),

then headed to the Reina Sofia museum. This is a contemporary art museum and it had some very interesting works.

Some modern art does nothing for me but much of what I saw here was very beautiful, thought provoking, and interesting. Sunday evening I rested in the park near my hotel and read a book for a while. Then I took a nap in preparation for my bus ride to Pamplona.

Monday I took a taxi to the bus station and boarded my bus for Pamplona at 1:30am. We arrived at 6:30 with me having gotten far less sleep than I anticipated. As soon as I got off the bus I attempted to follow a group of like dressed individuals (white clothing, read neck and waist

scarves and trainers) only to wind up at a bar. Yes, a bar!! Talk about getting an early start! I decided to try again and eventually found the start of the bull run. The way it works is this. The police barricade off the route other than the stretches which are just narrow streets so the bulls have a defined path.

Then at 7:30 am if you are in the route you will be running and they force everyone else out. They herd everyone down towards the bull pen. It gets a little crowded with a few hundred people trying to run.

The run is about a half mile or less and probably only 12-15 feet wide in a few places. At 8 they let the runners spread out down the path and take their positions. I took mine on Estafeta street which is the second half of the run on a narrow but long and straight portion. There is only two ways out from there. A cross street if you jump the barricade or the last few yards before the bull ring at the end of the street. When they release the bulls they fire a starting gun or cannon and that is when the apprehensiveness you were feeling before starts escalating to panic levels. I eventually saw the bulls round the corner at the bottom of the street and start heading my direction. I started jogging, then running as they got closer. I was careful to look forwards once in a while.. And at the last moments when they were coming up on me I noticed a few people had fallen in front of me.. So it was either go around them in front of the bulls or press my back against the wall right before the group that had fallen. I decided on the latter and it worked out. The bulls ran past in two groups. They might as well have been two animals though.. One with 4 heads, 8 bulging eyes, 8 horns and 16 hooves and the other with 2 heads, etc. At the moment they went past it was as if nothing else was present but the bulls and me. It was over in just a couple seconds from when they were close to me to when they were gone, but what a rush. They fired another cannon to let us know the bulls were in the ring and another to signify they were in their pens. I don't have pictures during the run as that is not allowed and I don't think I could have managed anyway.

Ok. It was now 8:30am. I did what I wanted and my bus ticket back was at 1:30am the next day. The first thing I did is go to the bus office and change my ticket to 6:30 pm the same day. I was tired! The town was a disaster. Trash everywhere. People sleeping in cars, in the park, people looked like they hadn't' bathed for days! Now that is some festival! I wandered the town and spent the morning at the festival. Took some pictures of the Gigantes ( people in costumes that make them look like giants).

I ate some Tapas with cold beverages. Followed tradition and took a nap in the early afternoon on a bark bench overlooking the valley below. The bus ride back was nice as I was able to see the countryside. Lots of hilly farmland. I was back to my hotel by midnight.

Tuesday… yes I am still going… I headed to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum and spent mid day there. I then checked out of my hotel and headed home. I learned a lot (like the Spanish eat lots of ham), saw a lot (art, architecture, people), I took up smoking (second hand only as everyone there smokes), was able to practice my Spanish and I had a great time doing it!

DUBLIN
I decided to take a short weekend trip up to Dublin 22/07. I arrived at 8:30 Saturday morning and dropped my bag at the hotel. After scheduling the trip I had found out the University of Texas UK Alumni group had planned a trip for the same weekend. It's not my school but I asked them if I could tag along and I did. I met up with them at 11am and we went for a tour of the Guinness store house. It is the #1 tourist destination in Dublin believe it or not.

It is basically a museum which explains the process of making Guinness. At the top is a bar (the Gravity Bar) where they serve you a free pint (well you pay for the entrance so…). The views of the city were spectacular. Almost a full 360 degrees of visibility.

You can see from the hills almost to the shores. One thing that caught my eyes is the vast number of construction cranes. There were so many you couldn't count (or maybe that was the Guinness?). Actually, London and Madrid have a fair number as well. I guess this is no different than Dallas and other big cities in the states right now… interest is low I guess is the reason? Afterwards we went to St Patrick's Cathedral for a tour.

