A few thoughts on London

It's always a bit disconcerting to be in a "foreign country" in which they speak your language. Friends who visit us in Canada have actually said, "it's almost like being in another country." Well, yes, it is... Jordan and I found ourselves in England today and yet were more than vaguely familiar with the language. All languages are not the same; here they actually speak English, and they have every right to claim it.

A few things here surprised me, such as:

1). Darts are a BIG deal here. Crowds go wild, announcers go nuts, the cameras follow the action (of the arm and the dart's path). It's so fun to watch. The NFL and NHL fans have nothing on these people. Seriously.

2). London is a waaaaaay bigger city to walk than Rome. We're exhausted, and I have blisters for the first time ever from walking on a vacation. Oh, and 'bandaids' are called "Plasters" here.

3). Big Ben is not that big in person. Neither is Buckingham Palace. But, I think we all felt the same way when we first saw the White House, didn't we? It's still magical to stand in front of these historical places and know their legacies and importance.

4). London is way ahead of every major city I've visited in terms of healthy eating.  Jordan and I had lunch at Pret (www.pret.com) and dinner at Ravello. Both have a great fresh food, but we were really impressed that Pret makes everything that day, and gives away anything they don't sell after each meal's allotted time. They donate unsold foods to local food banks and charities. Very cool. Check out my (chicken & avocado) sandwich label:

5) Kleenex brand tissues have the softness thing down compared to every other brand in the world... My nose thanks them.

6) Baby Cambridge must be otherwise occupied. Prince George was nowhere to be found today, but "yay" for Katherine for keeping him close for now. I imagine it's not easy knowing your baby is the future King of England. If I see him, I'll take an out-of-focus picture like everyone else and post it. I know you're waiting...

7)  A standard converter will not work for a curling iron. Apparently, you need one of these 20-lb. thingys. A portable hair dryer will blow a fuse in a car during a snow storm (don't ask me how I know this...), but needing one of these was a completely new experience. I'm not kidding about the weight of it; I'm glad Jordan answered the door when they brought it up from Guest Services...

8)  Foreign keyboards always have some funky keys on them. There are these: £, €, and §. This one has an extra key next to the Z. It makes all my caps look like this:  `z  If my post has abnormalities, can we just blame them on the keyboard idiosyncrasies and not my lack of sleep? Thanks. ;-) That goes for the photos, too, okay? I promise, with sleep, they'll get better.

Off to Norway.