It’s late. I found the hostel with
no problem. I checked in, dropped my bag in the room and went out. I headed to
the National Gallery first. Third time’s the charm. I finally got to see
“Avenue at Middelharnis” by Meindert Hobbema. It was lovely.
Then I decided to try to find the
Templar church. I thought it was near Temple Tube station, but silly me didn’t
have a map, so I wandered around until I got tired.
I gave up and decided to head to the
Tower of London. I stopped in a McDonald’s and got an ice cold diet coke. At
least the British have ice, and they don’t even need it much. I wandered around
the Tower area for a while, trying to find a pub that served dinner, to no
avail. Finally I settled on a fish n’ chips place near the Tower. £5 for fish,
chips and a rink. Did I mention that the soda is cheaper here too?
I took the food and sat down on the
steps facing the tower. They had a mangonel set up in the moat, I suppose for a
show.
When I was about through eating, a
girl sat down near me. She had asked me to take her picture in front of Big Ben
some hours previous. I said “hi” and we got to talking and it turns out that
she’s from Galveston! We traded business cards and I told her how beautiful the
Pyrenees are and she said she might go. I showed her some pictures of
Carcassonne, and Peyrepertuse. She seemed interested. I told her if she went
she should rent a car, as there was no other way to get to the remote places.
After a while she left and I
wandered over to Tower Bridge. Then back to the Tube station to wait for the
London Walks Jack the Ripper Tour. I was 45 minutes early, but on a day of
serendipity, it was a good thing. A man announced a Jack the Ripper Walk. He
was a beefeater by day, and I would come to find out, a freemason too. I
decided to go on his tour instead. He said we’d pay after. He led us about
three miles all around East End, and finally back to Tower Station. We passed
about five or six other Jack the Ripper walks. I really liked this one because
he was a great guide. The tour cost £7 but he said if we didn’t like it we
didn’t have to pay. I gave him £10, told him to keep the rest. I told him how
my grandfather was a freemason too. We chatted a bit about that until we got
back to the tube station. Then it was about thirty minutes back to the hostel.
It wasn’t even dark when I got back. I called Jan and Andy to let them know I
was back at the hostel, and I swear my phone bill is going to be $200. Oh well,
I gotta talk to them.
 |
| Amazing Jack-the-Ripper walk tour guide |
I was going to use the internet but
didn’t realize you had to sign up for it. I ate my last Pain au Chocolat from
Paris, that I had brought with me, and was about to go take a shower when this
Italian guy asked me to watch his back for a second. We wound up talking about
travel for a while. He said he was from Genoa, and that he might repeat himself
because he’d had a few drinks. He asked me about the States, and asked me if
there were really religious fundamentalists there. I was like, “yes.” I told
him how they handle snakes and drink strychnine down near where I’m from. He
mentioned the crazies out of Kansas, and I told him that the fundamentalists I
knew from home were quite sane compared to them.
Then I saw it was getting late so I
had a shower. It got kinda hot in it, because it was enclosed. Not to self,
cooler water tomorrow night. Now it is late, and time for bed.
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