Friday, June 15, 2007

European Vacation (part one)


You may recognize this… the gilded statue of Nike, the Greek goddess of Victory, the gods' personal charioteer, outside Buckingham Palace – taken on a particularly blustery day in mid May. She personifies how I felt at the end of my vacation, but first, how it began… in London…

Reconnecting with old friends, doing embarrassingly touristy things (touring Tower Bridge, having tea at The Orangery , wandering the Tate, and catching Wicked), and having the ideal hotel location (the Citadines at Trafalgar Square) proved to be the perfect combination in London. The great memories have numbed the absolutely painful shock of how expensive things were in London. I had heard all about it: the dollar had dropped; London was always expensive; be prepared. It’s more than 2 to 1, dollar to pound, at the moment.

I landed in Gatwick’s North Terminal and changed $100. By the time I reached the South Terminal, 10 minutes later, it was almost all gone – spent on a train ticket, a bottle of water and a map. I persevered. I tried to develop immunity. “Five dollars for a coffee, no problem, two please.” [I highly recommend the Flat White Café in Soho for a great coffee.]

Coffee was one thing, but the big money was yet to come. My need for new jeans (remember, holes developing from the wash) and new shoes (also had holes, but not because of Prishtina water, but because of Prishtina sidewalks) meant I had to start mentally tricking my extremely frugal brain into thinking that the prices were really in dollars, which I did. Seventy “dollars” for a pair of shoes – not bad, and 45 “dollars” for jeans, sure, I can do that. I shopped around to find those bargain jeans - most were 90 "dollars" or more. What was I supposed to do? My jeans had holes, people! Not since I was 12 years old and saved 8 months of allowance to buy my first pair of Levi cords (baby blue in color) have I so agonized over a purchase of clothing. So I left London with two new pairs of jeans and two new pairs of shoes. The shoe sales lady seemed inordinately pleased that I was purchasing two pairs of shoes - as if they did not sell very many of their ridiculously overpriced shoes. And then I said something at the register, and hearing me, the sales lady's expression changed to one of comprehension, as if she had me figured out - this stranger willing to lay out a bundle for a couple pair of walking shoes - and she said "So, you're Canadian." "Sure," I responded. Why not? Although now I wonder, are Canadians wealthy, or big spenders, or fond of walking shoes, or do I now have a Canadian accent? I'll never know.

I also entered the first Boots I came upon and went to the cold/flu aisle where I filled my basket with a variety of cold remedies, having exhausted what I thought would be a year's supply in my first six weeks in Kosovo. (No, they don't sell decongestants or the powerful cough medicine in Kosovo - at least not without a prescription. Instead, they offer you herbal remedies in the pharmacies - please...) My shopping apparently caught the attention of the store security guard who began following me around - my choice of decongestant and ear plugs obviously intriguing. At the counter, the cashier looked very concerned and brought over someone else in a white coat. I then vaguely recalled that in the States, some kinds of cold medicines are used for manufacturing meth, and I think the number of boxes you can purchase is restricted, so I pondered the believability of my story should I have to tell it ... an American... in Kosovo...herbal remedies only...in London on holiday...stocking up... Oh, yeah, that would work. As I was assessing the feasibility of having to buy one box of cold medicine in every Boots in the area, the white coat person turned to me and told me not to take all the medicines at the same time -- (four boxes of pills, two bottles of cough syrup). -- "Um, okay, thanks" I said. And off I went with my purchases.

After five days, I reluctantly returned to Gatwick to depart (not before I bought another box of cold medicine at the Boots at Gatwick - no such thing as too prepared). I flew back from London to Prishtina with Professor D who had come over to Europe to celebrate his 40th birthday – the celebration included a very nice dinner in London with friends at the Grape Street Wine Bar (highly recommend it – reasonable, tasty food, and a nice selection of reds) and a wish on his part to see Albania. This set in motion the second part of my holiday…

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