Day 17: People who need people.

Today was a day for tube concerts. Of course, fridays are like that. You'll see guitarists, and saxaphonists, mainly... with a hat or a case at their feet. Singing away without a care in the world. And you know, they're generally quite good. And today, as we were transfering from the district to some other line, I could have sworn I heard James Taylor reverberating throughout the tunnels. As we decsended on the elevator, there was the man. No... He wasn't James Taylor. But he could have been his twin, in voice and tone and guitar picking.

As we began scanning our passes, one after the other, to exit the tube station, I noticed an Indian man on my left having quite the time of it. He was trying to scan his Oyster card on the wrong part of the machine, and nobody seemed much inclined to assist him. So, I walked over, pointed to the scanner, and smiled. He nodded thank you several times, scanned his card, and waved goodbye on his way out.

We were headed for Buckingham Palace... and we were right on time to see the changing of the gaurd. Little did we know... literally THOUSANDS of people show up to see the changing of the gaurd. And for a short little kid like me, that can be pretty suffocating.

Of course, we did make some friends. There was a group of french middle schoolers who wanted to get Robyn's phone number. The boy heading the pack kept saying "what's your name?" ... "what's your name?"... Eventually he told us, "I speak England, very small"... Yes, well, that got the main idea across. ;) When he finally got up the guts to ask "What's your number?" he was sure disappointed. Robyn hasn't got a phone! (At least, not here, anyway...) It's interesting to note that "what's your number" is one of the first phrases he's learned. Excellent education, that. ;)

The changing of the gaurd is ... well, overrated. Yes, the hats are funny. And they stomp around and yell and look like tin soldiers. And the band marches in. And there's a mounted cavalry. But my goodness, if you EVER come to London for just a day, DO NOT come to buckingham palace!!! It is a tourist trap like you wouldn't believe, and it in no way represents London.

Anyway, we didn't stay long. We got some pictures, listened to the sheer number of accents surrounding us, gawked at the size of the crowd, watched the soldiers marching about, and then we scedaddled.

But, right before we left... I noticed a little asian boy trying desperately to see, and having no luck at all. His dad just looked at him, and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say "I'm sorry..." I figured it was probably more important for him to see than the old lady pressing in behind me, so I motioned him over and squeezed him in to where he could stare through the gate at the soldiers on the other side. His father mouthed a thank you, and I shrugged my shoulders, and waved goobye. If buckingham palace wasn't a life changing event for me, at least I was able to let a little Asian boy see the soldiers in the black furry hats. That's something. :)

We finally found a Cornish Pasty shop on our way back up the street. It was about lunch time, so I figured, "Why not?"... I bought a traditional steak and potato pasty, for 3 pounds, and sat down to eat it. Little did I know it would taste like home. It was mom's hash, grandma's hash, inside a pie crust! And my word it was good.

After lunch, we found the Ritz Hotel. The people there were very nice, surprisingly enough. They let us come in and take pictures on the staircase, and look around. But we weren't allowed past the bar doors, because we had on jeans and tennis shoes. On the way out, the security gaurd said,"if you ever come back and want to see more, and you've got a gentleman on your arm, make sure he's got a jacket and tie!" Fancy place, the Ritz! Not even khakis and a sweater vest will do!

We intended to find a place called the "Shepherds Market", and ended up at Green Park instead. We looked over the hedge and saw what looked like a MILLION heffalumps, all in a row! We couldn't believe our luck, and proceeded to go from elephant to elephant, taking pictures of each one. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but we're on a mission... FIND EVERY HEFFALUMP. They are statues of elephants, all over London, decorated by different people, that will eventually be sold for a million dollars each, to help raise awareness for an endangered species of Asian Elephant. The scavenger hunt is really getting underway now... We've found almost 50 of the 200 in London!

Hooray!

Then we discovered a bunch of lawn chairs on a stretch of grass in the park, and had a seat. They were the old school kind, made of wood and stripidy green and white material. Unfortunately, you have to pay to sit, as we discovered when a man stood above us saying "One pound fifty, please." ... They're short on sitting room, here in London. You've got to pay to sit anywhere. In restaurants... to eat in costs more, and if you try to sit on the chairs outside a place you haven't bought from, even if they're completely deserted, you get the boot. But we paid for those lawn chairs, for one hour, so... we sat in them. :) It was a beautiful day. We talked, and read, and fell asleep, across from buckingham palace in our own personal lawn chairs. What a silly city. What a great day.

We barely got tickets for a show called "Psy", which was SPECTACULAR. It was an acrobatics show, that explored different mental illnesses and their effect on relationships and the individual. The man who was "addiction", had a giant ring that he spun with his body, and the looping in and out and up and down was... absolutely beautiful. The man who heard voices opened the show. He moved up and down on a trapeze swing, using his arms to lift his weight as effortlessly as picking up a spoon. I've never seen such grace and skill in an act so difficult. The woman representing insomnia... she was my favorite. She and her "husband" climbed up and down a pole... she would fall alseep and he would catch her. She'd keep moving up, and down, trying, and failing. They would spin together, drop to the floor and catch themselves just before they hit the ground. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen a human being do. It was so symbolic of all the give and take that comes with a relationship... how much we need each other... how much we depend upon one another. We are people who need people.

And I was sad when the performance was over.

People are... amazing. They have the will power to do hard things... to fly through the air on a trapeze, to learn calculus, to raise kids. People are amazing. So thanks everybody, for having the will power to do whatever you're doing.