nerd tourism

[solipsistnation]

Today we took a train to Bletchley Park and looked at very very old computer-like devices. We'd planned to get up 9-ish, get a train around 10 and hit Bletchley at 11ish, but after last night's Adventure in Insomnia we actually fell back asleep around 4 and didn't wake up until 11. We hurried to the tube and made it to the train just in time to totally confuse ourselves with buying tickets. We ended up with more-or-less 2 one-way tickets or something. I have no idea, but it was expensive.

Bletchley Park itself is a great little museum. Aside from the codebreaking hardware they had a big exhibit of wartime stuff-- everything from posters and details about rationing to gas masks and assorted stuff for defense against air raids. Fascinating. I took lots of pictures. I've uploaded a few to Flickr and will be uploading the rest when we get home.

Then back to the train (whereupon our ticket confusion became apparent and we had to buy a second set of one-way tickets. ouch.) and back to London. Off to Oxford Street, where stophittinyrslf acquired a hat and a scarf and some gloves, because it's snowing and is supposed to be cold for the next couple of days. We found a place to get some groceries there too (including the only vegan cheese I've ever been able to stomach, Cheezly. It's actually good stuff, even if it's mostly unlike cheese).

It's a good thing we acquired food then, because as it turns out, London shuts down entirely at 6:00pm on Sundays. Come on, guys-- why don't you exploit your low-paid workers like the rest of the world? I think this (aside from the relatively minor inconvenience) is another thing I like about London-- it knows when to go home and go to bed (or whatever). There's no sense that everything everwhere must be open 24 hours a day just in case somebody wants to buy something...

Tomorrow, if it snows and gets really cold, will be our hardcore British Museum day. If it's a little nicer we'll hold off on that until Tuesday, when it's really supposed to snow.

I also seem to have a cold, so I am ingesting unfamiliar and mysterious British cold remedies. Yum, drugs.

Comments

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

OVERSEAS DRUG TIP: paracetamol is the same drug as acetaminophen (para-acetylaminophenol - get it?).

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

EXCEPT BETTER BECAUSE IT IS FOREIGN. Heh.

Also, many over-the-counter generics are really really cheap. The OTC Claritin-stuff was, I think, 49p for 7 days, rather than, you know, a buck a pill in the US, or 5 bucks for 7 days of the generic. I should load up or something. Friggin' drug companies.

[wednesday]

Get the Zyrtec/Zirtek/cetirizine if you can handle it -- the generic is priced WAY more sensibly in the UK.

[pir.livejournal.com]

You can get more things over the counter here, too, like small doses of codine (usually combined with ibuprofen or paracetamol). Generally have to ask for the interesting drugs from behind the counter, though

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

Oh, we have that in the US, too. It's called "asking for the special Eskimo Pies".

[oletheros.livejournal.com]

the fact that everything shuts down on sunday evenings is very peculiar. this is why pubs exist, however.

[sweh.livejournal.com]

In the "wrong" parts of London they're also closed.