London, England - Jan 2005

Whenever I arrive to London I get a little nostalgic, as it was my home away from home in 2004. I love the Georgian white stone buildings, “look left” and “look right” signs, the cute taxi cabs, and the tube. It’s not the tube itself that I love, because it’s quite crowded and hotter than hell, even in the winter. It’s the people on it – how they won’t look at one another if at all possible, and how you can always find “The Daily Mail” somewhere on the floor. It’s the advertisements all around, that let you know what big thing is happening in London at the time, and the quirky messaging inside the tube.

I like to walk around St James Park, where you get to pass all the tourists at Buckingham Palace, and then all the ducks and geese that are hanging out by the lake. Our hotel is only a block or two away from the park, and before crossing the street, I saw cameramen, traffic warden, and all these men in coats and their boxers. Somewhat an odd combination, especially for the British. So I asked one of the yellow-vested traffic wardens, “Excuse me sir, but can you tell me why everyone is in their underpants?” in my best neutral accent. I mean, I even said “underpants” so he wouldn’t look weird at me if I said “boxers”. He replied saying that it was an “advert” for Wal-Mart…and I apologized to him for having a Wal-Mart in London.

Whilst in the park, I noticed yet more cameramen. How is this possible that within only a half a mile I see this many cameramen? There was this lady in a full suit, wearing white heels and a purse, walking three small dogs. My boss recognized the dogs, oddly enough, as the Queen’s dogs. Amazing. This woman is famous and on tv about walking some pooches around the park, and she still goes out in heels and a purse, as if she’s going out on a hot date. Now that’s the life. I need to change my career.

On Saturday, we decide to go to Cambridge. The town itself is rather small, and you can get to know the main downtown area within a few hours. Everyone talks about Cambridge University as if it’s just one big college, but apparently there are about 80 different colleges in Cambridge, and they all have this magnificent architecture, and look like mini cathedrals to me. Speaking of cathedrals, one of the biggest is King’s Chapel. When you enter the chapel, the first thing you notice is when you look up: the ceiling reaches higher than any other cathedral I have visited, and has a slightly gothic style to it. All of the symbols in the architecture relate to the monarchy for which it was built. It made me think of how when people get married, they want the style of their house to reflect them. With King’s Chapel, all of the emblems symbolized the monarchies of the bride and groom.