LL-L "Travels" 2007.07.22 (03) [E]

Sun Jul 22 21:42:28 UTC 2007

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  22 July 2007 - Volume 03

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From: "Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc." <roger.thijs at euro-support.be>
Subject: LL-L "Travel"

Since yesterday Saturday (being a Belgian national holiday) risked to be a
lost day, so, as many other Belgians I left the country for a day trip.
Friday evening (or night) I tried to get a cheap last minute rail ticket for
London.
On the Eurostar website they listed out rates starting at 67.50 euro (*135
return ticket*) but when switching to the purchase pages they could offer
nothing under 258 (or *516 euro return*). I had given up and replanned for
northern France, when I croschecked on the Belgian Railways web pages and
could still get a return ticket for 135 euro there. The basic difference is
that you have to pay for your sandwiches if you absolutely want to eat
during the 150 mins trip.

The train arrives momentarily in Waterloo station (will be St Pancras
shortly), and upon arrival everybody spurts to the tube ticketing windows
and machines, where you see queues of up to 50 people, most of them not
really knowing what to do. A must for all frequent visitors is to invest 3
pound in an Oyster card (a prepaid purse card) and recharge it at a quiet
moment somewhere downtown (or pre-arrange things over the internet). (
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/)

I actually went to Londen for book-shopping. I attended a seminar on 3G
wireless communication in Oxford a couple of weeks ago (
http://www.euro-support.be/oxum.pdf). It is difficult to buy technical books
over the internet, since you really have to check the content and the level
before buying.

When I was younger I toured around in the Russell square area for this kind
of tasks, since there were quite some interesting university bookstores at
the time.
Now I have a fixed pattern (I gues with aging one looses flexibility and
creativity):
- First the tube to Picadilly Circus for the 7 level (from -1 to +5) *
Waterstones* book store (203-206 Piccadilly) (One of the floors was
overcrowded with kids, since some Potter actors in silly clothes were
signing books.) (http://www.waterstones.com/)
- Next the tube to Oxford Circus and a walk trough East Oxford Street and
Charing Cross road. This gives two *Borders* stores one in each of these
streets, an other *Waterstones* in Oxford Street, and a bookshop where I
always find interesting stuff: *Blackwell's* on Charing Cross road (
http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/welcome.jsp). Not forgetting the many
second hand book shops in the Charing Cross Road area, where one always find
hard to find books on local history or regional culture.

When doing a day trip to Londen, calculate always some spare lost hours for
heavy rain. One can use these for taking some food. Be prepared that the
Mac's become overstuffed with wet bodies during rainy time. You cannot move
there, don't speak about eating. So plan your places: the 5th floor
restaurant in the Waterstones bookshop at Piccadilly is too far for rain
fugitives. So is the M&S restaurant in Oxford street, since one has to
choose between waiting 10 mins for the elevator or zigzagging to the staires
at the end of the ground floor, and zigzagging back to the restaurant on the
1st floor. The reward: a quit seat, eatable food for a normal price (They
serve even Belgian Duvel beer in the Waterstones restaurant).

Other than buying technical srtuff, I could not resist to buy some books
about languages:

- Marton J. Ball, *The Celtic Languages,* Routledge, London,  ISBN
0-415-26060-X (GBP 29.99 at Blackwells), 682 pp.is a reprint of a book first
printed in 1993. I guess it is old stuff and what it tells about e.g.
revival efforts for Cornish and Manx may be outdated. *Has anybody knowledge
of a more updated comparative overview (space and time) of the Celtic
language body??*

Also at Blackwell's I also bought this curious combination:

- Charlsie Childs: *Improve your American English Accent* (3 CDs with a
little 45 pp. booklet, in a DVD case), Mc Graw Hill, ISBN 0-07-142809-7 (GBP
13.99)
and
- Linda James & Olga Smith, *Get Rid of your Accent*, London, Business &
TechnicalCommunication Services, Ltd, ISBN 0-9553300-0-9, 142 pps with 3 CDs
at the back in a pocket. (GBP 19.95)

To my feeling the first is a bit theatrically overdone US-English, the
second gives boaring RP-English. I guess the later is helpfull for giving
foreigners a standard, but not helpfull for getting acquainted with and
understanding the street varieties on the Brittish Isles.

On the way back I was surrounded by kids from a school from the London area.
I guess they were all around 12. The group was quite homogenous: they were
all black. I don't know for how much the school systems in the UK are
factually segregated. Anyhow these kids started with a couple of bags of
chips (crisps) each, till one of them found out that in coach 6 there are
more chips for sale. So I guess they finally got enough energy for the
football game they planned somewhere in Belgium. (I don't know where they
store all these chips in the train - "chips" really is big business!!)

In the morning trip one gains an hour due to the time difference, and in the
evening one pays the price and arrives at home in the middle of the night.

Regards,

Roger

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com >
Subject: Travels

Hi, Roger!

I take it this was supposed to be a posting.  However, minus the book
details it has the makings of an article (in this case a report about a
specific trip) for our "Travels" site (lowlands-l.net/travels/) in that it
might motivate other "Continentals."  Please think about it and let me know.

Thanks for sharing your information, as always.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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