This is my seventh trip to Great Britain, and it's my sixth trip here since 1996. I have certain habits when I get to London. I usually head to WH Smith and buy a copy of The Guardian, Time Out London, and the Gay Times. However, this time, I am dead tired and I have just missed the bus to Chiswell Green. I decided instead to buy some good, honest British chocolate (no wax!) and a BT card for five pounds. Good thing I went to Ruesch last week to buy $200 worth of British pounds.
I love trains, and getting to Radlett to my cousins' house involves
three trains. It's hideously expensive (more than £16) compared to the bus
at £4.10. But I love the trains. An express train to London's Paddington
Station takes 15 minutes and costs about £12 or more, and then a tube to
Farringdon, and then a Thameslink train to Radlett.
For once, I take the local train to Radlett, instead of wildly jumping onto the first train that comes, which is usually the "fast train" (express) to St. Albans. Every year when I am delayed my cousin B says, "You went to St. Alban's, didn't you!?" Not this time.
So, I get to Radlett and walk the half mile or so it takes to get to B's house. He meets me on the Watling road, built originally by the Romans--it goes all the way to Scotland. B and B make me a little lunch. It's actually very warm today, and I go take a shower, only to discover that instead of waking me up, I become so relaxed I fall asleep. I mean to go to London, to visit cousin N, but instead, I am inconsolably asleep. B tries to wake me but I resist. He calls N with progress reports every hour.
When I finally wake up, it's too late to do anything. N's children are asleep, and it's supper time. B and B get fish and chips locally. This is something only done well in Britain, and I love it. A nice piece of cod and a lot of vinegar and brown sauce (a tamarind/vinegar/fruit concoction, lovely). I loved brown sauce so much I wound up buying some at Myers of Keswick on Hudson Street in New York, but I have nothing to put it on!
And that was my first day of my British vacation. Not much, but I took trains, bought chocolate, and slept for hours. Pretty smashing, if you ask me.
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