Surprise in Camden Town, and Dorset for the weekend

Time to play blog catch-up. My friend Nick had an excellent surprise for me last Thursday. We met up in Camden Town for sushi and he springs two tickets to see The Avett Brothers, who were playing that night at the Camden Palace. He hadn't realized I had seen them in Toronto (see a previous blog post) three weeks previous - but that was fine with me...I was excited to see them again. They didn't disappoint - an excellent show, and at an excellent venue. It's not actually called the Camden Palace - that was its former name - it's now called Koko, which doesn't do justice to the place. Hopefully the first of many concerts I'll see on my trip.

On the weekend, Nick was nice enough to invite me to visit his family in friends in Dorset - a two-hour train ride away. We stayed with his parents who live near a place called Hamworthy on Friday, and then with his friends Tim and Nicki on Saturday night in Christchurch. During the day we visited the ruins of the Christchurch Priory (which dates from the 1000's) and had a barbeque on the beach that evening, with the Isle of Wight just across from us.

Caught a bit of the football match on Sunday when I was back in London. Poor England.

Jack The Ripper and Football at the Pub Part 2

A friend of mine who has her own blog gave me some advice on blogging which can basically be boiled down to this: blog briefly and blog often. If this is the case, then my first foray into blogging has been a failure on both counts. Days between posts, and not so concise, my blogs. Oh well...let me try and summarize a few things from the past days:

On Monday evening, I went on a "Jack The Ripper" walking tour through parts of The City and East London. There is a company that puts on several different types of these walking tours (there is a Beatles one I have my eye on as well). The Ripper walk was well done...the guide was a JTR author and expert. I'm sure any eerie aspects of the walking tour were dulled somewhat by the fact that it was the longest evening of the year...hard to be creeped out by stories of these gruesome murders when it's light out. Interesting fact: Jack The Ripper, for all of his notoriety, only murdered five people. Also, the City of London police force was separate from the Metropolitan police force until 1964 (!). Jack The Ripper took advantage of this division by murdering across the two jurisdictions.

Tuesday night saw me take the Tube and an overland commuter train to an area called Forest Hill to visit my friend Nick for dinner and to play some music. Nick's quite the musician, and has taken to playing pedal steel guitar. We met in BC last summer, and first jammed together then.

Wednesday afternoon was set aside for going to a Knightsbridge pub to watch England play Slovenia in World Cup play, with England needing a win to advance. Mercifully for all of England, they came through. That evening, also mercifully for all of England (or at least those in close proximity to me), I did laundry. The routine things in "regular" life take on an added level of joy when traveling!

Imperial War Museum

Tuesday was the day I set aside for my (first of hopefully multiple) visits to the Imperial War Museum. I actually got out of bed at a decent time for once (jetlag defeated!) and arrived just a little after the 10am opening time. Walking from the Lambeth North tube station to the museum ended up being one of those serendipitous experiences one hopes to experience when traveling. An elderly gentleman walking beside me asked me if I was on my way to the museum. When I replied that I was, he stopped, turned around and pointed to a building just across from the tube station and said "That building, one afternoon in 1945, was hit by one of the first V2 rockets fired by the Germans." He went on to point out other buildings in the area hit during various bombing raids. The man - Bill - was a young boy during the war, lived in the area, and experienced the Blitz first hand. We spent about three-quarters of an hour talking about his experiences before I even entered the museum. What an amazing person to meet and speak to. Turns out he also has some family in Canada as well.

The museum visit itself was excellent, although I confined my visit to the World War II section only (I intend to go back to visit the rest, of course). As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a history nerd, and like to take my time and like take in and read as much as I can. They have a V2 rocket on display on the main floor, as well as aircraft and tanks. One of the highlights was a section called the Blitz Experience in which you sit in a replicable bomb shelter while hearing the bombing outside, after which you walk through a replicable of a bombed-out London street. Brilliant.

Football Friday Night and the British Museum

Spent my first full day sleeping in half the morning. It's jet-lag, still. Not laziness. Besides - it's not like I have limited time. An unambitious afternoon of wandering around Kensington, finding a great little cafe with much coveted wifi access (I've been back a few times). The evening was spent exactly how I wanted: in a London pub - the Churchill Arms in Notting Hill - watching the World Cup football match (note I did not say "soccer game" - when in Rome...). The football match did not go exactly how Londoners wanted: England drawing nil-nil against Algeria. A one-one draw, from my point-of-view, would have been better: I was looking forward to the cheering and inadvertent beer showers that would inevitably follow an England goal. I was out with two former work colleagues (they're all "former" now, aren't they?). The pub was packed (or "heaving" as my Scottish friend had put it) - standing room only. After the game, we went to another, less crowded pub for - what else? - fish and chips. Football, pubs, fish and chips: A good start to my first weekend in London.


