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Oxford by Day, London by Night

LONDON, July 25, 2008 - When a day starts as beautifully as this Friday morning did, you want the wonderment to go on.  So on a spur of the moment, while driving on the M25 (yes, the infamous "parking lot") south toward Heathrow, I decided on a spur of the moment to take a detour and visit Oxford.  I figured the serenity of an old university city would dovetail nicely on the peace and calm of our early morning in St. Albans.

Some forty minutes later, I was in the middle of another monumental traffic jam.  Some sort of a game was apparently going on in Oxford this afternoon, according to a BBC radio report.  "There are way too many cars in Britain for the kinds of roads they have," I muttered more than once.  And then I did something that turned out to be a brilliant idea.  I parked my car on the outskirts of Oxford, and took a double-decker bus into the city.  The two middle shots of a total gridlock at one of the intersections were taken from the "second floor" of the bus.  So was the top rightmost shot of a McDonald's in a Tudor setting... not exactly a typical sight in America for this kind of a fast food establishment. 

I got off the bus just outside the Queen's College, one of 39 colleges that Oxford University incorporates.  Oxford has been a place of learning for over 800 years.  The oldest colleges - Balliol and Merton - were founded in the late 13th century. 

Most colleges are closed during the summer holidays, but I managed to sneak into some of them anyway...

... to bring you these "inside views" of the student life at Oxford.  I could not help but think that if I were to go to college again, this would not be a bad place to seek the pearls of wisdom left behind by Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras, Confucius, or Osiris... among some great minds and spirits from ancient history.

I checked out the great Bodleian Library, for example (two left shots), though I did not check out any books.  :-) And even here, there were inevitable churches to visit...

... pews to ponder (are you getting sick of them by now?)  :-) With all the cathedrals and churches I have visited in the last few days, which as only a fraction of the number that grace this great land, it makes you wonder how England got to be so secular, doesn't it?  Money talks, I suppose...

I also saw a couple of other interesting things before leaving Oxford to get back to London.  First, it was the slogan shown in the middle shot - "make tea not war."  Guess this also goes to show us how much the modern youngsters have regressed.  When we were in college, the rallying cry was "make LOVE not war."  Nowadays British kids seem to prefer tea.  Interesting... and rather tepid. 

Second, the rightmost picture above shows a building with two windows that have been filled in.  This morning, my friend from St. Albans explained to me that the property taxes were once based on how many windows a building had.  So people would fill them in as a tax saving measure. Wonder what the IRS would think of that idea?  :-)

Back in London, the Emirates airline ad for a Boeing 380 has replaced the erstwhile British Airways jet that used to be on display at this spot at the Heathrow airport (left).  Sign of the times and changing of the  guard... I suppose, with oil approaching $150 per barrel.  The airport authorities are also waxing philosophical.  "Life is a curve.  Where are you on it?" asks the second ad (right).   Hopefully not in a queue on the M25, was the thought that crossed my mind.  :-)

London by Night: "Spamalot" in West End

LONDON, July 25, 2008 - I have been looking forward for a long time to my free night in London.  It has been nearly 16 years since my last West End show (the opening night of my own "The Professional" in 1992).  I chose to see "Monty Python's Spamalot," a musical comedy/parody, and was able to get an excellent seat at half price (right).

I decided to follow my Oxford experience this evening and take a bus and a tube into the city for a night out on the town rather than my rental car.  Another brilliant idea! For the West End (downtown London) was jam-packed even with just pedestrians let alone cars, as you can see from the above pictures of Leicester Square...

... and the nearby Chinatown (left). You can see everything here that you can catch on Broadway, too... Chicago, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera... etc.  But you can also find something here that you will not on Broadway... a large IT company's offices in the middle of Soho's red light district and the West End theater lights (Capgemini - right photo).

Since I had an hour or so to kill (my show did not start till 8:30PM), I walked around the area observing the Friday evening pub scenes.  The pubs were overflowing with people, spilling over drinks and conversations into the streets and even squares (right - at the Seven Dials Sq).  The Brits sure like brew their brew, don't they.  The pubs were busier than even on St. Patrick's Day, when I was here the last time (see "A Ho_Hum St. Patrick's Day in London," Mar 2008; you may also want to check out my "St. Patrick's Day Concert").

Seeing all these crowds spilling into the streets, I was thinking of all the security warning that we, global travelers, see from time to time.  Here's, for example, what a recent American Express Travel Advisory said about it:

"Be alert," suggests AmEx.  The warning is evidently wasted on these Londoners even if they have been also his by terrorist bombs, and not to long ago, either.  How quickly we forget.  Or is the love of pubs greater than the love of life?  Or are the two synonymous in Britain?  Hm... I'd better go to my show to lighten up my thoughts.

The Palace Theater at which the "Spamalot" is playing is a beautiful structure, inside and out.  And the show was excellent, too.  Very funny and entertaining.

On my way back to the tube, I decided to walk to Piccadilly Square.  It was as lively at nearly 11PM as it is at noon.  "A city that never sleeps," I thought and then said goodnight to it anyway.  :-)

Summary

LONDON, July 26 - Overall, I have to admit that I have been very lucky with weather on this trip to Britain.  Except for a few rain drops on the second day here (July 28), the weather has been dry and quite warm (for England, anyway).  And that's pretty extraordinary for an English summer, judging by all reports and radio commentaries.  I jokingly took credit for it with my British friends, claiming I had brought them the warmth and sunshine from the desert state of Arizona, where the temps are in the 100's F (40's C) and rain is considered a godsend.  Oh well, all things are relative, including the summers.  Hope the good luck continues for my friends here after I leave...

And that's all she wrote from this Sat, July 26, in London, and probably from this trip to England, too.

THE END

Love  Light

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