Sunday, April 9, 1989

Piccadilly at 3 a.m. (The Journey from Madrid to Hull, Part Two) ...

The train from Longfield to London rolled into Victoria Station at about midnight. However, I told the ticket agent on the train that I had boarded the train at a different station, so I ended up paying about half as much as I should have for the train ride to London. That was necessary, as I now realized that I needed to account for every pence that I had until I returned to Hull tomorrow evening.

At 1.30 a.m. in Victoria Station, after a coffee, rest, and a repacking of my bag into a locker so that I wouldn't have to carry it around all night, I made a decision regarding my fate for this evening. Rather than just sit at the station all night, doggone it, I was going to explore this city and try to salvage potential misery into fortune as best I could.

So I began my trek walking down Buckingham Palace Road to go - where else? - to visit the Queen and the Royal Family. Well they were tired and not accepting foreign visitors at this late hour, so I didn't stick around too long. I walked from the palace down Birdcage Walk on the St. James' Park side, toward Parliament Square to say hello to Mrs. Thatcher.

In the square were your typical landmarks... Big Ben, Parliament. Next I continued down Whitehall past 10 Downing Street, which was heavily guarded. So I assumed there would be no lodging for a wayfaring American here, either.

I continued to walk down Whitehall to The Mall, which brought me back to St. James' Park again. At this point I decided to take a break, sat at a park bench, popped a cassette tape of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Trilogy" album and listened to that here until it was done. I was tired at that point, but I got up and continued to walk, because that was the best way to keep warm, and by now it was quite cold outside. I headed back past Buckingham Palace and along Green Park to the Wellington Arch.

Here, I got a bit confused, and instead of going down Piccadilly, I ended up walking down Park Lane and through Mayfair... indeed, the wealthiest neighborhood in London, and I could clearly see why with the posh homes here. I was feeling rather safe in this neighborhood, though I must admit that throughout the night, I never felt threatened or unsafe... try doing this in New York City!)

I passed the Roosevelt Monument and soon found my way back to Piccadilly, which brought me shortly thereafter to Piccadilly Circus, where even though it was after 3 a.m., it was quite crowded here. I found myself wandering the streets in this vicinity, walking nostagically passed the Prince Edward Theatre, where Viv and I saw the musical "Chess" last December... and in the nick of time, too. It turned out that the cast performed its final show at the Prince Edward this very evening.

I then decided to make my way back to Piccadilly Circus and grab a donut and some coffee at the Dunkin Donuts there. I warmed myself up a bit here in the eatery, and even chatted a bit with the security guard there, named Dave. I parlayed my saga to him, and he offered to try and find me a place to crash for the rest of the evening after he went off duty at 5 a.m., if I wished, rather than continue wandering around the city. I told him I'd think about it and possibly come back at that time.

I also chatted with a nice fellow from Belgium, who only spoke a little English and was sitting in the booth seat across from me at the Dunkin Donuts. Despite the language difficulties, we had a nice conversation about world travel, before I set off once again on my own late night travels.

Continued walking a ways down Piccadilly, passing several airline offices (Zimbabwe Air, Aeroflot, Iran Air (picture of Khomeni inside), Libyian Arab Airlines (portrait of Khadafi inside), just to name a few that you don't often see in America.

I returned to the Dunkin Donuts at Piccadilly at 5 a.m. to see if Dave was serious about his offer; however I couldn't find him anywhere. So I continued my explorations up Regents Street, where I passed Hamley's toy store and a Lloyd's Bank that had its burglar alarm going off. Well that was splendid timing. I looked at the building with interest and curiosity, and then saw across the road a female cop, who summoned me to come over to her.

The cop asked me a few questions about where I was going and other things, and then said she was just concerned because I looked confused and she was trying to help me out. Not confused, just curious about the blaring alarm, which didn't seem to bother her much. She was very nice and we talked for a minute as I briefly explained my situation, before I continued my streetwalking past the BBC building, and up Portland Place to Regent's Park.

