The two Japanese men are at breakfast again. I ask how they celebrate Christmas in Japan. The younger one says his family is not Christian, but they have a nice dinner and gifts from Father Christmas for the children—all greatly influenced by the commercialization of Christmas. The professor is Christian and says he goes to …
Author Archives: Jody Harris
December 24, 1999- Lutchford Turns 5
I am surprised that there are two guests this morning. One is here for a month studying international business, but I don’t get the impression that he will be here over Christmas. Caroline tells me later that the other one, a Japanese gentleman, a professor, arrived at the University for two weeks with no reservation …
December 23, 1999 – Good-bye to University Friends
We are off early; Lisa to Victoria station to go the airport and me to Euston to go home to Birmingham. We check out of the hotel and walk to Victoria station where I get a taxi. As we are saying our quick goodbyes I am thinking, “I hope she will be OK.” I know …
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December 22, 1999 – Lisa’s Last Day in London
The best way to see London is from the top of a bus. William Gladstone, speaking of London’s double-decker horse-drawn omnibuses From the top of our hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus, we can see London’s famous monuments at eye level. They feel almost life-like when you are at their same height. The bus loops around Westminster past …
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December 21, 1999 – The Bells of Notre Dame
We squeeze in one last sightseeing excursion—Notre Dame Cathedral—before taking the Eurostar back to London. Notre Dame sits on a small island in the Seine, the very picturesque Île de la Cité. Built more than 800 years ago, the cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece of high twin towers, rose windows, and flying buttresses. Victor Hugo called …
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December 20, 1999 – Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Tuileries, Louvre
After croissant and café au lait at a patisserie near our hotel we are off to the Arc de Triomphe. After his historic victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Napoleon said to his men, “You shall march home under triumphant arches.” The Arch is also home to France’s Tomb of the Unknown Solider. …
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December 19, 1999 – Musee d’Orsay and the Eiffel Tower
The sun is shining in Paris this morning and I have a totally different outlook. I feel I can hold my own with any rude French proprietor or civil servant. We find a patisserie and order croissants and café. If you order café in Paris, you get espresso, as I discover to my chagrin. I …
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December 18, 1999 – Soggy Paris and Rude Frenchmen
We are off to Paris today. I am nervously excited about it. We walk to Victoria station and take the tube to Waterloo station where we grab a sandwich and head to the Eurostar terminal. We go through security but no one checks our passports; one advantage of the European Union that the Brits are …
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December 17, 1999 – Windsor Castle
I ignore the man on the intercom this morning. After breakfast, we get a relatively late start to Waterloo station where we catch the train for Windsor. From the train, I get a glimpse of the castle; solid and imposing against the gray sky. It is rainy and somewhat chillier than yesterday. There are no …
December 16, 1999 – Kew Gardens, London
I groan when the intercom wakes us after only six hours of sleep. After breakfast, we hit a cashpoint machine, then we’re off to Kew Gardens. Kew is in Surrey, 11 stops down the District Line; about a 30-minute ride. For part of the journey, we ride along the Thames. We see a huge, odd-looking, …
Jody’s UK Memories 