Wednesday, December 21, 1988

London, "Chess," and Terror in the Air ...

Today started out to be a fabulous day, but it ended tragically for passengers aboard a plane bound from London to New York.

I woke up later than I expected, and since J.P. stayed in Brighton last night, Viv and I decided to go into London on our own today. Sid travelled with us on the train for part of the journey. After arriving at Victoria Station and finding a bank, we went to Buckingham Palace, because Viv had never seen it, and I've never seen it when there wasn't a huge crowd surrounding it. Since it was not near the time for the Changing of the Guard, we got a pretty good look at the palace.

It was after 1 p.m. when we got back on the Tube bound for the Tower of London. We spent about two hours there, taking the guided tour and hearing all of the fascinating stories about the torture, imprisonment and execution that go along with the Tower. It was quite interesting, and I wished we had more time to spend there to explore everything in greater detail. We did manage to see the Crown Jewels, and there was no queue, which was a pleasant surprise, since its not unusual to have to stand in line for a considerable amount of time to see the jewels.

It was getting dark, and we were getting hungry. Plus, we were hoping to get tickets to see the musical "Chess," a show I have wanted to see for a long time. So shortly before 4 p.m. we left the Tower and headed to Leicester Square, where after another stop at the bank, we went to a kiosk and purchased tickets for "Chess" - at half price, no less!

So it was £22 for Viv and I, total, in row AA... wow! Now at first, I figured that "AA" meant we were in the first row after "Z" (zed). So I was fully prepared to watch the show from the 27th row.

There was still time before the show started, so we went to eat a delicious Mexican meal at Chi Chi's. It was Viv's first Mexican dinner, actually, which was a bit surprising to me, considering Spanish is part of her major. But I guess Spain and Mexico are two very different things. She enjoyed the meal.

Then we walked around Leicester Square a bit more, taking in the sights and sounds of London: the street bums, the buskers, the mimes, and the shops. After walking through the city for awhile, we returned to the theater at around 6.40, 50 minutes before the show started. We went in to the bar, had some drinks, and then took our seats. Turns out, I was wrong about "AA" being the 27th row.

They were front row seats. FRONT ROW! That was an awesome revelation. I thought it was a fantastic show. I love the music, the story is intriguing, and the acting was superb. In one of the scenes the actors threw out these foam "Chess" frisbees, and I managed to grab one of them. I'm not sure Viv enjoyed the show quite as much as I did, but she said she liked it.

When the show was over, we hopped back on the Tube to Victoria Station, and then caught the train back to Longfield.

Pan Am Flight 103 Disaster

Tired and happy from our day's activity, we relaxed on the train ride back to Sid's house. But as we were riding, we learned some very distressing news from another passenger who was reading a late edition of the newspaper. Earlier this evening there was a plane crash in Scotland. We took a look at the newspaper, and there weren't too many details as of yet.

It was a Pan Am 747 jet that left Heathrow, heading to JFK airport in New York. It apparently exploded in the air and when it came down it devastated part of Lockerbie, a small Scottish town.

My first thought was worry for Doug. But after thinking it through, I realized that Doug couldn't have possibly been on that plane, since he flew out two days ago. Whew, and thank God he did!

But then, after we got off the train and walked back to Sid's house, we were reminded that our friend Bits was flying over to America today with her family, and we had no idea what flight they were taking. Hopefully we'll find out soon if she's OK. This is just awful.

Yet another British disaster before Christmas. Coincidentally, we were traveling near the site of last week's Clapham Junction train crash when we learned about the plane crash. Flight 103 left Heathrow at 6.25 p.m., and the disaster happened about a half hour later... right about the time Viv and I were waiting for "Chess" to begin.

I'm starting to wonder if this is a safe place to be right now.

Tuesday, December 20, 1988

Today is Brighton Day! ...

