Bah, NeoOffice just crashed and ate a long journal entry I wrote in Keflavic airport. Short version: Icelandic apricot yogurt is really yummy. I’m meeting Francie in a few hours and we’re taking the train from London to Canterbury. More later.
OK, I’m jetlagged and not at my most coherent, but here’s a bit more of what I think I was writing about Iceland. Besides about the yogurt with the texture of silken tofu. IcelandAir is a charming, quirky airline for a charming, quirky country. The in-flight entertainment includes documentaries about how charming and quirky the country is.
I’ll write more about Iceland later… when I actually stay there. This morning is was just in and out, and on to London.
16:02 Now on the train to Canterbury! I arrived in London without incident. Activated my UK (borrowed) phone with a SIM card from a vending machine. Something rather Neal Stephenson about that…
First meal in London? Same as my first meal in Nagasaki. Takoyaki! (Fried octopus balls.) I know, I should have looked for a cornish pastie stand or something, but when I saw conveyor belt sushi in St. Pancras Station, I went for it. Green tea, miso, and rice are very restorative. Not to mention lots of salmon. I have no idea what the end price was: they charge by color-coded plate. I used my VISA card.
I had no trouble hooking up with Francie and Annie. Annie was sitting right at the top of the escalator when I went to find the proper train platform, and Francie came up shortly thereafter.
Speaking of looking for train platforms, I went looking for Platform 9 3/4. King’s Cross Station is under a huge construction project, though, at the moment, and I couldn’t find it. I did find a sign instructing construction workers to enter the worksite, though, “at Harry Potter.”
My impression of London so far is it’s a lot like Chicago but full of British people.
The train is now speeding through the countryside. The weather’s gray, but it hardly matters. I just hope not to get soaked while trying to get to the hostel, though.
Draco wants to go to Wiltshire. I’ve told him to shut it.
22:05 Back at the hostel after dinner. We arrived here without incident, and then Francie, Debbie (another HP pal), and I went walking about the town. Not unexpectedly, Canterbury is very nice. Very old buildings in a medieval town with beautiful deep canals, hidden gardens, and cobblestoned streets. We wandered into a sweets shoppe, but most of the shops were closed by the time we were exploring. We saw a mama duck with ten (TEN!) very tiny baby ducks! And we saw a baby coot! The baby coot looks exactly like a big coot except smaller than a chicken egg.
Met up for dinner at a tapas place with
Tomorrow we plan to take in the Roman Museum and then in the afternoon we check into the dormitory at the university, and the con starts for real!
Diacon Alley Diary #1
