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In London, they just started Eurostar service to the new St. Pancras station. Beyond the fact that you don't have to wind your way through wacky Waterloo station, you can now make it to Gare du Nord in just two hours as opposed to previous two and a half.       Due to this new, speedier, faster, truly high speed train service, they have launched a rather bold advertising campaign. You can see the most striking example below. Essentially it says, "Attention, London is just around the corner." It's clever, funny, and definitely gets attention, but does it purvey the message that they want? I don't know and I don't have anyone in Paris (whom I assume they're targeting this at) to ask at the moment. I would think that you'd want some French guy timidly poking the Queen with a baguette to encourage the French to go to London. This just speaks more like an air raid siren in that, you'd better get ready and put out your most room temperature beer possible, because the Brits? Yeah, they're a comin'!       Ah, but according to Sky News, this one was targeted at the Belgian market. Still, it doesn't seem to have the effect that I think in should in that you really want to get people to London and not vice versa. Maybe slapping the Queen with a waffle would present the message that I think they were trying to present.       Hey, I'd love to see the John Cleese Silly Walks one if anyone can find it!       

It's the case that when in the place where they do things commonly, that even the worst of whatever they do is still considerably better than those who don't do it. Take pizza. In places where they make it a lot, even when it's not so good, it's still okay, even in the US       Such is the case with tea. Places like Croatia, Italy, Spain, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, and a whole slew of others have really bad tea. Sure, you'll find that one pocket of it somewhere where you stand up and scream, "Hallelujah!" But really, this is more from the shock of contrast in that what you've had to this point has been so bad that a weak coffee could taste like tea. Although, it is true that a somewhere like Čajna Hiša in Ljubljana has a really good brew.       Then you get to London and suddenly, tea is good. The stuff sitting on the night stand in London was ten times better than the best tea we had in Croatia. But this makes sense as they do tea and they do it well in the UK. I doubt that there is anywhere there, where you'll get a cup of the boiled leaf and want to spit it out. Then you go to a tea house and it is like floating in a leafy heaven where a well-steeped pot sits on every cloud.       Of course, you travel back to California and realize that nearly every wine is good somehow. Even the bad ones are drinkable. And you see that it's all about what a place does well. Sometimes it may seem like they don't have anything they do well, but when traveling for months on end, you realize that you just need to look deep enough and see what it is that people do well. Then you realize that something silly and unnecessary like a proper cup of tea is something that is analogous for finding whatever it is that is good about a place and enjoying the crap out of it.

We ended up staying at the Comfort Inn by Heathrow. Yeah, I know... why? There were two reasons. One is that I was flying in and out of London because I didn't know exactly where my trip was going to take me this summer. So, I chose the place with the most budget airline connections. The second reason that I stayed near Heathrow was because my flight was out of there in the morning and no budget airline got there early enough to make it on time. Well, no budget airline got to Heathrow for an affordable price early enough. Many would get to London early enough, but the hour sprint from Gatwick or Stanstead made it impossible to get to my flight check in at 9AM. Also, the hotels near the airport were a great deal cheaper than anything in the center.       Obviously, this all backfired on me because even though Comfort said that they were within walking distance of Heathrow, they lied. The walk would have probably taken an hour if it was possible. It was not possible because there is no pedestrian traffic allowed anywhere near Heathrow. Thus, you need to take the Hotel Hoppa. Admittedly, it's a convenient service, but at the same time, it's a damned expensive service and one you have to take, because you have no other choice to get to your hotel. The cost? A "mere" four pounds. Per person. Per one way ride. Yes, that's right, with today's exchange rates, it will cost you about $32 round trip for two on this thing and it goes less than four miles! It's a real racket for whoever is running it.       So, in the end, the 60 quid hotel room that we found was really 76. For those prices, you can find something damned near the same price and somewhat center-ish. Moral of the story: don't bother staying near the airport. Sure, it saves you that hour ride in the morning (and with a Tube strike, a bit more time) but from a cost perspective it just cheaper not to stay there. Happy travels!

