{"id":49,"date":"1999-10-21T04:15:15","date_gmt":"1999-10-21T04:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/?p=49"},"modified":"2023-02-04T04:23:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-04T04:23:48","slug":"marcs-second-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/1999\/10\/21\/marcs-second-day\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Trip – Marc’s Second Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a suggestion to check out Camden Town – I did. After sending my e-mail for the first time \"Rental from London, I packed my stuff together  and headed for \"Me Camden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait, I made a quick detour into Earl’s Court convention center. There was an auto show. It was right across the street from the Underground. I handed my bag to the coat check people, tooled around, and took\u00a0a bunch of auto show photos<\/a>. After an hour (and 12 pounds) I got bored and decided to continue on my journey to Camdon Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time I had to switch trains in transit \"One. The whole system is quite simple really.  You simply match the color… oh wait, “colour” of the line you want and follow the signs to the proper terminal.\"What [BTW:  No one in London has seen a digital camera.  The “what about that guy” in this picture happens to me every time I whip out the beastie.  Everyone asks if it’s a video camera.  I told one woman it was a still camera and her response was, “Well, excuse me.”  I then told her that it’s getting kind of common in Seattle, and that I used to work for Microsoft.  Her response to this was, “So to you, I guess it’s another day, another tuna fish sandwich.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once in Camden Town  I walked up and down every street \"Mornington. I was under the impression that there would be more “English” clothing styles, and to some degree there was, I just wasn’t hit in the face with it. There were a bunch of watch styles I’ve never seen before, and they see to be really popular here (where there is something blocking the display. With a press or pull of a button a hydraulic\/spring loaded cover flips open. They look really cool, but they’re too huge looking for my tiny wrist)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What, if anything, did you buy?” you ask. Well, I bought a leather trench coat! It looks like something Jack the Ripper would wear. \"Leather I think it’s great, except one thing: It must have added 5lbs to my bag. The damn thing is heavy! I was thinking of sending it back home, but I think I’m going to need it if I go to Scotland. I understand that it’s quite a bit colder there. (Ah ha, you thought any dolt can watch the news)\"Worlds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of weather: Londoners are wimps! They walk around all bundled up. Some people even have thermal scarves wrapped around their faces. Then, when it rains – they ALL whip out their umbrellas! I was the only person walking down the street in the mist (I can’t even call it rain) without an umbrella. I think a few brits actually pittyed me thinking, “Poor man, can’t afford an umbrella.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: There are no homeless people in London! They call them street drinkers! I about died when I heard that. Actually, only twice have I been approached for change. If this were Seattle I’d think the hit ratio would be much higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my way to the British Library  \"Pancras my knee started to give out. (it was about a mile from Camdon Town, so I decided to go) I slowed down to a crawls pace and it no longer hurt, but soon my feet were aching.  On the way  there were a bunch of automotive places.  Here’s an American Car Wash: \"American.  Funny, I’ve never seen anything like this in America.  Looks more like a 16 century horse stable turned into a garage.  Hmm… \"St. \"St.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Once in the British Library I removed my pack and stood in a huge cue for the coat check. Apparently no one is allowed to bring bags or jackets into the reading rooms. Once I got to the coat check they informed me that I must put my pack into a locker. Ug! Anyway, I did (50 pence). I wondered around the Library. It’s huge. \"Books It’s in a new building, and has 5 (or 6 or more – I’m not sure) floors. There was another cue to get a pass to the reading rooms. I decided that I didn’t really want to read – I wanted to rest my knee. So, I slowly walked around the expedition hall (you don’t need a pass for that) until I got bored. (sorry, there wasn’t anything worth taking a picture of – even if it was neat.Alright, I’m more tired today than I was yesterday and I’m not suffering from get lag… I’ve been carrying a 50lb bag with me all day!!! I decided that I’ll stay in the same hotel for 2 nights – so tomorrow I can ‘tool-about’ without the blasted thing (My English is coming along nicely, isn’t it? Just shoot me if I starting saying things are “lovely”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucky for me I got a room with three beds \"A and they’re charging me the price of a single room. It’s tons bigger than yesterday’s room. Still the same deal, though – I’ve got to use the shower down the hall. No big deal. I am paying 10 pounds more for the room then yesterday’s room, however (35 pounds a night – about $50 US). Hmmm… I have to decide how much is too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hotel I’m in is 3 blocks from the Marble Arch \"Marble. I came here because the little map I bought yesterday showed a bunch of hotels in the area. I was sick of walking and didn’t see many hotels\/B&B’s in Camdon Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alright, I’m going to hit the sheets.  I just got back from the pub next door \"Oh. I swear she (the bar tender) called last call, excuse me, “last round” an hour before it closed (at midnight).  for anyone who wants to know – I heard her turn down several men tonight.  Apparently…. she’s going out with an American.  One of the brits responded to that, “I hope you’ve got a good supply of batteries.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a suggestion to check out Camden Town – I did. After sending my e-mail for the first time  from London, I packed my stuff together  and headed for  Camden. But wait, I made a quick detour into Earl’s Court convention center. There was an auto show. It was right across the street from the Underground. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59,"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btth.com\/marc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}