I woke up early again, and Viv, J.P. and I prepared for our trip to Brighton on the southern coast. We planned to meet up with Neil for the trip, but Sid decided not to go along, and Bits couldn't join us, as she and her family are preparing to fly to America tomorrow for their Christmas holiday. Viv initially wasn't sure if she wanted to go, but decided in the end that she would join us.

We caught the train from Longfield to Victoria Station in London with just a few seconds to spare, then we found where the train to Brighton was (leaving in one minute), and sprinted over to the terminal, just making it in time. We weren't sure if Viv's train ticket would be valid (she has a CapitalCard), but no one checked our tickets so we had no problems on the ride south to Brighton.

Once we arrived there, Viv and I set off to find a bank, while J.P. waited at the train station for Neil to arrive. By the time Viv and I got back to the station, Neil was there, so the four of us walked to a deli and had good and reasonably priced sandwiches for lunch.

Following that we walked to the beach, which was beautiful... and different. Instead of sand, it was actually a pebble beach, with two piers - one defunct and one in operation. We walked along the beach until we reached the new pier, then walked along the pier until we reached the end. On the pier there were amusements, as well as a pub named Horatio's, so we went inside. There was a fabulous jazz combo playing in the pub... just two guys, a guitarist and a sax player. They were excellent, so we sat and listened to them perform for awhile. After a game of pool (J.P. beat Neil), we left the pier, but not before taking a few more photos. Got a lot of excellent photos today. It was a cold but lovely day to be outside.

We walked around the shops for awhile, then J.P. and Neil decided to head back to the pub while Viv and I went back to the shoreline. We sat along the beach until it got too windy, then went back into town for a meal. We ate at Burger King... Viv's first time. After eating we went back to the beach a third time, though by now it was quite dark, and unfortunately the lighting was not very impressive.

We decided to stop in a coffee shop to warm up with a hot cup of cocoa, then walked back to the station, stopping to buy postcards along the way. We saw Neil and J.P., but they had met up with a friend of Neil's and decided they were going to stick around in Brighton tonight.

So Viv and I left on the 5.55 train (almost the "5.15," as referenced in The Who's "Quadrophenia" song, but not quite.)

Along the way home, we hit some trouble.

While we were on the train, the conductor came through to check tickets, and when he spotted Viv's ticket, he informed us that it was improper, and then charged her £14.63, full fare plus return for the journey. He was pretty much a heartless bastard about the whole thing. It put a damper on our trip for awhile, but soon everything returned to normal ass memories of our day hopefully made the unexpected charge worthwhile.

We finally arrived in Longfield shortly after 8 p.m., and then walked back to Sid's house. That evening the three of us sat and talked, watched "Rocky," ate some food, and then watched an old thriller called "The Body Snatcher."

This was definitely a worthwhile day. I'm so glad we decided to go to Brighton, and I'm glad Viv decided to go along.

Pictures: #1: Neil and J.P. walk along the pebble beach near the new pier. #2: Neil and Viv on the beach. #3: "Oh, I thought you meant 'To keep.'" #4. The sun sets on daylight in Brighton.

Monday, December 19, 1988

Farewell Douglas ...

Well, we woke up early today in order to bid Doug a fond farewell, as well as spend the day in London. It's sad to see him go after only 3 months here, especially because he was so looking forward to spending the year in England. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the experience he was expecting. He'll be missed.

Well, for J.P. and I, today was an experience we will not soon forget, and gave us a harsh lesson in some of the challenges of international travel.

Before leaving Sid's house, I gave Doug his "going away/Christmas" present (a Dr. Who Crossword Puzzle Book, which'll give him something to do on the plane.) Mrs. Bajaria was driving Doug to the airport, and since we couldn't all fit in the car, J.P., Bits and I took the train to Heathrow Airport while Sid, Viv, Doug and Doug's stuff took the car. Soon after they left, J.P., Bits and I took the walk down to the train station, but when we finally got there we had just missed the 9.50 a.m. train, so we had to wait for the 10.18. So that put us back nearly a half an hour right off the bat.