By now, it was starting to get lighter, and it was approaching 6 a.m. The park was closed, so I ventured down Marylbone Road, passing Madame Tussaud's, and then back down Baker Street. Still no sign of Sherlock Holmes' house at 221B. Made my way down Oxford Street, and now, on the brink of daybreak, I found myself in Hyde Park. They had a stack of wooden lawn chairs here, so I unfolded one and relaxed for awhile. Still a bit cold, so I didn't stay here very long.

Next I continued through the Serpentine to Hyde Park Corner. Next I passed by the Wellington Arch, Green Park, and marveled again at the numerous ducks and fowl congregated in St. James' Park (right). Amazing.

I took another stroll past Mrs. Thatcher's home, this time in the daylight, then finally made my way back to Victoria Station... stopping along the way at a small restaurant where I had a very nice English breakfast for only £2.65.

Next I decided to look for a grocery store to find some food that would get me through the return trip to Hull. I ended up walking down King's Road and through Chelsea (the place that Elvis Costello didn't want to go to...), as well as South Kensington, before finding a grocery store. Where do these people shop? I also walked past Harrod's along the way.

Well soon I found myself on Knightsbridge, which brought me back to Hyde Park Corner. Made my way down Grosvenor Place back to Victoria Station. This time I decided to stay close by, since it was finally getting close to the time when I could catch my bus. I went into a little shop and found a Spanish flag that I bought (something I couldn't find while I was in Spain. Odd.) Gathered my gear from the locker at Victoria Station, and I was at the bus station before 2, a half-hour before the bus left.

Finally, a chance for some extended rest!

But it was not to be. I took a few short naps along the way, and had a cup of chicken soup, which was nice. But I spent a good bit of the trip talking to the guy sitting next to me on the bus. Although I never got his name, I know his name must have been Bob. For some reason, he looked like a Bob to me. So he was Bob.

Well, the bus arrived in Hull a bit early (a little before 7 p.m.), and I caught a local bus (the fare had risen to 38p) back to The Grange. On the bus were Abbey and Cat, also returning to the Grange from their travels over Spring Break, so we chatted about where we had been until we arrived at our destination.

Boy, after all of that, I was glad to finally be back in my room! My only real meal of the day was that breakfast I had had back in London. Fortunately it was a filling as it was.

And then I saw Sid and J.P. when they arrived, a full day later than I had initially expected to see them. They were both relieved to see me, and then gave me a full account about what had happened.

It turned out that J.P. did come to the airport to meet me yesterday. Heathrow Airport, instead of Gatwick. The rest of the ordeal was simply us not crossing paths at the same time. Had I stayed at Sid's house, they did eventually return that evening.

It seemed like they were more worried about the situation than I was. At this point, with it all now in the past, I was OK with how things transpired. It turned out to be a much more interesting experience than I had anticipated.

Sid gave me back my bag-o-things that I gave her to watch while I was gone... and then J.P. hit bottom. We walked into his room and discovered that someone had broken into his first-floor room by smashing his window, then taking the stereo that was on the table next to his bed. Quite a bummer, especially since it wasn't insured. So the stereo that Doug bought, then J.P. bought from him, was now gone forever.

On the upside, I had a nice large stack of mail, including another package of Snappers from Millersville. So I reminisced with everyone, gave them some of the highlights from my month in Spain, then returned to my room.

Although you'd think I would've crashed at this point, I pulled out The Snappers and started reading them to get updated on news at Millersville. I finally fell asleep at about 2.30 a.m. - nearly 40 hours after I last had a night's sleep, crushing my old record of not sleeping, Camp Hill High School's "Wizard of Oz" cast party in 1986. Not exactly a record that I will be looking to try and break.

This has certainly been one of the most interesting days of my life, and quite an ending to one of the most interesting month's of my life.

Pictured top is a postcard that most accurately depicts the first half of this particular day!

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Like a Prayer" - Madonna
• Number One Song in America This Week: "The Look" - Roxette

Saturday, April 8, 1989

A Detour Through The Twilight Zone (The Journey from Madrid to Hull, Part One) ...

