Europe 2004: A Travelogue

This will be a rather lengthy documentary of the 12 or so days I spent in the UK and France from March 19-31. For those of you who may not particularly care about me or my misadventures, there are educational opportunities sprinkled throughout on How Not to Travel Abroad. So read along at home anyway.

Day 1: Friday, March 19th

I set out for Dallas around 4 AM, having gone to bed the previous night at 7. I was hoping to take a nice sunrise picture, but the clouds gave me nothing. I did, however, take a picture at a gas station at Hope, where I found someone's bill from a collection agency asking them to pay the $400-something dollars they owed to a Memphis clinic. Looking at the bill you can just make out the words "Drug Abuse 2" and "HIV antibody screen." The drive down was otherwise uneventful, but I did listen to the Samples' "Long Walk Home," which begins with the line "It's 5 AM and I'm still awake," and when I looked at the clock it was precisely 5 AM.

I stopped off at a pawn shop in Dallas and bought another guitar, a black Ibanez RG 7. Why? Because it was only $150. It had to be done. Nevermind that I have to get on a plane, it's a bargain we're talking about here, people. I later discovered that it is completely identical to my other RG 7 in that the neck is stamped RG 7621, and the body is stamped RG 7421. Neat, although I realize this is only interesting to guitar trainspotters. I met up with Tara at Guitar Center (the one place we can always find), and we went and had lunch with her friend Erica. Erica's mom drove us to the airport (thanks, Mrs. Rowntree!) and we set off. Day 2: Saturday, March 20th British Airways is a great airline. Not only do they give you your own TV screen, they give you a choice of 10 or so movie channels and even more audio. AND, they give you a kit that includes socks, sleeping blinders, and a portable toothbrush with tiny toothpaste tube:

We landed at Gatwick around 8 AM, and Tara's friend Benedicte met us at the airport and absconded with Tara back to her people's place in the south. I went on to Victoria station to meet my friend Susan, with whom we were staying. By mind-boggling coincidence, we ran into her husband John at the station on his way to work. Susan and John Mumford are old friends from Hendrix College who live in the south of London. John works at the London Science Museum, and Susan works in an art gallery. Susan and I then went to Chez Mumford in Streatham, where I dropped off my luggage. Susan went on to work and I took a nap. Later on, I went out into the town on my own, to go do the muzo/guitar wanker things like troll around Denmark Street and Charing Cross, where all the guitar stores and book stores are. Then over to Berwick street where all the cheap CDs are to be found. After all that, I headed over to the Tate Modern gallery to meet John and Susan. Walking across the very windy Millennium Bridge, I took these nice pictures of the sunset over London:

The Tate Modern is a converted power plant built in the 30's that has a real nice deco style to it. I got there early and sat outside. Susan had said to meet at the benches, but I was unaware that there were more benches inside the gallery. Which is where Susan was, so...d'oh! I did spend some time in the gallery's bookshop where I almost bought a $10 book comprised entirely photographic portraits of people from Heber Springs, Arkansas. Susan and I went inside, where we saw this:

The picture above is me taking a picture of the ceiling, which is covered in reflective material. As you can almost see in the pictures below, the ceiling is made entirely of mirrored plastic material, which creates the illusion of a full, circular sun, as well as a complete reflection of the floor below.

After wandering through the museum, looking at Picassos and Rodins, we had dinner at the restaurant atop the building. This is John having some coffee:

How Not To Travel Tip #1: Don't Take Pictures of Your Friends in Fine Dining Establishments, Particularly in the Evening. After dinner we walked back over the bridge where I saw the unique road cone pictured below. Behind it is St. Paul's Cathedral. Yes, I take a lot of pictures that probably amuse only myself. Here are several:

Humped zebra crossings I've seen, but pelicans?

This is from Streatham, on the street where the Mumfords live. Note the word "Infants" carved in stone above the doorway.

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