Last Week in London

Today is prepare-to-leave London day - laundry, packing, and such. Tomorrow, I'm off on a road trip for most of the week with a car-owning friend. We're planning on touring around southwest England. I've loved London, but I do look forward to hitting some more laid-back spots, too. This past week included a day trip down to Brighton. It was great to chill-out by the sea, and inhale salty sea air as opposed to central London car exhaust. Oh - I learned a valuable should-have-known-better travel lesson: always, always make sure to check the validity date on your train ticket when buying in advance. That was a 10 pound ($15) lesson. Well, 10 pounds and a portion of my dignity in trying to plead my case and convince them I wasn't trying to pull a fast one. Also, in trying to plead your case, don't use the truthful - yet dubious-to-most - excuse that you have lost track of dates. That doesn't go over well nor seem particularly believable to a lot of people.

Visited Greenwich this past week (located in Southeast London) and in particular the Royal Observatory, which includes the Prime Meridian (Zero Longitude on the map) - this will be appreciated by the one or two geographers out there who read this. Standing on the Prime Meridian wasn't the transcendent experience I had hoped for. Perhaps a visit to the equator will be better.

If you want the best place in the world to buy cool t-shirts, hit Camden Market. I had been there in the evening, but went back for a day visit. Sadly, my need to pack light precluded my from buying any of the excellent t-shirts available. My favourite was the one of Jesus dressed as a Jedi Knight, holding a light sabre which took the shape of a crucifix. You had to see it.