I didn't think I'd have a more bizarre traveling experience then the one I had when J.P. and I were trapped in Perth back on Dec. 30. I was wrong.

Oh, it started out fine... very sad, but fine. And then it got frustrating. Viv and I woke up a little before noon. Late, true, but long before everyone else in the flat. I packed my bags while Viv made us some food.

At a little before one, I said farewell to Liz (the only other person who woke up before I left). She was very sweet - gave me a hug and tearfully said "Aw, you're my friend, Rick." Very touching. Then Viv and I caught the Metro for my last trip. After that stop, we walked to the area where we caught the bus to the airport, and our timing was quite good.

We got off the bus, found my terminal, and checked in without any problems. I bought a newspaper and sat with Viv awhile, until the last moment when I couldn't stay there any longer.

Viv and I said our tearful goodbye. I hope to God she is able to come to America this summer.

That's when things started going a little... funny.

While in the terminal at Madrid Airport (right), waiting to take the same flight as me were most of the European Business Students (like Viv, only in reverse) from Spain where were actually heading back to Humberside College in Hull. What are the odds on that occurring?

Nothing too thrilling to report about the flight, though I should say something, considering how much I had to pay out of my budget for the trip. It was pleasant, and the food was pretty good as well.

My plan was to meet up with J.P. after our flight arrived at Gatwick Airport south of London. J.P. was staying with his girlfriend Sid in Kent, outside London, and I was going to be staying at her house overnight, since my bus ticket is for Sunday. I had sent J.P. a postcard with my flight time, number, terminal, so he knew where to meet me.

That was the plan, anyway.

Well I arrived at Gatwick (right) and checked through with no problems. However, no sign of J.P. No worries at this point, though. After awhile, I decided to grab the Gatwick Express train back up to Victoria Station. Once I arrived there, I struggled to put my bag into a locker there, and at that point called Sid's house. No one was in. Hmm, that's odd. But no worries, I can try again later.

I went and grabbed some dinner at the nearby McDonald's, then came back to the public phone booth and called Sid's house again. Still not in.

Then I made what turned out to be a mistake. I decided to take a chance and go out to Sid's house on my own. So I purchased a one-way ticket to Longfield, and took the train out with the hopes that they were just out for a little while, and that I would catch them by the time I got there.

So when I arrived at the stop after a 45-minute train ride, I made the walk to Sid's house (click on the map to see where her house is in relation to the train station). No luck. The house was dark, and no one was home. Still, it wasn't terribly late, so I decided to wait a little while to see if they came back home.

But after waiting around for awhile, it started to seem more and more likely like they weren't coming back. Perhaps they forgot, or perhaps J.P. never got the post card. So I had two choices, continue waiting and risk being stuck outside in the country all night, or catch the late train back to London and take my chances there, where I could at least go inside some places if it got too cold.

I wrote a note to J.P. and Sid telling them that I had been there, but that I decided to take the train back into London. So I trekked back to the station, where I waited just under an hour for the 11.18 train to London. During this time I was annoyed by three pestering kids hanging about, who fortunately left fairly soon after. There was one other girl there at the station who for some reason found it difficult to believe that I was telling her the truth that this train goes to London.

By now, as I rode on that train back to Victoria Station, I was starting to feel more and more like Griffin Dunne in "After Hours," wondering where Sid and J.P. were, and where exactly was I going to stay, and what I was going to eat, since I had very little money on me. As I thought more and more about my situation, I resigned myself to realizing that this was going to be a long, long night.

The saga continues tomorrow.

(Editor's note: This was the last time I saw Liz, although we did send letters periodically to one-another for a few years afterward. I have since lost contact with her. The same is true of all of the other students I knew and lived with while I stayed in Spain... except, of course,Viv.)

