England...The Time Of My Life...Chapter 4

Here we are back again for another installment......

Tonight's episode is brought to you the BBC....Tune in tonight for the 897th repeat of "Are You Being Served" - Mrs Slocum's Pussy is missing.

A few thing I thought of that I forgot to mention....
One of the wierdest things I ate was a Bacon Sandwich...Two pieces of white bread smothered with real butter and a handful of crisp bacon.. that's it...actually yummy and not a bad deal for 99p.
I also tried Chicken Curry for the first time...I've seen it eaten about a million times on the British Comedies so of course I had to try it....got a take away order and it was pretty good and not a bad deal, Two pounds 95 ($4.80) i think. I don't go for spicy foods very much but this was good, a little greasy and the curry is strong at first but doesn't linger in your mouth.
After spending Tuesday night at the Green Court hotel in Earl's Court. ...it was off to Cambrige to see Gary Numan perform for the fourth and final time of the trip. I headed off to King's Cross Station..... once again, I arrived and looked up at the board......3 trains to Cambrige in the next hour...I chose the Express...which actually made two stops. The countryside was a lot more beautiful on this trip. The most beautiful shades of emerald greens and many stately manors to be be seen.
I arrived at the Cambridge train station, and the toursist office was located right in the train station. It was run by a kind, elderly lady who offered my a fantastic deal for the evening. Eighteen pounds for a Bed and Breadfast. (about $28.80) She placed a call to the propriator, a Mr Biggs, and within five minutes, he was at the station to drive me back!! He drove a red Escort and I placed my bags in the trunk and prodeded to get into the right side of the car. Oopps....that's the driver's seat. The B&B, his home, was just a couple of blocks away. It was a two story townhouse located in the middle of the block with a small garden in front. He led me in and and gave me a tour of the house. He instructed me on how to make tea and coffee. We got out his map and he helped my locate The Corn Exchange, where Gary Numan was playing that night. My room was on the second floor in the front. It seem that it would be a lot quiter than the London places which were always burdenned with street noise. Breakfast would be at 8:00 and he said he'd come around and wake me. Since there was a lot I wanted to see in Cambridge and I wanted a good breakfast I had him wake me at 7:45. I went off for a walk to find the Corn Exchange and scope out the town.
The Corn Exchange was just a twenty minute walk across the Park and up the High Street. I got a floor ticket at the box office. With all the students and tourists, Cambridgeis a busy place, but a lot more low-key than London. I have never seen so many bicycles in my whole life. I think the first thing that you are issued when attending University at Cambridge is a bike! I had supper at a Pub with a bizzare name that escapes me now but I have the pictures. I had the special Ham&Eggs and of course, washed it down with a couple of John Smith's. And as in most every Pub I visited there was a geat jukebox....I ate listening to Oasis and Blur and well maybe a Spice Girl's tune (nothing's perfect).
I headed off to the concert early as I wanted to be in the front row. This night I brought both my regular and telephoto lenses and four rolls of fillm. I had to make up for the pics I missed at Guildford. I was the fourth one in line and easily secured my place in the front agianst the barrier protecting the stage. They must have head about the moss pit the night before. The show was fabulous. Gary was loose and all smiles and made no mistakes. I got some great shots. He even signed a couple of albums from the stage. Something he rarely does. The highlight was when he sang "Metal", and weather this was intentional or not, he sang the line. "singing I am an American..." right in my face!
The show was over and it sunk in. That would be the last show for me this trip. It was a bit of a letdown, but I came away with some great memories. The Guildford show was truly the best beacause I was there with all my new friends. It felt great to finally not feel like the only Gary Numan fan in the world.
After the show, the bar at the concert had already closed. It was now a little after 11. All the pubs had stopped serving. I inquired at about four and asked if there were any late licence bars. They refered me to Buttums (sic) which was about a ten block walk. By the time I finally found it, they were closed for a private party. The doorman then directed me to a basement bar of this Indian Resturant which served all night. I went in and told the hostess in the empty dining room, that I just wanted a drink. The pointed to the stairs and I made my way down the narrow staircase. In the basement were two pool tables, and a pinball machine. Two Indians played pool. I didn't see the bar, but found it off in a backroom. No one was at the bar except a Indian women reading the newpaper. She was the bartender. I ordered a Foster's from the vast selction of 3 beers and sat their drinking, feeling like I was in a Speakeasy run by the Indian Mafia in 1929.
