Fish and Chips

I commuted back down to London after work, taking the 5:15 train from Cambridge, arriving with no cell service near Kings Cross, but at that point it’s a short tube and walk to the flat near Russell Square.

But no one was home.

Everyone was out, and so I took off the contacts, grabbed a beer, and sat down to read a little. I was looking for a relaxing night after a long week of work and little sleep. However just as I was finishing a beer, Tia texted me to meet them at Holburn station for some fish and chips. The boys wanted an authentic experience, so I agreed, got dressed, and headed over.

I got there, expecting to meet everyone on their way home and walking around Russell Square. Instead everyone was inside the turnstiles, wanting to go to Piccadilly Circus. Not what I was looking for, but it was good to see the family, so I bought a ticket and we headed out.

Piccadilly Circus is not what I remember from 20 years ago when there were more signs lighted up rather than LCD screens and digital technology. We walked around, but didn’t find much. One pub on the edge of Chinatown looked good, but it wasn’t serving food. We asked someone and they pointed us to Leister Square, so we walked over to a tourist restaurant on the edge of the square.

We got fish and chips, a nice set of portions that the kids liked. Well, the boys. Kendall told me on the walk over that she was trying to get through this trip without trying fish. Kind of funny, but that’s OK. It was neat having her excited. She kept walking with me, holding my hand, and missing Dad. That’s nice, though it meant that I didn’t really get much time with my wife.

Afterwards we came home to try and plan out the next few days. They’ve missed a few things, mainly because I think they haven’t adjusted to the time. They’re up late, and then starting late. I’m more adjusted, since I fell asleep on the couch at 10ish and then was up at 6:30. I couldn’t sleep more, and at 7:30 I went for a run, stopping for coffee on the way back.

9:00 and no one else is up. I have the feeling we’ll have a late start, which is OK, but makes me nervous about Tuesday morning and our 9am flight from Heathrow.

London is OK, but there’s nothing wonderful here I want to see. Not sure why I’m such and ugly American, but I really am. No history, or sights really excite me. I saw many of them when I was hear years ago, so I’m UK’d out. Instead I’d prefer to be back on the ranch, back trying to do things that are more interesting to me. Like playing baseball on opening day, which I’ll miss tomorrow.