Well, we caught that train and headed into London, travelling past Clapham Junction along the way (it was one week ago today, a little bit earlier in the day, when the Clapham Train Disaster occurred). We finally arrived at Victoria Station at around 10.45 a.m. There we had a runaround trying to get a travel card. We started at a booth that told us we could go upstairs and get one with our BritRail passes. But then we went upstairs and they said that we couldn't get one to ride the Underground trains. So we went back downstairs, having wasted 15 more minutes on this unsuccessful venture, eventually buying a ticket from the first booth we visited.

Finally caught the Tube to Heathrow shortly after 11 a.m., now with little chance of catching Doug before his plane left... but still hopeful we could catch his entourage there. We finally arrived at Terminal 4 at 12.05 p.m., just as Doug's plane was leaving... and we saw no sign of the others in our group, either.

Frustrated, we finally left the terminal, realizing that we had wasted most of our day (since it starts getting dark now at about 3 p.m. We caught the Tube back to London, arriving at 1.15 p.m. to start our travels and try to make the most of our afternoon.

Unfortunately, neither of us had Sid's phone number, so we had to call Information (twice, because we were unable to write down the number the first time we called, and by the time we could, we didn't remember what the number was.) After we finally got through and talked to the gang, explaining what had happened, we felt like an enormous load was lifted off of us. So we enjoyed some shopping in stores such as Hamley's, the world's largest toy store; and Virgin Records... totally revamped from when I was there a year and a half ago with my high school class, and amazing. J.P. called it the most incredible retail store he had ever been in. I bought an Elvis Costello discography book. We also went into HMV, as well as a little record shop where I bought a nice Genesis poster.

J.P., Bits and I stopped at McDonald's for dinner at 6 p.m., then caught the train back to Sid's house around 7 p.m. Back at Sid's, reunited with the gang, we relaxed and watched two movies on TV, "The Blues Brothers" and "12 Angry Men." During that time, J.P. and I ate another dinner, this one a curry and beef dinner prepared by Sid's mom that was spicy and good.

Went to bed a bit late, but a bit wiser. A day that started out to be a huge disappointment ended up OK. Still, I would've liked to have been able to say one last goodbye to Doug before he got on that plane and headed back to the States.

Sunday, December 18, 1988

From Liverpool to London ...

Woke up for my last day at the Morrison's to prepare for my journey down to London via BritRail I started using my BritRail Pass (pictured below), which gives me carte blanche to travel anywhere in Britain. So who knows where that will take me? Makes one feel powerful!

Dr. Morrison drove me into Chester, where I caught a bus to Crowe, which was a replacement for the train I planned to catch. At Crow I caught a train straight to London, no changes, and arrived a 3.00 p.m. I first walked out of Euston Station looking for a bank, but failed in that quest, so I hopped on the Tube (pictured above) and headed to Leicester Square, where I met up with Viv, Doug, J.P., Bits and Sid at 3.45 p.m. We later hooked up with Neil and began to traverse London.

Bit of excitement to start off this journey, however. There was a fire in one of the shops, where a fire bomb went off. J.P., Viv, Doug, Sid and Bits were all in the building at the time the fire started and had to be evacuated. It was set off by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a fanatical group of militant animal lovers that have already set numerous other fires in similar fashion, inlcuding one in Harrod's department store. What a bunch of nuts. Makes me want to go out and buy a fur coat and eat an oversized cheeseburger with a side order of another cheeseburger. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but coming that close to a terrorist attack was a bit spooky.

So after walking around and eating at Pizzaland, Viv and I walked down to Picadilly Circus and back, eventually meeting up with the rest of the group in front of the Odeon Theatre to watch "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Our seats were kind of lousy, and the theater was packed. But it was an incredible sound experience and well worth the bad seats. One of the neatest things about this historic theater is that it featured an organ player up front, who played music while the audience found their seats. Then, before the movie began, the organ decended into the floor to give a clear view of the movie screen. Of course, it was a fabulous movie.

