Itinerantur Interruptus

“Help!! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”

Ready for a great story?

I left my hotel on time this morning, hopped on the tube at Monument, and wended my way to Victoria Station to catch the Gatwick Express.

Victoria wasn’t crowded — rush-hour had passed. Nice! As I stepped onto a short flight of steps down to the station floor, it hit me. Or rather, they hit me.

A family with two running children either knocked me forward onto the stairs or kicked my stick out from underneath me. I’m not sure which. I landed a step or three from the bottom, breaking the fall with my hands and rolling down the last few steps.

The contents of my tote bag were all over the place, my phone and stick scuttled across the pavement, the juice I was drinking was now all over the ground (and me).

Many stopped to help — gathering my stuff and putting it back in my bag; retrieving my suitcase, phone, and stick. Two helped get me up.

People really are generally very kind when someone needs help. Except the family that knocked me over. They kept moving speedily to their train. (One of the helpers told me.) I’m not going to get into it, but you may refer to the list of “worst tourists” I posted earlier in the week.

Paramedics showed up and insisted on checking me out. I argued, but they talked some sense into me. Good vitals, nothing broken. A bone-bruised hip; and I hurt my wrist, something short of a sprain. I missed two trains and took the third.

By the time I got to the airport, my plane was already boarding. No way on earth I was going to get through security and to the gate at an international airport before this plane took off.

Now I’m a bit panicky. The awesome Assistance Center sorted me out. I explained what had happened. They gave me a comfortable place to sit down, hooked me up with good Internet, and explained I should switch my flight before it took off so I would still get the credit. JetBlue wanted $1600 extra to switch my flight to tomorrow. I said, “no thank you,” went to their website, cancelled it myself. I got 40,000 points and a few hundred bucks back. Which otherwise would’ve been gone along with $1400 more. Jerks.

I booked on another airline for $400, and checked into the terminal hotel I like. It is literally ten feet from the Assistance Center, at which I will present myself tomorrow morning. Why?

They insisted they put me in the buggy and drive me through luggage drop, security, and to the gate.

A Walkabout

London

I decided to take it a bit easy today — favorite soda, comfy hotel bed, home renovation shows, old British movies, the park downstairs, and happy laziness. =)

I felt my usual iffy this morning, with the usual improvement. (It’s not a bad thing. I’m used to it.) It’s warm outside today, so I decided to go out early evening — I need to pack tonight and be on a train-to-a-plane in the morning.

I knew there would be lots of fun pictures in the immediate neighborhood, so a cappuccino and cooler temps sent me on my way by four this afternoon. =)

We’ll start with the Lloyds of London building. I took several photos, and it’s the kind of thing people either love or hate. You’d think I absolutely loathe it, but for some reason I enjoy the Lloyd’s building.

And some less futuristic pictures from around the neighborhood. I think I was probably only out about two hours.

I had a nice rest on this bench with new friends. They didn’t have much to say. Although I probably won’t have much to say when I’m 200 years old either. (They’re not in the wall, they’re under the pavement.)

Have a good sleep!

Harry Potter People

London

Expecto patronum!

A favorite place — Leadenhall Market — is just up the street. Since it (and other things I’ve taken photos of) appear in the Harry Potter films, I thought it would be fun to have a Harry Potter Post.

I was (am?) a big Potterhead. (Hufflepuff — I even have the socks!) I think I can talk about each of these things without doing too much Googling.

*Australia House was used as the interior of Gringott’s*.

*The Millennium Bridge was smashed up by flying bad guys!*

*Lambeth Bridge is where the Night Bus got skinny.*

*Borough Market was used as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in the later films.*

*Harry flies along the River Thames and over Tower Bridge in The Order of the Phoenix.*

*An enormous spiral staircase inside St. Pauls was used in The Prisoner of Azkaban.*

*And finally, this shopfront in Leadenhall Market was used as the entrance to The Leaky Cauldron in the early films. A photo from the film is below.*

Ropy & Regnant

London

I woke up at ten, feeling a little ropy.

Experience told me I was having a day where it’ll be afternoon before I’m feeling up to much. I took a shower and a walk outside to see how I felt when upright. Yes, indeed. My stomach wasn’t quite with me, and my feet were not quite footing. No sad face though, I’m used to it and I knew it would pass by noon or one.

I emailed my friend at the church here to say I wasn’t feeling well, and would probably not make it in for one o’clock to play. (It’s no big deal, I was simply going to be playing for my own pleasure and for tourists visiting.)

I decided I’d walk down to the Tower of London (a block away) where there are shops, views, people, and of course, a castle. I could also hop on the Thames Clippers at the pier if I wanted to go for a boat ride. And so I did.

I stopped off at Greenwich to take a few photos and change boats. (Switching to a different boat would let me ride around longer.) At Greenwich, I didn’t do much. Just took in the sights a bit.

This entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel takes you down underneath the river, where you can walk a damp tunnel to the other side … maybe another day. I got a great photo of the Battersea power station on the way back — it’s decommissioned, and now one of these mall/apartments/entertainment center type places.

By about five-thirty, it was time for the normal people to gather in noisy groups to go get their dinner. I was starting to mutter about them under my breath, so I got off early at Blackfriars and walked up to Saint Paul’s to catch a bus the rest of the way. I found the following handy chart to be absolutely, positively accurate.

And finally, a short video including some of the things I saw on my boat ride! =)

A ride up (and down) the Thames

Have a good sleep!

Oddities

London

Without much surprise, I was exhausted this morning and my stomach was bothering me.

Fate stepped in with a Pauline Collins movie, followed by an ensemble cast film with Helen Mirren and just about every British mom actor from Harry Potter to Call the Midwife to Downton Abbey.

I set aside £100 to buy myself something, so I thought I might shop a bit this afternoon if I felt a little better. I didn’t have a particular destination in mind, and I don’t particularly want anything. (I’m very hard to buy for, even if it’s me doing the buying.) I’m going to be near the Tower tomorrow, so maybe then.

I’m spending the day resting at the hotel — I want to make sure I feel really well for tomorrow. I thought I’d post a collection of photos from last few days that didn’t fit anywhere — creepy, random, and otherwise.