Saturday, October 8, 1988

A Lovely Day in London Town

We woke up around 8 a.m. in preparation for our day in London. By 8:45 a.m. we had begun our brisk walk to the Longfield train station, which took us about 25 minutes. From there, Doug and I caught the 9:45 a.m. train to Victoria Station, where we arrived at around 10:10 a.m.

Not long after that I had a bit of a stroll down memory lane. It was a little over a year ago when my high school sponsored a student trip to England, a trip that was all too short and definitely sparked my interest in wanting to come back and spend more time here. Doug and I walked past the King’s Arms… a pub where my friend Justin Tappan and I had our first pint in England; The Reuben’s Hotel, located across from Buckingham Palace, where we all stayed while in London; and then Buckingham Palace itself.

Doug and I timed it perfectly and we were able to catch the changing of the guard ceremony. Quite a spectacle to witness… lots and lots of people gathered around the giant fence at the palace to see the changeover. When that concluded we walked back toward Victoria Station, where we stopped to have a good ol’ American meal at Burger King. Had another flashback to my high school trip in April 1987, when we walked past the Scotch Steak House, where Mike Straub, Molly Sherman, Pete Farrell, Debbie Jackson and I ate our first meal. We also saw the video arcade that lured Josh Weinberger and I, keeping us from going to Harrod’s with the class. Ah, memories!

With a slight drizzle falling from the sky, Doug and I returned to Victoria Station, and with our capital cards (pictured, right) in hand (£2.50, and you can ride on any train or bus in London all day, which has already saved us a bundle), we headed into Camden Town, where there was a market and smaller shops that we wanted to check out.

That’s where I found a cassette tape of Prince’s rare, bootlegged unreleased "Black Album", which my friend Scott Reed had asked me to try and find for him. I was hoping to find it on vinyl, but just in case I don’t see it again, I bought it. Scott is a big Prince fan and has been unable to find it in the States. He’ll have to hide it well since his Mom disapproves of Prince and will confiscate it if discovered (she already swiped his Prince tapes… but he found those and gave them to me for safe keeping… which isn’t a bad deal for me!) Scott’s at Liberty University right now; but unfortunately for him, I don’t think Jerry Falwell thinks any more highly of Prince.

I also found a rare bootleg Genesis LP called “A Trick of the Tail, Outtakes,” but it was £10 and I couldn’t afford it, so I had to pass. Hopefully I’ll see it again soon.

While walking around this area, we were continually approached by foolish socialist students peddling copies of the Socialist Worker newspaper. It wasn’t long before we’d had enough of that annoyance, and we hopped back on the Tube to head to Pimlico, where we went into the Tate Gallery. It was a fabulous art gallery, which featured so many different artistic styles. The highpoint of this venture came when I found Andy Warhol’s famous “Marilyn Monroe” painting, of which I have a copy back home. It was quite large, actually.

Well, after leaving the Tate Gallery (and witnessing Doug tell the gathering pigeons outside to “Get a job!”), we walked along the Thames River in search of a phone to tell Sid that we were coming back to her house at around 8 p.m. However, when we finally found a phone box, we ended up waiting 10 minutes before leaving because there was a knobhead suffering from malignant plumber’s butt calling car dealers galore.

So we left and continued to walk along the Thames until we came upon Parliament and Big Ben. We took a few pictures here (including the picture of Doug in front of Big Ben, top), then went into the Underground where we finally found a phone to call Sid. However, she wasn’t in, so we left a message that we would call back later, and continued our walk along the Thames to Trafalgar Square. Once we got there, we attempted to find Hamley’s, the world’s largest toy store, on Regents Street. However, we never quite made it. We stopped at Garfunkel’s restaurant in Piccidilly Circus for dinner, and afterward decided to skip Hamley’s, skip London, and head back to Hull tonight instead of tomorrow, as originally planned. The meal at Garfunkel’s was exquisite, and I had chicken kiev and Doug had a kabob. Doug also treated for the meal, which was very kind. Doug, I’m starting to notice, also has a way of confusing and disorienting waitresses.