Following that, we went back to Euston Station, where I picked up my bag, and we headed to Sid's house in Longfield, County of Kent. After a cramped but amusing car ride from the station to Sid's house, we watched "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on TV, something very unusual for an American such as myself, as it is pretty much exclusively shown in theaters at midnight (where I have participated in the festivities many times back home.) Watching it on TV without all of the audience participation, not quite as fun.

During the movie, my friend Greg back in Camp Hill called me, so it was great to talk to him again for awhile. He told me that both the Eagles and the Seahawks made the playoffs, which was cool news. Finished watching TV, and then we all skipped off to bed... Doug's final night in England.

Oh, and it was J.P.'s 21st birthday today.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Mistletoe & Wine" - Cliff Richard
  
• Numer One Song in America This Week: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" - Poison
  

Saturday, December 17, 1988

Christmastime in Chester ...

Started the day off with another lie-in. Got up at noon, and at 1.30 p.m., Dr. Morrison drove me into Neston to meet with Dave and take the bus to Chester. It was quite crowded, being a Saturday so close to Christmas, but interesting nonetheless.

This time I remembered my camera and took some pictures, but it got dark quite early (only four days until the shortest day of the year!), so a lof of the pictures might not come out.

Got some Christmas shopping done as well. I bought Viv's Christmas gift (which I will not release at this time, in case wandering eyes happen upon this document before Dec. 25.) I bought a going away/Christmas gift for Doug, and one for the Morrison's (a box of Chocolate Brazil Nuts.) For myself I bought the Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer" remix maxi-single, which I haven't seen anywhere else. We also at lunch at McDonald's.

Came back home on the bus, then walked a bit to get back to the Morrison's house, where I was almost immediately graced with a phone call from, Duncan, one of Glen's friends, who asked if I would be interested in going to a pub with him, Steward and Sean. I did join them after eating dinner and wrapping my gifts, but I told them that I had to be back earlier than they were originally planning in order to make a few phone calls.

I had a good time out at the pub with those guys, and when I returned I discussed my rail plan with Dr. Morrison, as I was leaving for London tomorrow. Then I called Sid, where I was going to be staying while in London, and let her know my plans for arriving tomorrow. J.P., Doug and Viv were already at Sid's house, so I had a chance to talk to them as well. We worked out a plan that they would meet me in Leicester Square at 3.45 p.m. I hope I make it in time, because we're going to see "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" at the Odeon Theatre in Leicester Square.

Next I called my parents back in Camp Hill tell them that I was in Liverpool and that everything was fine. After a short break, I decided to surprise my friend Greg Swartz and give him a call and see how he was doing. Of course with Greg it's always a good conversation, and he updated me on what was going on at Camp Hill High School, how he made the Distinguished Honor Roll, his obsession with Europe, politics (of course) and how he organized and spoke at a Dan Quayle rally in Harrisburg for the election, the Clapham Junction train crash, and, of course, about the little man with the thin mustache who has secretly taken over the United States.

Following that I watched a little more telly and relaxed. I then joined Fiona and a friend of hers in a game of Dingbats, to which, after a stalemate, no one won.

Looking forward to heading down to London and seeing Viv and my friends again tomorrow. Should be fun!

Friday, December 16, 1988

A Quiet Day in Neston ...

Today is Beethoven's Birthday, as Schroeder from Peanuts has taught me. Had a lie-in until about 11.30 a.m., when I awoke just in time to prepare to head down to the Wheatsheaf pub for lunch, where Dave was working. Fiona, Zoe and I went, and sat at the bar talking with Dave for awhile. Fiona and Zoe left, but I remained to have some gammon. It was infinitely better than the gammon they serve back at Humberside College.

