Tubes and Towers and Treasures

One thing I've learned from this trip is not to push myself too hard in the service of seeing something instead of taking a necessary rest. I have to be on a train tomorrow and exhausting myself makes me irritable and unpleasant, and no one wants that, least of all me. As a result I missed the National Gallery today, which is a loss, but one I'm willing to take in service of not feeling like a zombie tomorrow.

I did see the British National Museum today. One the one hand it was incredible to see such a huge collection of antiquities from around the world. On the other it was sort of like Britain bragging about all the cool shit they stole when they were overseas. I did enjoy the Roman treasure hoards hidden under English farmhouses and being able to see the Rosetta Stone up close. Also I have no idea how anybody read cuneiform -- it takes a sharper eye than mine that's for sure.

Also, I did make it out to the Tower of London. Had to take the tube which is not exactly the easy-to-use ultra-convenience pro-subway Torontonians make it out to be. Unlike the museum, which was free, the Tower cost about 28 pounds to enter. The group was fairly entertaining however and I got to see the crown jewels up close. My uber driver from the day before was somewhat dubious they were the real thing and not replicas but the security was tight enough that it seemed believable. Plus they looked plenty shiny to me.

And that ends my British adventure for the most part. France tomorrow, if they let me in, and then onward to Italy. London was a very nice city, an if I had a decent reason to come back I think I would. Still, the mark England's made on Canada is pretty obvious as it didn't feel foreign at all.

Tomorrow I should be spending the morning on a very fast train.

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Florida in the Key of West

Yesterday was not a pleasant day. 10 hours of driving only to end up at the Best Western in Jacksonville, just so I could stand around waiting for my laundry to finish because the hotel in Key West that I'm staying in for 4 nights had no laundry mentioned on their website. So it's 10:30 at night and I'm sweating on the second floor between the world's loudest dryer and the local ice machine for an hour. And that's following 30 minutes of washing. I even had to hang dry some stuff because even after an hour it still wasn't dry yet. It's times like that that make me question whether or not this trip was even a good idea. It usually happens in the waking moments before sleep when I'm lying in my rented bed in the middle of a town where I know no one. Why am I here? Am I learning anything? Is this just a giant waste of time and money? And then there's times like the Wendy's. I got in too late in Jacksonville and the hotel was far enough ...

A long time coming but I'm finally here

So I made it to New York. That's the long story made short. Here's the story at longer length: I got out of the house and on the road about an hour later than I expected to, but judging by all the maps I was looking at I would still be able to make it within a reasonable amount of time. The thing about trips though is you always forget something. I knew that once it was too late I would realize I forgot something that I absolutely needed. That's just the way it goes. I was dreading the border most of all, it would have really sucked to have to go through a hassle just cause some border guard is having a bad day. As I was approaching the Queenston/Lewiston crossing I picked a spot with two cars in front of me. The first car got the point. As in please park over there sir so we can ransack your car . The second car also got the point, and now I'm thinking is this the designated point guy for the day?! Am I gonna cavity-searched cause it was his turn to search everybody? ...

Walkin' in Memphis, and boy are my feet tired!

The trip through Tennessee, incidentally, was beautiful. Hilly, with roundabouts and full forests. Fun to drive. I tried to take some pictures with my phone, but they all came out pretty assy. I arrived at Memphis at around 4:20 which I later discovered was 3:20. Ah time zones. Looking for a place to eat I headed south down the road to what I hoped would be a nicer area since my hotel room gives me a beautiful view of the freeway. Walking through Memphis I got the impression that this is a city that's either on the verge of a fall or the verge of a comeback. At first I thought it was the former, though now I'm leaning towards the latter. There's a lot of nice things around, decent restaurants, nice views, ok shopping... but for every location with activity there seems at least one other that's boarded up with big For Lease notices stickered to the window. The other thing I noticed as I was walking was that nobody else was. Nobody. The city was dead to walking traffic. P...

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