On plane to Toronto

Train to Calais took ~3 hr (missed the direct train, had to take a regional train partway). In Calais, had to walk a long way to the ferry...in the docks, kinda like walking to the airport. Also ferry was expensive. P&O only, rate was more expensive than taking a motorcycle onto SeaFrance. Why is that? Why no foot passengers on SeaFrance? Was rather annoyed. Hung out for ~1 hr waiting for next boat (saw a pinball machine that only took francs...they must keep some around as tokens...).

Boat was big. Like a cruise ship inside. Long trip, 2-3 hr, I think. Seagulls flying around outside, seem to come to a standstill mid-air with the wind. Also lots of wind at the railings...must be pushed up by the sides of the boat. Inside, 2 girls going around giving massages. Some guys w/ very thick accents sitting behind us.

At Dover, walked to train station, took an expensive train into London (also slow). And engineering works forced us onto an even longer train. Got into London ~8 or 9, which is late for us. For dinner, we had fish + chips + spinach pie at a place by the South Kensington subway station.

Finally we got to the hostel. Very nice Indian man at reception. Kinda creepy how he went out of his way to call me by my first name. Also we displaced a dude.

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Sunday - breakfast at a Russian cafe - eggs sunny side up, English bacon (which is different; more like really salted ham), sausage (very bland, maybe lots of filler, little fat), baked beans, and toast w/ lots of butter. Woman at next table was asking her friend to find her an Italian aristocrat husband who would take her to live in Rome.

Walked through a park (Kensington?) where we saw boats and birds. A guy was throwing bread at the birds; there were these small birds who would grab it and run off, chased by pigeons (who were larger). The little birds were quite fast, though, so they were pretty good at evading the pigeons. Eventually they'd drop the breads or the pigeons would lose interest. Very funny - almost cartoon-like - to watch the chase. We saw one snatch a bit of bread out from a pigeon's beak.

Eventually the crows (which had been hanging out at the periphery) came in, and the other birds all yielded to them - they'd leak well away (out of pecking range). The crows would pick up lots of bread, carry it away a bit, and eat undisturbed. Later we also saw them dipping the bread into water.

There were old guys racing R/C sailboats. Also big swans. We saw one standing out of the water, preening. We tried to inch closer to pet it but it saw through what we were doing and inched away itself. It also honked menacingly.

On the street we saw a cooing pigeon that followed another pigeon into the street, only to then take off flying when a car came. It even checked for traffic before entering, but it must have decided that it was worth it.

After the park we went to Camden market. We had to take the bus b/c of subway closures due to engineering work. Very big street market - stalls selling various clothing + accessories, T-shirts w/ witty slogans, food. Also found a Sainsbury's, where we bought a trifle and a fruit+barley drink.

Took subway + RER to Greenwich, which took a long time. Also, the tagging-off points were not obvious. Got some mulled wine (not as good as we'd had at Columbae...this was not well spiced).

Ate our trifle and drink (turned out to be a concentrate, and that aspartame falls through a loophole of "no added sugar" and "no artificial colours or flavour"), then went to observatory - saw an exhibit on the longitude problem, including (models?) Harrison's H1-H3.

A replica of that would be a cool project to make. Or maybe a simpler system, where the pendulum drives the wheel through a ratchet system. Then use coils to drive pendulum, and quartz regulator.

Anyways, ironically, that Sunday was the change to summer time, so the day ended, unexpectedly, one hour early, and we couldn't visit any more museums (pity, too, because the museums in Greenwhich are free). On the way back to station, stopped at a restaurant; had a roast beef thing (w/ Yorkshire pudding?) and a steak + kidney pie.

Saw Westminster cathedral (only the bottom part is lit & marbled, the top is just brick and unlit, which almost has the effect SC was talking about: not being able to see the top). Walked around a bit, saw the Soho area (wannabe Times Square), had a "gooey" McFlurry + Cadbury cream, went back to the hostel, and crashed.

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This morning: instant food adventure, failed Oyster card ploy (wanted to leave w/ a negative balance, but need £1.30 on the card to get through the entrance gates).