“…Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life…” Samual Johnson
January, they say, is when people make a resolution to travel. If so, dear reader, I suggest London. I can’t offer a reasonable bird’s eye view as a travel agent can, but I may offer a few snapshots from my own life.
In the Travel Agents Are Useful Department
Useful: My agent, at the auto association, went to the long distance telephone, came back and said he was told that to see Hadrian’s Wall, from London, would take a whole day, going there and back on a bus.
Not useful: He advised me to save money by taking Transat Airlines, the carrier now in a pilot labour dispute. I saved a hundred bucks, as it happened, but I resolved “never again.” No big smoking gun, but it was a lot of little things drove my decision—at a time when a hundred dollars meant a lot to me.
In the Travel Broadens the Mind Department:
A retired professor’s partner and musician, Elaine, recently wrote of liking a South Korean soap opera series about musicians. Link to her post, that links to the show Do You Like Brahms
So I e-mailed about seeing a soap about the business world:
QUOTE
Something for Elaine:
So there I was, on my first ever trip to London, when every minute is precious. And expensive. I wandered in to the Korean embassy, past British businessmen milling around upstairs so I could go down to see an artist’s 3-D exhibit. Well. Besides the art, there was a little library, a receptionist and me. I didn’t read much at all, because there was also a television showing me my first ever Korean soap. I stayed watching for a long, long time.
(Say, the Korean lady offered to take my photo, with my camera, so that is one of the few pics of myself I have)
I have since learned that Korean soaps are all the rage among Japanese housewives.
Oh, and don’t be fooled by their good looks. The first time I saw a bunch of Japanese students at my local college I was struck by how they looked just like plain ordinary Chinese. I reasoned that I had been fooled by glossy Japanese pop culture magazines.
UNQUOTE
In the Excited to Pack, But Not Beating My Self Up Over It Department
I recently replied to my hotel manager who enquired about my reservation, a reservation that was so lengthy, made so long ago:
QUOTE
Hello Hassan,
I am well, except for some weird aches and pains of old age recently; I sure hope to walk all the pains off in London.
Thank you for your reminder. As you can imagine, our correspondence is part of my tourist excitement.
Looking forward to seeing you.
I wouldn’t go to London without staying at my favourite digs, the City Inn!
Also, my jet plane fare is already fully paid for.
Also, I have fully paid for various timed exhibits and timed walking tours at the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert, and the Tate. You should see my big stack of printed-off tickets!
For driving with my cold steering wheel, I wear spitfire gloves from the Imperial War Museum. This week I lost one glove, maybe, so I will have to go to the IWM and buy a replacement pair, just like the old pair. Because my Canadian mittens that I wear with my parka would look too silly in London.
Today I am looking for a few more things to pack into my suitcase: Now, where the heck did I put my camera? …No doubt it’s hiding with a lost sock somewhere. No big deal, I have enough pictures of London already…
Cheers,
Sean
UNQUOTE
Remarks: When, as described in last week’s post, I drove in a white-out, my hands in my brown gloves were ever before me… but not in a panicky death grip.
… …
… …
Sean Crawford
Calgary
January
2026
Footnotes:
~The prof is Michael Leddy, who commented last week on my blizzard ordeal. His blog is Orange Crate Art.
~The hotel manager, Hassan, has a blog too, with both English and Bangladesh posts. Link
