Afterthoughts . . . Lefts and Rights . . .

This question swirled around my mind while traveling ~~~

Does driving on the right side of the car and left side of the road cause directional dyslexia? The more I think about it, the more I have an instinctive feeling it might. Throughout our travels, I asked many people for directions while walking. Right from the get go it seemed people were pointing left as they said "right" and vica versa. My experience of this was widespread in Ireland and England. So I got to thinking about it and here's my theory: Most of us are right handed, but when driving on the left side of the road it gets our directional compass in a snit.

And what about the English practice of standing on the right side of an escalator but walking to the left? It's enough to make you dizzy.

I am most open to comments on these thoughts!

our last and by no means least day in Londontown . . .

a building with the words "soup kitchen for the Jewish poor" etched in the facade

I liked this the look of this photo better, than the one with all the words ~~~ thus no "soup kitchen"

my cousin Michael took us for an excellent fun tour of Soho today.
we ate in a yummy market with food stands of just about every ethnicity.

my dad's birth certificate listed "East End, Whitechapel" as place of birth—that's here,
 where all the schmata shops used to be and where there used to be lots of Jewish delis.
there are still 2 very popular bagel stores side by side
so we'll have some bagels in the morning before we leave :)

cousin Matt's comeback when I told him he's the 9th cousin I've met over here ;)
spanning 3 generations

we share uncompromising foodie-ism . . .
tonight he joined us for a great last London supper at the Turkish place where
 Mark and I have eaten at least once every day of our trip
so great to meet you, Matt. a really fun night :)
I hope the Queen's inspectors give you two thumbs up like we do!

Yoda, this one's for you!

a sweet serenade from Londontown with lots of love

fat farm, here I come!

We had a great time at my cousin Michael's tonight for dinner with his wife Mirielle and their friend Guilia from Rome. Mirielle made an excellent salmon dinner  . . .  then there was the cheese course . . . and the accompanying crackers and bread :) :) :) and as if that were not enough, here is the dessert she made, a perfect carmel creme brûlée with just the right amount of sugar (not that much) and carmel that she made herself. A labor of love, passed down from her mother. Many thank yous!

some visuals from a few blocks from our flat . . .

a park on our way to Portobello road with knitted embellishments in the trees . . .

a lovely section of Portobello road a couple of blocks over . . .

Reema Pachachi, jewelry designer extraordinaire from whom I bought wonderful earrings
she is the Director of Kuka-me.com
and was the original creative director of De Beers
her clarity of focus and innate talent are a pure marriage of alchemy

today's visuals . . .

one of the several rooms offering culinary delights at Harrod's

stage at Book of Mormon which we saw tonight . . . very funny . . . lots of laughing

Baker street tube platform for the Hammersmith and City Line

Baker Street Station is one of the original stations of the Metropolitan Railway,
the world's first underground railway, opened in 1863

Gavin's dog in Clifden . . . self taught trick . . .

Gavin is an artist who owns an art Gallery in the center of Clifden, Western Ireland
his art is wonderful and he's a great conversationalist . . . check him out if you go there!

out of sequence, but too cool to forego . . .

turns out Penny Lane is a bus route in Liverpool

Peter Cohen telling the tale of his two grandmothers, one of whom was my great aunt

a highlight of our trip was the Fibin theatre 10th anniversary party in a huge quarry in Western Ireland

we attended a grand and fun and charming multi-media event with Linda, without whom we would never have heard about it . . . what a treat to see this performance at night in a huge quarry, complete with drumming on the top of the cliff, men with torches, a choir, and a 3,000 year old man telling the history of the celts in Irish (Linda translated) with stunning morphing images projected against the face of the quarry . . . the heavens cooperated by waiting until an hour post-show to give us a downpour . . .

Getting gas at a gas pump on the way to the quarry . . .  out in the beautiful countryside near a big manor house

cousin Nathan's insider tour of Oxford gets 5 stars!

Oxford through the lens

Nathan and Mark

one of many beautiful manicured lawns throughout the University

Honey-o-mooners

on a bench in a beautiful garden with Nathan

another beautiful sight in nature on the campus

Nathan's friend Sean's view from one side of his private wonderful dorm room

"freshers" (freshmen in American English) at their official fresher dinner in a grand hall tonight

Wow!

Bodleian Library (Bodley to the students) is the main research library at Oxford and open only to students

Nathan, thank you so much!!! It was exactly the tour we hoped for . . .
you have a very warm and generous spirit

beautiful Paddington to come home to
now it's time to watch some episodes of "24"

tonight's wanderings . . .

the Apple store from the upper level of a double decker bus . . .

a wonderful lobby, elegant rest rooms and yummy dinner

the toilet at the Savoy goes into the "best of" toilet lists right up near the top.
this is the lobby with the sinks in the distance and the attendant who hands you a nice washcloth

last night's walk along the Thames . . . much better than I could have imagined . . .

London in all her grandeur

the royal blobatorium

this is the Electric Cinema on Portobello Road . . . it has been continuously operating as a movie theatre since 1910. we saw "Prisoners" there, which we loved. the seating is: back row: 3 grand red leather couches, then 6 or 7 rows of red leather easy chair and ottoman combos with round tables with sweet little lamps on them in between each set of two seats. In the ottomans are cashmere throws. . . next to the ottomans are nice sized ledges for you to put your stuff on. and the front row is 5 or 6 king sized red velvet beds to recline on while watching the film ~~~ plus in the back is a nice bar with some munchies.
Even the toilets have been perfectly thought out to get there fast and not let any light into the theatre.
http://www.electriccinema.co.uk

another mighty fine cousin meet-up hosted by Marilyn and Peter Cohen and Anna and Shlomi

Anna and 5-month old Elaya

Stephanie and Peter Cohen

Elaya and Shlomi

Michael Saxton

Anna, Elaya and Shlomi

we thank you all so very much for putting together this delightful evening.

I'm so happy to know each of you and be connected as family :)

Bath

with my new Virgo friend Chris from Portland who I met at the Therme Spa
we had a very pleasant 'float 'n chat in their rooftop pool, and enjoyed 4 different aromatherapy steams . . . then we bumped into each other the next day and she helped me decide between 2 coats . . . Bath has a well deserved reputation for retail therapy :)
rooftop pool at the Therme Spa in Bath

like I said, retail therapy ;-)

Stonehenge . . .

om

my dad's childhood home in Cardiff, Wales

there are no words . . .

self portrait on the train coming into Cardiff.
very ready to hear the sounds, see the visuals, smell the smells and feel the energy where my dad grew up