Anyway, we left for King’s Cross Station, where we called Sid to tell her that over dinner (which we ate at 5 p.m., or noon Millersville time – I wonder what they had for lunch??), we decided to go back to Hull, so not to expect us. We then caught a 6 p.m. train to Doncaster. When we got to Doncaster, we fortunately had a few minutes to spare, because our train to Hull was 10 minutes late. Had the train been on time, we would’ve missed it. Thank heavens for late trains!

We arrived in Hull at 9 p.m., a three-hour trip again, and took a bus back to The Grange halls… tired, broke and happy. Doug was in very good spirits today… best I’ve seen him since we arrived. I guess a little journey to London was all he needed to break out of his funk.

However, the night was still young.

After checking the mail and unpacking, we went to Kenny’s room to talk for awhile. Kenny is a nice guy from St. Andrews, Scotland, who has one of the double rooms in St. Hilda's with a guy named Sean.

Then I returned to my room for a bit, because I wanted to listen to the “Black Album.” It was weird, funky, dirty, evil, and very black. Scott will get thrown out of college for sure! After that, I popped in “Sign O the Times,” then fell asleep until about 11:15 p.m. I walked over to the TV room in St. Hilda’s where theywere watching “Monty Python's The Meaning of Life” – on regular TV, unedited. That was on until 1:30 a.m.. Afterward I talked to a few people in the hall, including J.P., who had had “a few” and was very surprised to see that Doug and I were back.

Then I went back to my room, popped in an Andreas Vollenweider tape (or "Andre Volkswagen," as Greg Swartz calls him) to mellow out to some New Age music, closed my eyes and went to sleep. It had, indeed, been a very fine day.

Friday, October 7, 1988

The Big London Tour Thing Begins

Karin’s birthday is today. I woke up with visions of London in my head. Doug came in to my room (yes, it turns out he had a good time at the party last night) and we got ready for our trip. Again, it was windy as we walked up to the Cottingham Road site to check with Dr. David Foster and see if our food checks were in, to cover the cost of our lunches (which Millersville University room & board covers, but Humberside does not). The checks were in, so we went to the bank for some money.

With £80, some change, and the weekend ahead of us, Doug and I departed for London. At the bus stop we met Sindy Bajaria, or Sid as she is usually called, took the bus into the Hull Train Station, and then caught the noon Intercity train to London. Thanks to the BritRail Youth Pass we picked up yesterday, thee ticket was £25.75 return, as opposed to £39.00 without the pass. It’s already paid for itself!

After a changeoff in Doncaster, we arrived at King’s Cross station, about three hours after leaving Hull. From there, Sid went to her home outside London, and Doug and I headed down to the Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus.

The big purchase of the day, and one that put a smile on Doug’s face, was tickets for the Duran Duran “Big Tour Thing” concert, scheduled for December 23 at Wembley Arena. (That’s his favorite band.) Tickets were £12.50 each. I also bought the Talking Heads album “More Songs About Buildings and Food” on cassette for £2.99.

Once we left Tower Records, we began to walk wherever around London, ending up on Oxford Street. After dining at a Wimpy’s, we went into HMV Records, where I purchased both albums by The Proclaimers on cassette – their new one, “Sunshine on Leith,” and their first album, “This Is the Story,” for £5.99 and £2.99. That’s one of the bands here that I’m really starting to like a lot. From there we continued to walk blindly, where we stumbled upon a Virgin Records Megastore, where I bought a cool Genesis book for £2.50.

At about 7 p.m. we decided to head to Sid’s house on the outskirts of London, where we were staying for the weekend. At Victoria Station we caught the 7:30 p.m. train (£3.20) bound for Longfield. Sid picked us up there and drove us back to her house, where we spent the evening watching the telly, eating rice, chicken & curry. The three of us talked for awhile, and at one point Sid asked Doug and I if we minded sleeping together. We had a good laugh at her odd wording.

Not long afterward we went to bed to get a good night’s sleep for our “big day” in London tomorrow. After talking to Doug about various topics, we finally fell asleep.