My Temporary Home

Lewes is a hilly, medieval town.  Here are some photos of the considerably more modern and quite wonderful house I am renting.   As promised it is quite bright and airy and has a spacious study with a bay window.

I am renting the first two floors of the lavender house.  (Given my love of purple it’s quite an appropriate color, don’t you think?)  The study is on the second floor.

The living area

The breakfast area and kitchen

The small bedroom and the kitchen look out onto the patio and garden

Closer View of Kitchen

And you can see the castle tower from the bathroom window! 

 More about the town itself in days to come!

"How do you count?" Street Performer at Covent Garden

One performer’s shtick included a bit on “How do you count?” that poked fun at various nationalities: 

Here’s how the Brits count [matter-of-factly] one, two, three

The Spanish [liltingly] uno, dos, tres

The French: un, deux, trois [blowing a kiss at the end]

The Germans: [emphatically] Eins! Zwei! Drei!

Other targets included the Italians, Greeks, Irish, and Scots.   

Then

The Americans:  One [a long pause]

And anudder one [another lo-o-o-ng pause]

And [hand gesture for screw you]

People laughed.

What does that say about how people perceive us?

London

Carving on door to British Museum

I spent what remained of the afternoon walking around, people-watching at nearby Russell Square and the British Museum. 

Street performers were out at Covent Garden.  They were a good reminder that entertaining theatre can come from the simplest means:  a few props, a charismatic performer, and a receptive audience.

Made it to London

Dallas to London:  4743 miles.

At the end of a long, weather-disrupted journey, the bright red door of the Penn Club is a welcome sight.  (Why a Quaker hostel has a bright red door remains a mystery – not very plain is it?)

In my jet-lagged state, I’m thankful for signs on the pavement that say “Look Left” and “Look Right.” 

Apparently blogspot thought it was odd that Laurel in England was posting from England, so no one, including me, could access my account for a day.  Sorry if you experienced any problems!

Laurel in England

One week to go until my England adventure!   I’ve had a number of British experiences already, such as learning to say “zed” instead of “zee” when I spell my name.  When I “rang up” the box office of the Royal Opera House to buy a ticket for Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride (not one of opera’s top ten hits!), the attendant said, “Brilliant choice, Madam! Brilliant choice.”  (Can you imagine a U.S. box office worker saying that?) It turned out she had seen the dress rehearsal the night before and thought the production was “marvelous.”

I have a lot to look forward to: seeing Wagner’s Die Meistersinger at the Glyndebourne Festival, a concert featuring Trevor Pinnock, a friend’s wedding in Germany, reconnecting with Quakers (my flat is three blocks from the meetinghouse!), exploring Brighton, and more.   I hope to get a lot of writing and good thinking done while I am in Sussex.