Back in California

So, despite the best efforts of London Transit (which shut down an important undeground lines without notice), the European Air Traffic Controllers (who routed a whole butt-load of flights through British airspace and delayed many flights out of London), and Iceland, which continues to spew it's supterranean ash into the stratosphere, I am back from London.

It was a great trip, and I learned a few things:

1- a. Despite my usual "go with the flow" attitude towards visiting a place, Kaylia's right, it helps to have some sort of a plan.
1- b. Kaylia's awesome on multiple continents.

2- a. British food is better than is generally claimed. Perhaps not fantastic, but certainly tasty enough.
2- b. Indian food in London is good, but not better than in, say, San Francisco or Los Angeles, contrary to what most people hold.
2- c. Contrary to what many Britons seem to think, mayonaise is not a major food group. It may be a major mucus group, but it is not a major food group.

3- The British Museum, London Museum, and London Museum of Natural History are fucking fantastic.

4- If there is actually interest in making it so, public transportation in a major city can be both more efficient than using a car and cheaper for the individual (a lesson alos learned in Tokyo) - now to convince the population of Los Angeles.

5- Just because you're British doesn't mean that you know what you're talking about.

6- Old architecture is especially photogenic.

7- Kaylia thinks that there is always room for tea...myself, I miss coffee, and I don't even drink much coffee.

8- The man who won't give out when there's trouble all about is, in fact, John Shaft, and not Gordon Brown.

9- British game shows seem to be simply weird Japanese game shows, but with white contestants and snarky narration.

10- Election politics is silly in Europe as well as in North America.

11- It is, apparently, illegal for English men and women to own suits that are not either black or navy blue.

12- If you live in a sunny beach town, taking a vacation in a rainy, grey city actually works out pretty well.

13- British English often sounds like baby talk to Americans ("telly", "loo", "poo" etc., and even place names like Picadilly and Waterloo), which makes me wonder what American English sounds like to the Brits.

And there you have it.