day trip

[ed. note: you can click on photo to launch new window with full size image.]

last saturday i took the bus into london and met up with my long-time friend steve ginsberg and his wife ingrid. it was very interesting since they sort of left it to me to determine how, when, where we would meet up. so, where should you meet
someone in a foreign city which neither party knows that well? in the easiest to find, most popular, and most centrally located spot: in london, i figured that'd be trafalgar square. (yes, there are still pigeons there). i knew they could look on any map and find it, or worst case, ask most anyone and get decent directions. and i knew they could find St Martin in the Fields church from there, so i directed them to meet me on that church's steps.


well, sure enough, i was totally on time, and they were late. yes! fine by me, as it was a stunning late summer afternoon; so i snapped away at the scene and passersby while i waited...

god speaking to trafalgar square


st martin in the fields church, london

i took them to the only pub i've been to in that area - which fortunately i really like - the sherlock holmes pub, a classic english pub, with all sorts of s.holmes related memorabilia affixed to the dark-paneled walls. it has that feeling, as steve joked, where you could probably walk into the back room and find sir arthur conan doyle smoking opium. i made the mistake of not checking the map (though i'd brought 2!) when we set off to find the pub, so what should have been a 6 minute jaunt around the corner became a 40 minute circle through the theater district, squeezing through the primped and powdered crowds at charing cross. (london's weird: it seems to have like 4 theater districts.)

fortunately steve and ingrid were very easy going about it. having just spent a week in antwerp and amsterdam, they were just glad to be able to read the street signs! (i could relate: during my 2 days in amsterdam last easter, i must have gotten lost at least a dozen times.) they live in san francisco, and i've seen them approximately once in the last 10 years. but i grew up with steve, so it was really great to catch up, break bread, share laughs, and swap stories.

for example, he told how he'd recently started surfing on a trip to san diego, and had been bitten by a stingray just a few weeks before their vacation... and how 3 shots of morphine had hardly dulled his pain at all! both he and ingrid described how the blood was spurting out of his ankle just like in a monty python movie. apparently, when you're getting out to where you're going to hop on your board, you're supposed to shuffle your feet along the bottom through the sand, which scatters all the sting rays. steve didn't shuffle.

after a couple warm, flat pints of bitter (ingrid opted for guinness), we headed to dinner. it being london, we had agreed to go for indian. i had duly checked my guide books (Lonely Planet/London, and Zagats/London 2005) on the bus ride into town, and both had sung the praises of Cafe Spice Namaste, located in a big, old, converted library, just a couple blocks west of the Tower of London (Tower Hill tube stop). though a little pricey ($20-28 entrees), the food was delicious and smartly presented, the service attentive and professional, and the atmosphere clean and upscale without being stilted -- walls painted in rich, cheerful tones, white tablecloths, the waiter gliding by after each course to sweep the crumbs away. indeed, there was an overall sense of meticulousness about the place. (yes: clean loo too.)

it is one of those restaurants where if i am in the neighborhood again i would certainly revisit, but given that there are SO many restaurants in london to try, i'll probably not be back soon.

nicely, steve and ingrid treated!

it was nearly 11 by the time we walked out of there, so too late to try to make it to a pub for a nightcap. it was such a clear and beautiful evening, we strolled over the impressive Tower Bridge and then east along the south bank, where we had spectacular views of the Bridge and of the Tower of London itself (which for the life of me i cannot figure out why they call it a tower, since it is the shortest building around for miles. i guess it was considered tall when it was build some 1000 years ago!).

tower bridge