Took a trip on the Underground to the British Museum. What an amazing place, packed to the brim with cultural artifacts stolen from every place on Earth! One could visit daily for a week and not get through it all.
Speaking of amazing, London’s transport systems is an engineering and sociological marvel in its own right. Fast, efficient and cheap. I developed a technique for navigating through the system:
Before descending into the system, use Google Maps to plan. Take a screen shot so you’ll have the plan when you lose cell coverage. On your way to the station endlessly repeat (to yourself, silently) the name of the line and platform you need to get to. For example, I say “Buckaloo” on the left foot, then “3” on the next left foot. Take the escalator down, down, down. Realize that you’ve forgotten the line & platform, consult the screen shot and follow the signs to the train. Foolproof!
The impressive central hub of the British Museum. Swarms of visitors mill about here, impeding the efficient flow of others.This big head was stolen from Egypt. The stone one, not the one with glasses.This is an example of ancient Egyptian writing. It was a student’s work. You can tell by the weak thesis statement and misspellings. Egyptians of the time not only wrote like this; they spoke in the same manner. “Eye chair rabbit zig-zag shovel bowl” Little wonder the civilization didn’t withstand the test of time!I had a great time wandering through the clock exhibit. Fascinating!Here’s a close-up of a marvelously complex timepiece.London grocery stores carry a bewildering array of odd foods. I hadn’t previously given much thought to ox tongues, but I would have thought them too big for these small cans.I had a nice snack in the neighborhood near my hotel. I think it may be a gayborhood, but its hard to tell with the Brits.Londoners are fond of mis-labeling places. Hammer House is not a house. Piccadilly Circus has no clowns or big tops. Trafalger Square is actually a dodecahedron. I’m on to their cruel hoaxes and cancelled a planned trip to the London “Zoo”This absurdly long escalator takes you to the depths of the Underground. An unavoidable consequence of burrowing this far into the Earth is that the nearby magma makes the system into one enormous sauna.
Love your blogs and travels. London is my destination next may for a week. Got to go back to the B. Museum. Amazing! Where next?
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I forgot how hot it is on the Underground!!!
Very funny post!!
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Many interesting observations here. I challenged your awesome response to the depth of London subways by looking up the depth of San Francisco’s new Central subway that goes to Rose Pak station in Chinatown. Deepest London subway is 191 feet; Central at its deepest is 120. However, the Salesforce Tower foundation is one of the deepest in the world at ,1,070 feet.
As for ox tongue: I tried to paste a photo and will email it to you.
“Ox is a term often used to refer to cattle (male, usually) that has been castrated. Male cattle that has not been castrated is a bull. Whether castrated or not, meat from cattle (the layman term is cow although some insist that “cow” only refers to female cattle) is called beef.
In today’s commercial meat production, we know that the tongue we find in the market or grocery, whether labeled as ox tongue or beef tongue, most likely came from an animal that was raised in a farm and intended for slaughter for human consumption. Ergo, the label “beef tongue” is probably more appropriate.
So why not just label them all as beef tongue? The usage of “ox” to label meat is likely a carry over from medieval days when all cattle were both farm workers and source of food. At the time, every male cattle was an ox.”
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I’m not sure those clocks would help my time management problems. But they’re pretty.
Love your blogs and travels. London is my destination next may for a week. Got to go back to the B. Museum. Amazing! Where next?
I forgot how hot it is on the Underground!!!
Very funny post!!
Many interesting observations here. I challenged your awesome response to the depth of London subways by looking up the depth of San Francisco’s new Central subway that goes to Rose Pak station in Chinatown. Deepest London subway is 191 feet; Central at its deepest is 120. However, the Salesforce Tower foundation is one of the deepest in the world at ,1,070 feet.
As for ox tongue: I tried to paste a photo and will email it to you.
“Ox is a term often used to refer to cattle (male, usually) that has been castrated. Male cattle that has not been castrated is a bull. Whether castrated or not, meat from cattle (the layman term is cow although some insist that “cow” only refers to female cattle) is called beef.
In today’s commercial meat production, we know that the tongue we find in the market or grocery, whether labeled as ox tongue or beef tongue, most likely came from an animal that was raised in a farm and intended for slaughter for human consumption. Ergo, the label “beef tongue” is probably more appropriate.
So why not just label them all as beef tongue? The usage of “ox” to label meat is likely a carry over from medieval days when all cattle were both farm workers and source of food. At the time, every male cattle was an ox.”
I’m not sure those clocks would help my time management problems. But they’re pretty.