John's World...Where's John?

I found  him

The journey of a lifetime has now officially wound down.  We are in England now, staying with our friend Monica in London.  Brinda's plan of having a stayover of a few days has been perfect.  Very little jet lag, slow re-acclimation to life in the West again, and lines that are actually lines and not nine people at the front jostling to nowhere.

Warm showers.

Logical traffic patterns.

Hamburgers.

Unfortunately, we miss some things from India already.

Family.

Friends (especially the kids).

The buzz of waking up and the day is completely unpredictable.

Crisp dosas.

We have nicely spent our time here in London.  We haven't sat around waiting for our flight Sunday.   We've filled the days so well that we cannot even manage to stay awake at night doing some work.

The day we flew into London from Bangalore, we dropped off our bags and headed into the city.  A hamburger at a restaurant near Harrod's was well earned.  To taste a good, medium-rare burger again was a treat.  Neither Brinda nor I could predict whether six months without beef would dull our taste for it.  It didn't.  We inhaled those burgers quite well thank you.

The next day, we caught the Southeastern train from London to Faversham.  Faversham just might be one of my most favorite places on earth.  I had gone to Faversham several years ago to check out the Sheperds Neame Brewery.  The brewery dates from the 1100's and is the oldest brewery in Britain.  While in Faversham I also checked out the local football club (Faversham Town FC).  I enjoyed the match so much I became a full fledged supporter (which gives you owner-like privileges).  Lastly, and most importantly I met this great Airbnb hostess named Sally.  She was fantastic.  So warm and welcoming.  I've been back several times to see her during my visits to England.  Everytime I go back to a friend.  So given the chance to introduce my familily to such an important friend meant alot.  I loved every minute of it.  Meeting Sally and her dog Archie.  Walking through the town square on market day.  Heading to this great Italian restaurant by the docks.  Makenades Grocery (like a Trader Joe's but not crap).  A breeze past the football stadium.  The train back to London with fresh Kent cheese, crackers, and yes...beer (on the train, in the open).  Uggh.

Market day at Faversham town square

Fam with my friend Sally

Today, we started out by making sure we hit something each kid would like to do.  First, for James, we did the stadium tour of Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea Football Club.  Those of you who know me know that this is a complete betrayal.  I am, as you would say here, "proper Arsenal".  Chelsea is, to me, one of the most evil teams on earth.  And football has some very evil teams.  While we were here in January, James asked me who he should support.  I informed him that he can pick any team he wants BUT you must never EVER change.  Win or lose, you stick with your team.  That is the fun part of being a support of a team.  So...et tu brute to your father and support the Pensioners.  Oh well.  To be honest, the tour was amazing, seeing all of those trophies was cool, and to imagine yourself entering the pitch to a capacity crowd...stupendous.

removing your soul and making your dad sad is also in that direction

hate to say it, the EPL tropies only make up a small section of the total trophies won by Chelsea

One day.  It won't be part of a tour...

From there we headed to Buckingham Palace.  For Ashram's sake, much of our London tours have covered places that Paddington bear has gone to in his stories.  Ashram loves those stories.  I had suggested to Ashram we can recreate one of the stories when Paddington visited the palace.  He loved it.  To see the spacious palace grounds, with the guards in their Busbee hats standing at attention.  Grins of amazement.  Of course, now he wants a Paddington bear with a Busbee hat.

For lunch, lucks side was with us as we met with Molly (Drew's sister) and her husband Rudy.  They've been living in London for several years now and it was nice to see people we've known for so long.  We all met at Trafalgar Square and grabbed lunch at Poppy's, a well known fish and chips place.  Fish and chips may sound cliche, however, its amazing.  A good chippy, I mean good chippy is a true feast.  Malt vinager and mushy peas.  Did I mention a nice copper-red ale to wash it all down?  If there is a God, he eats fish and chips.

The stopover has been great.  Friends, family, football, and the Queen Mum.  Hard to believe that tomorrow night I sleep in my own bed for the first time in six months.  My mind has yet to grasp...