Step Two -- Thatcham
So here I am in Thatcham, staying with Anat and Sa'ar. Thatcham is pretty much 45 Miles West of Nothington and about 15 Miles North of the Edge of Nowhere.
Three days in London was not quite enough... I started off with the Tate Modern, (which totally blew my mind and I will post a big giant rant on Modern Art in a day or two when I'm done processing it) and from there just went all over the place - but I'm quite ambivalent about the whole thing. London is pretty damn expensive (£6 just to get around town, and a skimpy £2 lunch, and I still haven't done anything) so you find yourself counting pence when paying buskers or buying a bottle of water or sandwich.
Hopefully I've managed to stay sort-of within budget except for excessive travel expenses. (a tip, people -- unless you're carrying a lot of luggage, do NOT come in from Heathrow on the Heathrow Express; take the Underground into London!)
One thing that's really great about this city is that it's so techno-savvy; there's computerised services for everything from Underground ticket purchases to writing emails in public phone booths!
But I've still got mixed feelings -- walking around London and seeing much the same things as Tel Aviv makes me wonder if maybe I'm not seeing London correctly, or is it really the same but with different "skins"?
The people, on the other hand, are wonderful -- kind, courteous, patient, easygoing, etc. etc. Just like home, ey?
Of course, I couldn't help checking out all the geek stores -- comic books, computers, etc... And you know what? Screw London, it's even more expensive than at home. But it's a shame you can't experience the full expanse of this place, I really got lost there and could have just walked around there for days...
'Nuff for now, I'm rambling. Soon I will be headed out to Scotland, where I hope to attend the Edinburgh International Festival, and more specifically the Umbilical Brothers' show.
Ciao all!