Cheers from our cousins across the pond

As you've already heard, we spent a bit of time in the Motherland last month. Apparently they don't call it Jolly Old England over there as much as I thought they did (a word to the wise), but we had a right smashing time nonetheless. As my ever so ever so better Anglicanly informed sister has already pointed out, one of the highlights of our trip was Westminster Abbey. What she failed to point out, however, was that we also spent a great deal of time (two separate visits) at St. Paul's Cathedral (a Baroque church designed by the great Christopher Wren at the end of the 17th century). By the end of our first visit there, Robin had decided that her primary aim in life would thenceforth be to be buried in St. Paul's. After some heated discussion, we decided that the best means of achieving that would be to make a very large donation around the time of her death. Toward that end, I am starting up the "Bury My Sister at St. Paul's Fund." I will be establishing this as a 501(c)3 later this month, but in the interim, all donations can be sent directly to me (obviously Robin can't be expected to make the donation after she's gone). We are shooting for a $1 million, so give till you can't give no more.

For me, the highlight of the trip was the British Library (no picture policy there as well, sorry). With more than 13 million books, almost a million journals and some of the most incredible manuscripts, diaries, letters and musical compositions, it is as close as I've ever come to sacred ground. To the right (I hope), is an image of the original manuscript of the poem Dulce et Decorum est, perhaps the great poem ever written about war by probably the greatest commentator on war in the English language (let's not try and compete with the Russians on this one). Written by a 23 or 24 year old young man while in the trenches in France, this poem profoundly altered (and still does) the way many in  Europe perceived the war. It is in many ways a living piece of history (the actual manuscript, of course, not this image over here to the right.

Robin didn't mention food all that much. For those of you who are not acquainted with British cuisine, my hats off to you. While they did give the world the "chip" (that would be a french fry to us here in the colonies) that may be the extent of their culinary contribution. Luckily, there are lots of Indian restaurants in London (to go along with the lots of Indians there).

Another thing we did while there was to zip on over the Channel to Paris for the day. Paris is a nice place, I highly recommend it. If you ever seen those beautiful postcards of typical Parisian streets, lined with cafes and trees, you know what Paris looks like. The whole city is like one never ending postcard. How droll. I guess that's all for now. I'm including a picture taken from the top of St. Paul's. This should help you find it when you go to visit Robin's tomb (much later, of course).