I See London, I See France...


... and they are both Bloody Hot!


5 - 14 July 1999: I See London, I See France, and They're Both Bloody Hot

I landed early in London and went straight to my hotel, the St. Ermin, on Caxton Street. After going to my room, I headed up to the Citibank on Oxford Street, to cash a cheque the Royal Post sent me for 42 British pounds. They wouldn't cash it or let me deposit it, despite it being my bank. They suggested I got to the Midland bank, on which it was drawn. I did, and Midland said, go to the *branch* upon which it was drawn.

Ugh.

I was able to cash in Kathleens 6.5 million Turkish lira with no problem (it was just 8 pounds), but I could not get a the cheque of a major bank from the Royal Mail cashed.

The Celine Prophecy

Afterward, I visited Voyage Vacances and met Celine, the delightful woman who booked my trip to Paris, and I paid her in cash since the evil Chase Manhattan doubled my debit card withdrawal, and then refunded one at the same time La Celine issued a refund. La Celine had no idea her agency had not been paid.

Cash. It works.

Later, I made the near fatal mistake of having a wee snackette at Burger King, overlooking Picadilly Circus. I was served by Celine, a West Indian woman.

Then I went to the Body Shop and stumbled across some fantastic sales. Vanilla bath gel for just a pound-fifty.

Then I returned to the hotel and checked over something with, yes, Celine, the trainee behind the desk. The St. Ermin is commited to only having trainees at the front desk, at all times.

I then headed over to the QEII Centre, which is across from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, to our conference, Application Development '99. I went to the safety training. I met overly enthusiastic volunteers. I got really tired.

I went down for a slight nap at 3 pm and woke up at 10 pm. Nothing is really open then, and having the bloody mini-bar for dinner was not all that appealing. So I ventured into the sticky evening and found a Sainsbury open. I dined on yogurt and pasta salad. Basically, it's a supermarket.

I slept well that night. The next three days were work work work, meetings, etc. Tiresome stuff I won't bore you with.

Posted: Mon - July 5, 1999 at 02:27 AM        

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