More quirky—albeit, perhaps, unrelated—observations from the recent visit to London:
The computerized, female voice on the Tube (subway) advising you to “please mind the gap” each time you were about to step off of the train and back onto the platform. How often in life does someone try to warn us about the gaps and we choose to ignore their refrain? I’m grateful for those who gently make me aware of my own gaps.
The crowd waiting for the changing of the guard outside of Buckingham Palace felt equal to a thousand Disney Worlds. Every nationality you could imagine was represented. We got very hungry and thirsty in the midst of this madness and finally escaped to a so-so lunch diner.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is just stunning. I loved learning the story of the “St. Paul’s Watch,” a group of volunteers who took turns snuffing out the smaller incendiary bombs dropped by the Germans during World War II. Winston Churchill had declared that St Paul’s must be saved, and it was. What things are worth saving in this day and age, in our culture of short horizons and even shorter attention spans?
At Shakespeare’s restored Globe Theater, we learned that the actors often interact with the audience members who stand in the pit located between the wooden bleachers and the stage. You can expect to be asked questions, jostled or knocked over during a fight scene if you’re not careful. All the world is indeed the stage, and we can expect the same things every time we venture out into society.
We were hungry at midnight, and ordered takeout from a local pizza joint to our hotel room. The menu also included, of all things, waffles—and we ordered some of those as well. After the motorcycle helmet-wearing deliveryman brought us our goods, we realized that the waffles were FROZEN. The hotel clerk and I then bonded as we searched the hotel for a toaster or microwave, and then tried to figure out how to operate the latter without blowing up the entire place. You never know when you are going to make a new friend.
And, yes, we ate all of the pizza and waffles while watching the British version of “The Apprentice.”
