Soloist

Okay, now that I have the blog specifics worked out I can write a little something. I spent the majority of my time this weekend seeing different sites throughout London by myself. I tend to enjoy my own company, but even more so when I am somewhere completely new. This may sound mean, but when I am alone I don't have to deal with other people slowing me down. I essentially don't trust those with me that they will want to do the same thing I want to do. When they aren't there the problem is gone. Excellent. Now...where were we?

I took a long stroll through Hyde Park on Saturday. It was a sunny day, but still a cold one. I sat on a bench and wrote some. After a while I walked toward Kensington Palace...took a look around...and then I made the horrible decision of walking over to Harrod's. That place sucks. I walked about 100 yards of the store and it was, up to this point in my life, the culmination of all that I hate about shopping: hundreds of people, many displays, a very large concentration of short people who walk slowly to begin with; and even more slowly when shopping, expensive things, ridiculous advertisements, and a lot of "oh my God that guy is tall" stares.

A thing to mention about cars in some areas of London. Because I see so many Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls Royce, and other incredibly expensive cars they no longer have the same impact on me as if I were seeing them in the streets. On my trip to Harrod's I saw at least 5 of each of those brands of cars among many others. A 360 Modena was parked in a line of cars on Hyde Park like it was just another automobile. I truly turned around five times after I passed it to make sure it was still there. Incredible.

Sunday...went to Trafalgar Square and I whisked through the National Gallery taking in all the paintings that were marked on the map as "Highlight Paintings". One of which was Van Gogh's Sunflowers. I then walked to Westminster Abbey for a free organ recital. Wow, that was loud. On the way over I snapped this shot of Parliament and the Clock Tower. Many people refer to it as Big Ben, but that is only the name of the bell inside, but it's the name that stuck for many tourists and I believe for most of the British.

Oh, I know why people can't cook very well over here...the grocery stores suck. In central London you have two really crappy grocery chains...Tesco and Sainsburys, neither of which have any sort of variety. Wonderful. That is all for now.