I'm a lazy girl...

Or, perhaps not lazy, but easily cold. After coming here yesterday, I went in search of food. Food and a notebook. I got a beef pasty-- how British am I?-- and finally found a notebook. I'm so glad for that. I've written addresses, lists of all the money I've spent, a detailed calendar for the next few days, and notes in it. I've been so good, and it's been amazingly helpful. Anyway, I went to the Abbey to discover that evening service is not at 5:30 pm as I thought, but at 6:30! I went into some shops to try to keep warm, but they all closed early since it was Sunday. Finally, I sat in the Abbey square and worked in my notebook. A street performer was playing his guitar nearby, in front of the Roman Baths. He was thin and stringy-looking, with a very raspy voice. Occasionally an older man accompanied him on the recorder. He played a really bizarre version of "The Sound of Silence," "Danny Boy," and "Knocking on Heaven's Door" (prefaced with a story about his pilgrimage over Easter to "Mecca. Covent Garden, that is, Mecca of my folk."). He also played "Annie's Song," which he said he played for Annie Denver when she came to Bath.

Hm.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. Yesterday it was sunny sometimes, but windy and cold all the time. I was not dressed for the weather at all. I thought that it would be like Saturday, so I had only my light sweater on. Bad idea. Today I was smarter and wore my heavy raincoat (we're supposed to have scattered showers as well). I managed to sit outside for about forty-five minutes, but by 5:15 pm, I couldn't stand it anymore. I went home. It would have been nice to have had service in the same church where Jane Austen might have gone to services (I don't know what denomination an Abbey is, really). But I'll go inside today or tomorrow, and that will be fine. At home, I worked more on my notes and then took a hot shower and curled up under my blankets. I went around the corner to Chelsea Street and got a pizza with tomatoes and mushrooms-- ah, delicious-- and came back with it. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention in this blog that the guy at the counter gave me a free diet Coke. Okay, it's silly, but he was cute. I think girls understand this... Kristin Chenoweth expresses it well in "Taylor the Latte Boy":

"As he smoothly flipped the lever to prepare my double latte,
But for me he made it triple! (And he didn't think I knew.)
But I saw him flip the lever, and for me he made it triple,
And I knew that triple latte meant that Taylor loved me too.

I said, 'What time are you playing? And thank you for the extra skim.'
He said, 'Keep the $3.55,' because this triple latte was on him."

When I came back, I ate my pizza and watched "Britain's Top 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches." Of course, Monty Python really dominated the list, but here were a couple I liked:

1) "Lumberjack Song," Monty Python. I think it was number 48 or something. I'd never seen a couple of these Monty Python sketches before, and they are so classic. So this was good. There was also commentary by John Cleese-- so hot-- and Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam.

2) "Four Yorkshiremen," At Last the 1948 Show. Famous sketch, really funny, and the show had a great cast.

3) "The Jockey Safari," Big Train. So funny. A herd of jockeys in the grasslands, hunted down by the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

4) "Gerald the Talking Gorilla," Not the Nine O' Clock News. Also good, where a gorilla is the subject of an experiment, and becomes more cultured and literate than the scientist who is studying him. The scientist says, "You were wild when I captured you!" And the gorilla says, "Wild? I was absolutely livid!" The gorilla is played by Rowan Atkinson.

5) "Ministry of Silly Walks," Monty Python. Oh John Cleese...

6) "Andre Previn," Morecambe and Wise. Andre Previn is a surprisingly funny guy.

7) "Spanish Inquisition" and "Dead Parrot," Monty Python. Again, classics. "Dead Parrot" was number two, but "Spanish Inquisition" is so much better...

So yeah, look those up. I spent the evening surrounding myself with these comic hallmarks of Britain.

There is a family next to me in the coffee shop and they have the most horrendous accents. I used to think, "Oh, British accents, they're so pretty and nice and distinguished-sounding." The priest-in-training I met said, "British accents are so much more cultured, don't you think?" And you know what I say now? British accents are, at least by half, quite ugly. Maybe it's because I don't hear American accents anymore, but a lot of British accents are abrupt, with no music. American accents sound more lyrical to my ear every time I hear one or I speak. I know that some people speak heavily and the accent can be ugly, but really-- there is so much variety in accents here that among the beautiful ones, you get some very ugly ways of speaking.

Also of note is "Old Man River"-- it was the background music in one of the sketches last night ("Breakfast Routine") and it was playing in one of the stores I went into yesterday. A little bit odd.

I'm going to go mail my postcards next, then go for a free walking tour of the city (provided it's not raining), go to the Abbey, come back to Caffe Nero and update my blog and add new pictures, have dinner, and go on the Bizarre Bath walking tour. Tomorrow, I plan to go to the Roman Baths museum, the upper Assembly rooms, the Bath Museum of Costume, high tea at the Pump-Room, and the Ghost Walk. On Wednesday, I'm going to go to the Sally Lunn bun shop and walk around the city-- to Royal Victoria Park, #4 Sydney Road, etc. I'm not sure what to do after that.

Okay, so off I go.