I think one of my most guilty pleasures in blowing half a day in London, in a hotel room, due to the Tube strike was watching British TV programs (er... programmes). Overall, I find the offerings to be a great deal better there than here. While not always genius, shows will often have at least some thought put behind them. Truth be told, America rips off all its good shows from ones in the UK or Europe. So, it's no wonder that I'd love the much superior, original versions.       I got a great kick out of Dickinson's Real Deal. It's a show where people come on with stuff that's been lying around their place and they get the choice of taking the money from a antiques dealer on the spot or putting it up for auction. Besides the, "Oooh, which way will make more money?" you get to see the British do what they do worst and that is haggle. Admittedly there are a few that haggle well, but they're about as rare as Americans I like to travel with. Let's just assume that the British can't bargain for the premise of this article.       I've heard how bad they are about this in general from other Europeans, but I saw it first hand in Sućuraj, Hvar with a British couple there. It seems that where the Americans are too brash for haggling, the British are too nice. You can watch this unfold on Real Deal in many a humorous way. I could have watched a marathon session of it.       Say someone comes on and they have a Tiffany lamp (people don't but just pretend.) The dealer says, "Hmm, yes, yes. I think. Hmm, I would like to offer you, 20 and... yes yes, another 20 to bring this to 40 pounds." To which the person on the other end is seething to point where you can actually see it. This is no small feat and their response is so measured, that you tell they're pissed at the offer. It goes something along these lines, "Hmm, yes, well, that's not quite what I had envisioned. Perhaps a tad bit more if it wouldn't be too much trouble and all." And back and forth it goes. They make me jump out of my seat and scream, "Punch the son of a bitch! He's screwing you over!!!" It's like I'm watching incredibly well-mannered boxing.       This was in great contrast to the haggling I would hear in places like Belgrade which were like, "How much for this?" "400 dinar." "What?!! You're insane you son of a fatherless goat! I'll give you 50!" "50?!! Do I look like your whore of a sister?!! 300!! And not a dinar less!" "You insult my family for six generations with your 300!! 200!!" "250!!" "Hmm, 240!!" "Fine!! 240!! Now I never want to see you again!!" "The same, you ingrown donkey hoof!" Later on of course, mother and son would be sharing a beer, not the least bit offended by each other.       I have to say that I'm rather torn as to which approach I prefer. The British way seems so nice and easy to deal with, but you really risk offending each other because people take it personally. Whereas the other way is much more offensive, but both parties realize that there is no ill will meant and it's just business. This would be why America is such a mess, since we blend all of this together in to one sticky mess where everyone is offended all the time. At least we're consistent, eh?

After having lugged anywhere from a small backpack to two rolling suitcases, a large backpack, and my shoulder back through many a town in Europe, I've learned that there are those that are better for schlepping and those that are worse. Back in the day when it was just me and what was on my back (damn you idiotic liquid restrictions), I didn't have to worry about this so much. But, as I travel for longer periods of time and haul back wine, ham, and the occasional coffee set, I seem to need to have to have more luggage. It sucks, but this is the way it goes. I can only imagine what a nut I'll be when I have kids someday.       It was during this most recent trip where I came to realize that London really kicks ass when it comes to helping you along through the Underground. There are escalators everywhere (that are operational) and for the most part, there are no sudden bumps in the corridors where you have to quickly walk up a set of five stairs to go down a set of five stairs two meters later. That. Is crap. You happen to see this a bit in the Barcelona Metro stations, such as Passeig de Gracia, which is a station that people are frequenting a great deal with luggage, going to the airport or other distant locations. And nobody likes this, but they have to deal with it.       In short, Londoners are pretty spoiled with the ease of their public transit, when it comes to the schlep. The only place that I think is initially better is San Francisco, but because there are so few transit lines once you get out of the main ones, you're relatively screwed. So, all the hail the London Underground! Just try not to get stuck in a Tube strike while you're there like we did. That sorta makes all the nice escalators seem like a river taking you right in to a bucket of steaming poo.