Afterwards, I came back to the Morrison's house for a bit until Dave stopped by after work. We walked to his house to wait for Fiona, and I got a chance to meet Dave's mother and grandmother. When Fiona arrived we went out and got some Chinese take-away and frantically rushed back to the Morrison's house so that Fiona and Dave could watch the Australian soap opera "Neighbours." I have yet to see two people more engrossed in that crappy show than those two! Granted, it's still better than "East Enders," a dismal soap opera. Suddenly American soap operas don't seem quite so bad by comparison.

Following that we watched the news, then Dave and I searched through Dr. Morrison's video tapes in search of his copy of Woody Allen's "Play It Again, Sam." We couldn't find it, so we settled on "Octopussy." Can't go wrong with a good ol' Bond flick.

Later, when Dr. Morrison arrived home, we all watched an excellent movie called "Someone to Watch Over Me," starring Tom Berenger. It bore some similarities to "Fatal Attraction," but I liked "Someone" better.

Following that, Dave and I played a game of Trivial Pursuit (the British edition), which I won, despite my disadvantage of not being British. Finally got to bed after reading some more of the book "Ikon."

Thursday, December 15, 1988

Back to Liverpool ...

I woke up to have breakfast with Viv, and then at 9:00 a.m., I walked to the Inglemire campus to pick up my "Earnest" paper. I received a lousy 55! I think that will probably transfer to a "B" in our system, but I'm still disappointed because I thought I did a pretty good job on that paper!

Anyway, I took a shower and then finished packing, getting ready for 26 days away from Hull, traveling to various points in Britain. To start, I'm heading back to Liverpool to spend some time with my exchange family, the Morrisons. After lunch with Viv I went back to my room and by 1 p.m. I was finished packing, so we waited together for Dr. Morrison to arrive to pick me up. I will see her a few days from now when we meet up in London.

Before he arrived we had one last mail call, and I got a nice package from Grandma and Grandpa Reitz. I've received a number of cards and some cash gifts from relatives for Christmas, and that will certainly come in handy!

Dr. Morrison came a little after 2 p.m., and before we left I showed him some of my photos and a few of The Snappers before we bid farewell to The Grange Halls. We stopped at the bank so I could deposit my checks into my account, and then Dr. Morrison showed me where his son Glen's flat from last year was located. Then we took off for the "cross country trip" from Hull back to his home in Neston, south of Liverpool.

This was actually the first time I had been in a car since October (I'm pretty sure I've never gone two months without being in a car before!), so it actually felt a little bit odd (driving on the left side of the road notwithstanding.) We stopped at a Happy Eater restaurant along the motorway for coffee and sandwiches in preparation for the journey to Liverpool.

We arrived at Dr. Morrison's house at 7 o'clock, and at 7.30 we left to visit Mike Unger, a friend of Dr. Morrison's. He's a very interesting fellow, and the editor of the Manchester Evening News. Also, he knows Michael Crawford (of "Phantom of the Opera" fame), and his cousin is Jim Unger, the cartoonist who draws the comic strip "Herman." Since we talked about my interest in newspapers, he offered to take me on a tour of his newspaper, and so we scheduled to meet at his office on January 4th at 2 p.m. That should be interesting and fun! He also gave me a "Guardian" 1989 diary, which I will put to good use.

Following that visit, we went for a delicious Mexican meal at The Hacienda. Best meal I've had in awhile. Following that we stopped at the home of some other friends of Dr. Morrison's (their name escapes me, but they were a nice older couple.) We talked about a lot of things, including someone they know that could get me inside Parliament for a rare peek at the British political system. That would be awesome!

We left there and came home to greet Fiona, and later her boyfriend Dave, who stopped by a bit later. After talking for awhile, I went to my room, where I started reading this bizarre book Dr. Morrison recommended called "Ikon," by Graham Masterton. Then I went to sleep.

Pictured: Dr. Ian Morrison, his daughter Fiona, and Rick outside Dr. Morrison's home in Neston.