London Calling

In mid-January, Melinda and I packed our bags (too many of them) and headed to London for my first three weeks on the new job. For the most part, I worked way too hard, and Melinda saw so much of London that before it was over she was giving strangers directions on what underground lines to take to the major sights in the city. It wasn't all work for me though, and together we had some fun evenings at a couple of jazz clubs, ate at some great restuarants, saw St. Paul's cathedral in great detail, and visited the exhibition of the Chinese "Terra Cotta Warriors" at the British Museum. The more interesting thing we did together was to rent a car and drive from London to the English Channel coast. Let me tell you, for an American, driving English style is NOT just getting used to the "wrong side of the road". Its sitting on the right, having your passenger on the left, the shifter on the left, and learning to stay in the center of the lane without the references you've been using ever since you learned to drive! On top of this, finding my way through London streets and English roads is by far the most challenging navigation I've ever done. Hint: get the GPS option on your rental car. It is worth every pence!

We found our destination and had a nice, relaxing weekend. While the towns where we stayed aren't the most posh of the English seaside (think a notch up from the Jersey shore), they are quaint and quiet in the wintertime. We spent Saturday doing not much other than walking the few miles on the cliffs and beach between Broadstairs, where we were staying, and Ramsgate, the next town down the coast.

The next day we had all intentions to rise early and drive up the 150 miles or so to Brighton, and see more of the coast along the way. Although we did rise early, we only made it about 70 miles due to the rather slow going on English lanes that are hundreds of years old, and sometimes only wide enough for traffic in one direction at a time. We managed to make it to Dover to see the famous cliffs (see pic below), and a little further on down the coast before we had to head back north towards London.