The next day we had more meetings, fairly short, a visit to a pub, and then a walk through the town of Newbury.  Interestingly, they had Chicken Tikki Masala in the english pub, which my  new friends told me was perfectly normal.  Huh.   Downtown Newbury was as charming as one might imagine, and there was one fabulous church to take photos of before we reached the train to head back to London.  On the train, I found out that a couple of the MySociety fellows had access to Parliament, and Adam said he was more than willing to set up a tour for my next visit.  Woot!

Later that night, for dinner, we walked to a chinese restaurant in Soho. No evidence of any werewolves walking the streets in the rain. The waitresses somehow spoke with an english/chinese accent, which was neat.  Afterwards, I guided us all home. Ellen has appointed me official navigator.  I live to serve!

The last night we stayed in another hotel, the something Mayfair, on Half Moon street, whose name escapes me.  It was very posh, but apparently less expensive than the one in Knightsbridge.  The room was smaller, and had a bizarre half-shower door for some reason.  I’m told that John and Ellen had the same thing in Knightsbridge, so I guess it’s typical.  Also they charged me 15 pounds for Internet access - the nerve!  And their use of my invention was sloppy and error-prone.

I tried to stay up fairly late that night, and researched houses in Maryland on Redfin.  It turns out there are a lot of houses under $350k with 4+ bedrooms, or 3+ and an unfinished basement.  I sent about 40-50 potentials to Christy.  Financially, this move has been stressful, and knowing there are decent-sized houses at an affordable price will be quite helpful.

The next morning, I was awakened by construction noises - they’re refurbishing the hotel, and that apparently means that I get woken up at 7:30 after going to bed at 2.   I managed to drift off again for a while, but I was never fully asleep after that.

When I finally woke up, I looked around briefly for my compatriots, but they weren’t in the lobby, so I decided to set out for Heathrow, meandering through Picadilly Circus along the way.  Lots of shops, none of them interesting.   Managed to spend my last 5 pounds to get a ticket on the Tube to the airport, thus ridding myself of British paper currency, leaving only 5 casino-chip-like 2 pounders, and various smaller coins for the kids.

As I’m writing this, I’m inside Heathrow airport, inside the secure area, with my bag checked (you have to check your carry on luggage here) and one hour to go before my gate opens.  I have power, but no Wi Fi, so I’m a little unsettled, but I suppose it’s all for the best.  I’ll have to pop the laptop open on the plane to see if there is wifi.   (Later - no, no wireless.)

Other notes:

• Lots of foreign languages here, far more than in the US or Canada
• Lots of advertisements to visit Turkey, Finland and other places.
• John W. and I violated (inadvertantly) the “take away vs stay in” pricing differential, by buying something from a shop for takeway, and them proceeding to sit down at a table and eating.  No one bothered us, of course, since they’re British, but I did feel bad.
• Christmas is out in force already, just like back home.
• It seems like most everyone lives in townhomes.  Since the houses also follow the “same price as the US, but in pounds” rule, it’s easy to see why - the houses are incredibly expensive!   There were rows and rows and rows of houses between Newbury and London.
• There are not a lot of skyscrapers in London.  The most notable looked like a giant pickle (note,  it’s 30 St Mary Axe, and it is, in fact, nicknamed The Gherkin).
• Don’t tell Christy, but I finally found my soulmate.