Greg's bday

Today was my birthday. It started with 13 hours of sleep and ended with our remembering to take the first pill in what will be our daily anti-malaria regimen. Curiously, the pill bottle notes that we must not lie down for at least 30 minutes after ingesting, leading to the rather comical situation in which Shawn and I, arriving home late and tired, are forced to stand or sit in our tiny room until well past midnight.

In between, we enjoyed an unusually sunny and warm London afternoon, a perfect complement to a day of walking and gawking. I last visited London 20 years ago and hadn’t remembered it as being an especially interesting or memorable city. (Sorry to the Anglophiles among you.) But this time I very much enjoyed the cobbled, old-world sidestreets, the imperial bearing of the buildings and the ever conveniently located pubs. Though I do have some memory of appreciating the latter before. Regarding the pubs, I will say this, however: They just can’t compete with the innumerable beer options available in Portland. Only six taps? How the mighty have fallen.

We visited the National Gallery (highlight: Seurat’s "Bathers at Asnieres" [1884]) and the Tate Modern (highlight: Max Ernst’s "Forest and Dove" [1927])and that thing made with soap). We had a beer at a sidewalk stand (highlight: the drinking of the beer) (see above). And the British, despite their reputation for a haughty reserve, are decidedly progressive about walking and drinking. I think we have the drunken soccer hooligan lobby to thank for that. Oy.

The night concluded beautifully with surprise tickets (from Shawn for my birthday) to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Shakespeare’s Globe, an open-air theater built near the site of and in the style of the famed venue. We had daydreamed about seeing a show there for years and absolutely loved the performance, which at times actually reduced us to tears for laughing.

Now as our as yet unadjusted body clocks keep us wide awake (it is nearly 2 a.m.), I sign off in hopes that I’ve waited long enough before lying down.