When I exit the tube station at Baker Street, I see the tall bronze statue of Sherlock Holmes in front of the station as expected. But, today, there is also a man dressed in a Victorian caped cloak and deerstalker hat having his picture taken with the tourists. He hands me his business card. It …
Author Archives: Jody Harris
November 20, 1999 – Portobello Road and The Pajama Game
After a fitful night in my teeny bed, I get ready for the day in my teeny shower in my teeny bathroom. My destination is Portobello Road Market. I am glad I arrive early because by 11:00 AM it is so crowded you can barely squeeze through the throng of people. On Saturdays, Portobello Road …
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November 19, 1999 – In Which I Tour the Houses of Parliament and Touch Winston Churchill’s Foot
Off to London today. Stacy has arranged for the fellows to tour the Houses of Parliament and, afterwards, the Plowdens have invited us to a cocktail party at their home. My train pulls into London Euston at 14:20. The hotel that the BC arranged for me, instead of being 10 minutes by cab on Oxford …
November 17-18, 1999 – The Wonderfully Arcane Rituals of State Opening of Parliament
It is spitting snow this morning as I walk along the Edinburgh streets in search of caffeine. I find an Internet café and sip a cup of coffee while I check my email. Back at the hotel, I watch a bit of the State Opening of Parliament on TV. Wistfully, I think that, had I …
November 16, 1999 – In Which I Present my Research Findings and Say Farewell to Lovely Edinburgh
People either love performance measurement or they hate it and my research topic generates a lot of discussion among the fellows. Fellow Kathy Taylor, who clearly is in the skeptical camp, says performance measurement is probably good in my hands, but not everyone is as reasonable an administrator as I am. A law and public …
November 15, 1999 – A Tour of the New Scottish Parliament
The fellows gather for our first joint meeting since September in London. Our first speaker is Owen Dudley Edwards, a writer and historian based at the University of Edinburgh. He has written several books on Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and some histories of the Irish troubles. He weaves a …
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November 14, 1999 – Exploring Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns
The Inverness sky this morning is pink with light-gray mackerel clouds unlike anything I have seen before. It is pink, not just where the sun peaks through the clouds, but all over. As the sky lightens, the pink fades into daylight yellow and I realize it hadn’t been quite daylight; the pink sky part of …
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November 13, 1999 – Inverness, Loch Ness, and the Stunning Highlands
Breakfast at the B&B consists of porridge and toast. And the coffee is great. I drink the whole small pot. My tour is not until 10:30 AM, so I have time to kill. I walk down to the River Ness, cross over the Ness Bridge, and up to Inverness Castle. Made from red sandstone, Inverness …
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November 12, 1999 – A Scottish Train Route Over Which Queen Victoria Waxes Eloquent and A Visit to Culloden Moor
It is not yet light at 7:00 AM when I get up. The sky is gray and Edinburgh Castle looms starkly over the city. The train ride to Inverness is another long one—more than three hours—but delightfully scenic. We pass over the Firth of Forth via the landmark red-oxide Forth Rail Bridge; its tracks spanning …
November 11, 1999 – Edinburgh: Can There Anywhere be a More Beguiling City on a Crisp, Dark November Evening?
I have packed up all my suitcases and stored them in the locked closet under the eaves in my room at Glenelg. Then I haul my travel case to the office where I work for a while. Dean, Barbara, Ari, and Max join me in our reserved seats on the train at New Street station. …
Jody’s UK Memories 