The Cathedral was interesting but filthy… They must have some tradition of not cleaning? They charge €5 for entrance and have a gift shop set up. A priest in training or something was working the till. I guess the Catholics have to pay those lawsuits and retirement costs somehow. That evening we had dinner at the Clarence Hotel restaurant which is owned by Bono. The food was good. I have to say the music they were playing was awful!! Not what you would expect from a member of U2!

Sunday I wandered Trinity College and the Temple Bar area.

Then we all met up and went to the all national Hurling quarter finals. We saw a match between Clare and Wexford. Hurling is a sport similar to field hockey and Lacrosse.

It is a fast moving game and very aggressive. After the match we headed for some dinner at a local pub near Christ's Church and then I caught a cab to the airport and headed home.

LONDON
So what do I do when not travelling... As little as possible! A co-workers birthday dinner and dancing. Playing "football" and rugby with co-workers in leagues (as a sub). Visiting the local pubs. I went to a gallery opening (how snooty!). Reading. Cleaning, laundry… Continuing to be entertained by the British culture. Taking more pictures of things that amuse me (pictures from Windsor, Madrid, London mostly shops)… it doesn't take much.

So now the part you been waiting for.. Or the part you scrolled down to see. Scott' list of funny London words, phrases or terminology differences and my attempt at their meaning:

Rubbish = Trash
"Uni" / University = College (so you say "where did you go to Uni")
"Tele" = T.V. Television
Queue = the line you wait in
Push Chair = Stroller
Nappy = Diaper
Nappy Disposal Unit = Diaper Bin
Dust Bin = Trash Can
Jacket Potato = Baked Potato
"Kit" = Uniform/ Gear for playing sports
Mail Shots = Those flyers people put in your mail
Sacked = Fired
Hen Party = Bachelorette Party
Stag Party= Bachelor Party
Straight Away = Right Away
Buds = Q-Tips (then again I think they are buds in the US?)
Lemonade = Lemon flavoured soda

Fun social differences:
"Sorry" is a substitute for excuse me and is a very commonly heard word in the Tube
Beer is a substitute for water. I heard that Europe's 12% of the world population drinks 50% of the worlds alcohol. Their Darwinian excuse: way back the water wasn't suitable for drinking so watered down beer or wine was drank by everyone. This eventually caused a preference for people whose body has a good ability to break down alcohol.
Letting ladies go first only happens occasionally (through doors or elevators)

There is no 1 pound note. Only 1 and 2 pound coins. The smallest bill is a "fiver", then comes the "tenner." 100 pence make up 1 pound. It's only "pence" if you have multiple, (1 is a penny) but everyone just says "P". So a soda would be 65P or lunch would be 5 pounds 50 (no need for the P).

If you want Jalapeños you better pronounce the J.

Indian food is just referred to as "curry" and it is the number 1 meal eaten out in London.

There are some ridiculous number of languages spoken in London. I understand 1 total. (I understand 90% of British and 10% of Spanish)

Required Tube gear: I-Pod & a book. (striking up conversation is not normal!)

NOW WHAT?
Between now and the end of the month I am trying to figure out if I am going to do anything..and what it might be. Probably just a short trip.

25/08 I am headed to Barcelona and Valencia for a long weekend. I will make a side trip to Buno near Valencia for La Tomatina (the tomato festival). Mostly this consists of a huge tomato fight in the streets with dump trucks full of tomatoes they bring in.
02/09 Tony and Cheree coming to London to visit!
16/09 and 22/09 long weekends before and after my annual 3 day training/group meeting in Athens. I will see Athens one weekend and probably go with co-workers to the start of Oktoberfest in Germany the other. Still undecided.
30/09 long weekend before 3 days more training that is in Amsterdam. Not sure what I am doing yet as I have been to Amsterdam before. May just rent a car and drive in the country.

Sorry if I have written too much but a lot has happened!

Know that I am thinking of you.
Kind Regards