First accounts of a visit to the land of the Beatles

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13:00
To Liverpool! The road is streaching before us under a sunny sky; we’re yet to get used to the way rain and sun alternate in a matter of minutes in this country, like the lights in a discoteque - here the clouds are winning over again.
While the evergreen landscape is passing before our windows, inside the car, Bam (this is our father’s nickname) is getting used to switching gear with his left hand; ima (the hebrew word for mom) is following our path with a map of Britain streached on her knees, so strange to see her sitting in the left seat and not driving; and in the back, you have Yarden (13) in the middle between Rinat (15) and myself, Shani (23). We have another sister, Noa, (20) who had to stay in Israel because she’s serving in the army. Gypsy, our GPS, is quietly giving driving directions while in the background the sounds of an unplugged Hayehudim gig is filling the air. Very soon the quiet atmosphere gets altered with the nervs of five people getting tired of sitting in the same crowded space…
Rain again! Sitting on the right side, I have a good panorama of all the cars passing us; and here I get to an issue that has me still astounded and amazed two days into our stay in Britain: it seems like some 50% of the cars here are Jaguars, Mercedeses and sport cars of all kind and shape. They have Porsche and Ferrari and BMW convertibles in an abundance that reminds me that of Citroen or Fiat back home. These Brits are, as we say, “chayim tov” - living good.
We hit the road today after a morning trip in the surroundings of our B&B and a ride on the ferris wheel, from which we saw the Windsor area and the majestic Windsor castle. Since the castle, to quote my mom, was filled with the containts of the 20 buses we saw in the parking lot, we decided to leave the actual visit to another opportunity; maybe on the way back. The B&B we spent last night in is a cozy place called Oscar Lodge. We arrived there yesterday afternoon after picking up our car from the rental company upon landing in Heathrow. Then followed a few hours’ rest to recover from a nearly sleepless night of travel. After we were somewhat rested, we had dinner in Pizza Hut in the commercial center in Slough, a town nearby. Then we parked our car near the train station and took the Picadilly line which led us straight to the center of London.
Our impression of London? The tube and half-lit buildings. When we asked at the B&B the next day - this morning - the nice guy in charge of the place told us they got well lit only during weekends. But well, we didn’t have a long time to spend there anyway. The parking where we left the car stayed open only untill midnight, so we had only about two hours, during which we went from Piccadilly square nothwards in search of an open electronics shop to buy a battery for the camera; didn’t find any; went back south till we got to Trafalgar Square; then to the Themse - at least the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey were well lit, so we could see them from Jubilee Bridge. then we went running to the nearest underground station, and back to Hounslow. We made it just in time to pick our car.

23:30
The accent here is different. So are the temperatures, we can’t go outside and face the cold seaside winds without a coat - watching the locals pass by us in sleevless shirts and shorts. Tonight we’re staying at a hotel called Jury’s Inn. After the long trip we didn’t have forces for anything but dinner at the hotel’s restaurant and going straight to bed. Tomorrow is the day Yarden has been anxiously waiting for - he’s the most serious beatlemania case in the family - a tour to all the Beatles landmarks of the city. Good night!

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Photos

Rinat enjoying the London rain
outside the airport

Rinat and Yarden fighting
in the parking lot near the station in Hounslow

Comments

[savta Lily]

What a nice surprise
Je suis tres heureuse de lire la prose de Shani dans son anglais précis et élégant. Mais surtout je suis émue de constater que la nouvelle génération continue la tradition des journaux de voyage, avec tous les merveilleux jouets techniques de notre temps.Mes carnets déteints et froissés font piètre figure...mais ils ont le charme des manuscrits.