London: Two days and untold transfers

We have commuted an absolutely incredible amount so far this week and it is only Monday morning. I only wish that I had thought to log every transit change. Lyndsay lives in West Dulwich approximately 1 1/12 hours from central London. I am truly getting every pence's worth out of my weekly Oyster travel card. She commonly leaves for work at 8:30 to start at 10 am commuting three hours a day. However if she bikes as she did this morning, decked out inher biking regalia, flashing clipon lite and neon backpack cover, it is a 45 minutes ride.

No rain as yet, but constantly colder than I packed. The big dilemma is Ascot on Wednesday as our dresses are self-less and I have yet to wear less than two layers of sweaters. Somehow neither a black Patagonia windbreaker or fleece seems appropriate with my fancy hat. Is it possible to get frostbite during the day in an urban location?

Visited the Museum of the City of London for the third time and am sure I will never not visit it when here. This year the Great Fire exhibit was completed, but the history ended in 1599 due to renovations. Had not realized that the 1566 fire came only a year after the second Plague which had decimated 1/2 of the population a year earlier. Dined at China Row, passing Spiedelfields market which is on its way to being upscale and homogenous. Home for a 15 minute nap before returning to see King Lear at the Globe Theater, a truly memorable experience.

Nye worked Sunday and Lyndsay and I got a late start. Walked the shopping district with a European pizza lunch, a quite tour of the Regents Street Apple store, hat return to Lewis, then on to Forstrum's for the recommended chocolate soda, but as it was 25 minutes before closing they would not serve us. Stopped by Clapham to see the potential new house. A huge Tesco and lovely large park are nice advantages of this otherwise youthful trendy area. Home exhausted. Made a fun dinner of chicken and salad cooking smoked pork rashers and making other substitutes as necessary. So nice to visit folks who enjoy a nice sweet German wine.

Virgin Atlantic - a post of its own

Three stars for Virgin Atlantic Economy. Long ago experienced a memorable First Class, but Economy is the best around. Legroom, unlimited liquor, a useful welcome gift with blinders, toothpaste, etc. A boxed cupcake as we boarded. if I felt techie intimidation then expect to spend time figuring out the "remote control" for the screen/music. Where have I been? Text messaging between seats with 60 seconds of detailed instructions on etiquette/security; ditto, gaming between seats. No more wondering which movie is playing on which flight in which direction. They are all playing, or TV. The secret is learning to shift in your seat without turning on the screen, but looking around many others had the same problem.

Summer Travels - 2008 Style

Left Vero with gas @$3.98 if you hunt. For the first time ever, we plotted probable destinations for refueling along I95. The lowest price was $3.829 in South Carolina; the highest near my dad's in Bellerose NY $4.199. For the first time I saw several open gas stations without prices posted. The number of young people driving motorcycles was another new sign of the times. 

If you haven't tried Blenheim's hot ginger ale, you can't appreciate why day one had to end in Florence SC so that I could be at the 8 am opening of the Pee Dee Farmer's Market on Tuesday. A charming couple sold me three 6-packs of eye-watering liquid heat and a was off for another 600+ miles to Long Island. By the time I made it through afternoon rush hour in DC, I was exhausted. To my delight I discovered an amazing fast food concession stand in a Maryland rest area called Phillips Seafood that had a super crab cake sandwich. The skies were blackening and as I approached the Outer Bridge Crossing, there was a windstorm to equal those only seen in the desert. Sheet of debris blew in whirlwinds and as the winds picked up, I worried about taking a van over the Verrazano Bridge.  Then the skies opened and as I drove along the Bronx/Queens Expressway, bolts of totally awesome lightening light Manhattan like a scene out of an end of the earth movie. Arrived at ten exhausted.