Stu's Rusty Bucket

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

London Day 1

Things got off to an auspicious start this morning when I was fishing through my odds and ends bag, I managed to grab my razor (triple blade at that) and carve my thumb open. After haemoraging nearly a pint of blood I managed to wrestle half a dozen bandaids onto it. It was already seeping through soon afterwards…

Currently I’m sat in the waiting area in Darlington with half an hour to go. The rail networks must have done a lot of work since I had last ridden the train to London, todays journey will only take two and a half hours, where as before I’m quite sure it used to take four hours.

I have some slight form of trepidation going back to London for two days without anywhere to go. Once I have dealt with having my oddly U.S. sized passport photos taken I tihnk I will either go visit the National Museum out back of Tottenham Court Road or I might badger the travel agent about flights next week…

In the evening I’m going to stay with my dads cousin, Janet, whom I have never before met and I’m not quite looking forward to it. I feel as if I am putting her out.

Tomorow is going to be an early 6am start, and I’ve no idea how long those proceedings will last. This might give me a lot of time after the embassy to visit another museum or I could be there all day. Drinking with the boys in the evening before returning home at about 1am Friday morning.

For this trip I am going to read Neal Stephensons ‘Cryptonomicon’ for the second or third time. I have a faint memory of the finale of the book but scant memory of the rest of it.

Idling just outside of York now, the field outside the window is muddy green and plump full of dusky and black faced sheep with govs of fluffy white lambs. One of the ewes seems to have two lambs which I find quite odd, as I thought sheep like other cattle only dropped one offspring rather than twins. Its good to see spring coming to the farms.

Train in front of us as broken down, which explains the long wait next to this field. Might be here a while yet.

I have just seen a lot of ewes with two lambs each, so maybe it is a common occurance.

Arriving in York 20 minutes late and a toasted ham and cheese sandwhich later, an elderly woman said to me ‘Excuse me, but I think your in my seat’, and sure enough her ticket had my seat number on it.. Apart from the fact I booked it over a month ago, the silly todgers have double booked us! All is well as train staff tell her to sit in any vacant seat…

Ten minutes out of London and I have a throbbing headache…

What a day.

So the train gets in thirty minutes late and I manage to get into town about 4pm.. Rushed off to where I know of a place that does odd sized U.S. passport photos and.... yes.. their equipment is broken down. Aaaargh!! So I rush off with vague directions from the shop assistant but end up getting confusaled, its 4:30pm, and another shop gives me directions to this mysterious street I am hunting.. Just shy of ten to five I get my photo taken.

Photos in backpack, I decide its tea time and push off back to Soho for my long awaited rendevous with Wagamamas restaurant. Ooooh its good stuff. I had a fantastic chicken ramen and peached ice tea (not sweat tea like in america).

It was great to meet David and Janet that night, they are such nice people and we talked family all night, going over bits of the family tree and me learning some new info and finding out about more of my kin who died in world war 1 and such. The George side has a complex family, illegitimate kids back in the 1880’s, marrying deceased wives sisters, that sort of thing. Scandals with aristocracy!

Seems Pa George had a sister called Amy George! how weird a co-incidence. I learnt Compton is a very old posh name.. I’m still glad Dad didnt stick me with the Compton name.