As I walked back to Mr. Biggs home, the crisp autumn air refreshed me and I stared at the stars as I walked across the park . The stars shown bright and every constallation was visible. I haven't seen a sky this clear in many years. There was no glow of city lights. I wanted to lie on the grass and statre at the stars all night.
The next morning, Mr Biggs knocked on my door at 7:45 and by eight I was sitting at the table with three other guests. The table was set and a small floral arnagment sat in the center. A bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice was ready for everyone. Mr Biggs took our orders and cooked and served breakfast by himself for everone. The two German's, the older British gentlemen and I ate aukwardly in silence. The silence was fianlly broken by a lively older women who try to force conversation out of the older gentleman. I think she was trying to "hit" on him, but he wasn't going for it. After breakfast, Mr Biggs cleared the table, did the dishes and proceded to change the beds and wash the sheets all himself. He really amazed me.
I was then off to see the sights. It was another amazingly beautiful and sunny day. I walked up the High Street and shoppers were already out in force. I walked throght the campus of St Jesus College and along the River Cam, taking pictures at every opportunity. I took a picture of the local Baskin Robbins (Baskin's is one our our clients at work) and talked to the owner. He said business was good. Ups and downs. I told him I worked an ad agency back in the states. He told me he heard a rumour that Ben & Jerry's was taking over Baskin Robbins (Still unconfirmed). After stocking up on some more film, it was off to see some chruches. I visited the St. Botolph's Church. It was apropriate that I stopped here since St Botolph is the patron Saint of Travellers and also since Boston (Botolph's Town) is named after him). The nave and the aises of this church were build just before 1350! It was hard to comprehend that church had been there for over 600 years. I dropped a few coins in, for the restoration effort. Then it was off to St Mary the Great Church, where I climbed the winding staircase to the top of the bell tower and got some great skyline shots of Cambridge. Some more strolling through the campuses and a little shopping. Got a great deal atthe local HMV record store on a Blur and a Suede CD single for 1 pound 99 and 2 pounds 99 (1.99= about $3.20). I saw that Blur CD $10.91 in Dallas!!
I headed back to Mr Biggs house and retrieved my gear. He was out on an errand, so I walked to the train station. At this time I had to make a call to Continental to change my return trip. I was suposed to fly out at 12:00N that day. How I ever expected to get from Cambrige to London and make that flight is beyond me. The next seat I could get was on Monday. "Looks like I won't be into work on Monday." They will definately think I am never coming back. The oddsmakers would have been right. Once agian, without planning, it was just a short wait for a train back to London. The train was uncrowded and I had a lots of room to myself. At one stop, a teenage boy hopped on and was truly high on something. He must have been sniffing paint thinner or something. He had no ticket and said he was going home to Hitchen.....or Severenge....I don't think he knew.
I was "blessed" with listening to his stories off the fight he got into the night before and broke this guy's hand. Luckily his stop came up quickly and he was off.
Back at King's Cross Station, It was time to look for a place to stay the night. I headed of to Gower Street, just north of Soho, knowing that there were a number of decent hotels there and it was near Soho where I'd be off to visit some clubs that night. Finding a room proved to be an adventure. I had hoped to find a place to stay for the rest of the trip but after a number of inquries, I settled on The Gareth Hotel for just one night. (The next time I head off to London, I plan on reserving one hotel for the duration. Moving around was an adventure, but it was VERY tiring.) The Gareth Hotel was run by some very friendly Chinese fellows and was very clean but again a tad worn. I ended up with double room with a TV with Cable(!) and remote control. Then it was off to my favorite Pub, The Norfolk Arms for some Fish & Chips.......

Well that concludes Chapter 4......the next installment......"Discovering some seedy London Clubs".....