Saturday afternoon saw me do a quick two hours in the British Museum. Free admission - how great is that? I knew going in that one trip wasn't enough...I'll be heading back there this week. The Roman artifacts were particularly impressive. Trying to do the whole thing in one go, even two, would be daunting. I think you have to pick your spots.

Getting over jetlag

I've arrived. Actually, I've been here over 24 hours now. But it's taken me some time to access the internet. Plus, I wouldn't dare write anything while suffering from jetlag, as I had been yesterday. I'm not sure if it was jetlag so much as lack of sleep, having clocked in MAYBE two and a half hours of sleep on the flight over. Some people are good sleepers on airplanes - I guess I am not one of them. But, I've learned from a couple of previous trans-Atlantic experiences to stay up, no matter how tired you are and how much you want to nap. Because it won't just be a nap, it'll be a full night's worth. THEN you'll be jetlagged.

Landed mid-morning, and easily made my way to my friend's Kensington flat where I am staying. The location is perfect - as prime as any. Dropped my stuff off and wandered off to nearby Kensington High Street for coffee. My afternoon consisted of walking around Kensington Gardens. It was a gorgeous day - in the mid-20s and sunny. People were out strolling, sunning themselves, or kicking a soccer ball around. I basically wandered around...and around...and around. The point was to keep walking. Whenever I stopped, there was the very real risk of falling asleep. I did - eventually - make my way to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It was erected (dug?) in 2004 and is, essentially, a round, flowing, wading pool. You're allowed to wade in it. Which I did. Which was good for the feet, and for keep conscious. (I contemplated sticking my head in, but thought better of it).

The jetlag/lack of sleep contributed to the very odd feeling that, here I was, walking in London, and it not feeling real. I think modern air travel has that weird effect: plunking you out of one spot, and in a relatively short amount of time plunking you back down in a distant locale. It's almost as though it's unnatural, as though your physical self may have arrived, but your consciousness, your sense of being here, hasn't quite caught up. As I said to my friend in New York when I last visited: My body has traveled by plane, but my soul is on horseback. It'll take a few days to catch up. That'll be one tired horse.

Today's the day

So, it all comes down to this. After months of preparation, the selling and vacating of my condo, and the quitting of my job. Not to mention six weeks of homelessness (and more to come!). I'd like to say hours of trip preparation and planning, but really, there hasn't been that much (!). And it all comes down to there being only four more hours before driving to the airport (or rather, being chauffeured by my friend Rebecca). And yet I can't help but wonder...

Have I forgotten anything?!?!

I don't think so. The good news for you, dear blog reader, is that these posts will begin to get more interesting, and actually be about traveling.

Final days before departure

Going through final preparations before I leave. A lot of loose-ends to tie up - address changes, changes to insurance coverage, getting car ready for storage, etc. It was a lot easier to prepare for a backpacking trip back when I was in my early-20s...less grown-up things to worry about.

I've done some preliminary packing, and subsequent shedding of items after realizing the pack was still too heavy. And have had some final get together with friends. Had a big gathering at the Ship and Anchor pub on Saturday night - was loads of fun. Thanks to all who made it out.

I've been so busy going through my to-do list this past week, it'll be strange to finally be on the plane, and done with it all.

My flight is Wednesday afternoon...

Heading Back To Calgary

My three and a half a week trip east is almost done. New Brunswick, Ottawa, London, Toronto, Peterborough. Sort of a cross-country farewell tour. Big thanks to all my friends who gave me accommodation and fed me. Truly felt like homes-away-from home (admittedly, the definition of "home" for me is very fluid at the moment). It was great to see friends and family.

Aside from seeing friends and family, hi-lights included:
- seeing my friend Trevor Tchir play a show with his brother Steve at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec (just outside Ottawa). Check out www.trevortchir.com for more info on Trevor and his music.
- eating dinner outside on my parents deck (or in my sister's backyard) every evening but one during a 10-day visit to Ottawa. The weather was that good.
- taking the train. Love the train.
- swimming in Lake Huron (at Ipperwash) on May 30th.
- seeing the Avett Brothers in Toronto at the Phoenix Concert Theatre (see a previous blog posting).
- the Silverbean Cafe in Peterborough. Right on the river. Best cafe location ever (Yes, Paris, that includes you).  The photo below does not do it justice.

That's all for now. The countdown to the big trip is on. Gotta go...I have a plan to catch back to Calgary this evening.

The Avett Brothers in Toronto

Okay, so I haven't started my overseas travels yet...but last night's Avett Brothers show in Toronto warrants a blog entry. One word for the show: Awesome. The venue was the Phoenix Concert Theatre (not a theatre- More of a big room). Last time I was there for a show was in 1992 (!) for Midnight Oil (!!).

Anyway, The Avett Brothers...live show was even better than the lone album of theirs that I own (I and Love and You). They played a lot of stuff from their previous albums which I now have to get.

Seeing them last night compensates for the fact that I'll miss their Thursday night headlining performance at this year's Calgary Folk Festival...