The Adventures of Samwise: December 2005

Sweet mana from heaven!

For breakfast I was introduced to folare - or Portuguese - bread.

It is better than lembas bread.

I took a piece from the counter...

... but appariently it wasn't mine.

I fought for it.

And this is what I got.

But where there is a will, there is a way.

Must.Get.Folare.

This morning I was on my way to the kitchen to make a nice cup of tea when I encountered the most malevolent, obnoxious creature.

It threatened me in an incomprehensible language, then proceeded to try and eat me.

Fortunately, I escaped.

I have not encountered the creature since.

It's about time we earned some money to help recover from the London trip.

So I went to work at Gordy's gas station today.

Store greeter was a good job.

I also played security guard.

Then we had to stock the shelves...

... and the coolers...

I can't get these things open!

I think the real world is turning me into a caffine addict.

To Bethlehem!

It's this way, guys...

Onward!

Hey, where did those three guys go?

So we made it to Rochester with no problem. It's been a few days since we arrived... here is what I have been up to.

First, there's Monty. He's a good puppy.

He really likes me.

Cookie making.

Hanging out with the locals.

Waiting for our gate number in the Heathrow Airport.

Goodbye London.

Our last 24 hours in London...

They fed me to the lions... in Trafalgar Square

It's the one and only...

Now you see me (I'm on the bottom right)...

Now you don't...

The Toucan Pub

Puttin' on the Ritz...

Make new friends...

New Friend #1:
Because of the release of Narnia, McDonald's in the UK is celebrating with a release of Narnia toys in happy meals.
Karla brings home a Mr. Tumnus. Tumnus is supposed to play magical and dreamy music on his flute. This one makes a noise that makes a human behave in the same manner that a dog does when one of those horrid high-pitched whistles are blown, or the way a baby would if you were to pinch it, hard. I am trying to be friendly. But he is now in the suitcase.

New Friend #2:
The Bear on Oxford Street outside The Crest of London.

He is there every day. Every single day. He chases you down the street with his big bear head and coupons for 20% off (today only!) in the store... every day. Before class. After class. He is there.

Today was different though. Today, Oxford Street was closed to traffic, allowing holiday shoppers to run around like maniacs in the street, and drawing more tourists than anything. Since everyone else was taking their picture with The Bear, I decided it was worth a shot. Notice he has no coupons today. Tricky tricky.

New Friend #3:

My favorite. Karla was taping some people singing in the street, and the general craziness of Oxford Street today, and he walks in and starts putting on a show. So I had my picture taken with him. He was crazy, in a cool way. And just look at how very high up I am! How could you NOT be friends with someone with pants like that?

Packing is hate. Hate is baggage.
Logically, packing is baggage.

Stomp stomp!

It did eventually close. Not by my might alone, though.

So I've managed to get my entries a bit out of order. I am certain you will understand.

Last Sunday, Karla, Jess and I attended church at St. Paul's. Which is a beautiful building, and had a very nice men's choir.

This is me with the dome in the background. The small dome on top of the large one is the famous "Whispering Dome"...

And this is St. Paul's from the front. The bells were ringing!

Out back of the church I made a new friend. See me paying close attention at his feet?
Do you know who it is?

That's right, it is John Wesley. I am a quick study.

Finals do strange things to the human race...

First, the dependence on caffine. Here I am with a cup of coffee. I am lucky to be alive after going near a cup of coffee that is not mine.

Minutes before the second final of the day.

On the ride home, Jeff tried to comprehend that my Orc gear is indeed not removable. Built up stress makes even the simplist concepts hard to grasp.

And some, like Jess, resort to cannibalism to deal with finals week. This was most uncomfortable for me.

End of term always means major research papers.

Here I am researching the Umayyad and Abbasid empires in the British Museum Library. This was once the National Library of Britain until they moved it to... the (now) British National Library. I am sitting in one of the same places - very same desks - that Karl Marx studied and Betrix Potter wrote at.

780 words later, Karla and I decided we'd had enough of ancient Islam. We decided to walk around the museum because it is free.

Here I am next to a very old African totem pole.

The Rosetta Stone and I.

Statues of minor Greek Gods from the Patheon. This piece of stone is in the middle of a very large debate right now.

Assyrians!

Only the most violent people EVER.

Egyptian god, Osiris.. and I... near his foot on the lower left.

The London Fire Monument

A view of Tower Bridge and a big ship on the Thames from London Bridge

So the posters from the Narnia premier were huge. Larger than any suitcase, and unable to roll. Fortunately, Katie realized that the thick plastic top layer of the poster could be safely peeled from the thick cardboard, making the posters shipable. And leaving us with an abundance of thick cardboard. And where there is a boy, there is a plane. A giant paper airplane.