UK Tour Blog 13, London!

We finally made it to London! Yesterdays’ show was at The Harrison in Kings’ Cross. We stayed near Cambridge University where Leif was to deliver a talk in the morning, he’s a geology professor as well as a fiddle player. We were up and out early to drop Leif at school, then it was time for breakfast and the ride into London. We frequently eat breakfast at the cafe in Morrison’s Supermarket and that’s what we did yesterday. Morrison’s is a big chain, most of their stores have a cafe inside where you can get a cheap and reliable breakfast. The English Breakfast is tasty enough and I can generally get through until dinner on one, so about five pounds for a plate of sausage, beans, toast, bacon, hash browns, an egg, and a pot of tea is a good deal.

Fed and with several hours to spend, we drove into London. Gerry dropped us off near the gig, which was just a few blocks from The British Museum, so off we went. The British Museum is free to the public, and simply massive with a staggering collection of antiquities. A visitor could spend all day in just the Egyptian galleries and not succeed in taking it all in. Since there was a bit of a tight schedule I opted for the survey-level approach and took in as much as I could in a few hours. I was able to make my way through the Egyptian, Roman, and Celtic galleries before it was time to go. The sheer number of artifacts and the amount of information presented will make your head spin; I wish that we had more time to spend there. On the way out we did stop the see the Rosetta Stone(!), but missed The Great Wave off Kanagawa. That will be first on my list next time.

The Harrison is a snug pub, full of leather couches and tucked down a side street in Kings’ Cross. The performance space downstairs is a nice space for an intimate show and that’s just what we had. It was a pleasure to play in London and I can’t wait until we can come back! Today is a travel day, we play in the medieval city of Norwich tomorrow night, so stay tuned for castle pictures!

Thanks for reading,