From North Heathrow - English Pub

Once we made the decision to stay in hotels instead of hostels, we found some good ones. Our room in Paris was excellent, one I hope to share with my wife and daughter some day.

Heading back to the States we overnightted in North London. Our objective was to keep it quiet for our last night in Europe and get some rest before the long flight home. We didn't expect to be so successful, but this little neighborhood close to the airport was exactly what I'd been wanting to see...a typical English suburb sans tourists.

About a block from the hotel we ran into this pub. I'd had some fixed ideas about what a typical English pub was like, based on James Herriot's books, and found them to be totally accurate. The inside was warm and cozy, the English patrons settling in for a pint on their way home from a day's work. This photograph shows the exquisite care taken to keep the outside immaculate; here you can see to the right a separate place for darts and sports television. The proprietor in the blue shirt is standing watch over the comfort of his guests...all of them English (except us), sitting and smoking and drinking and complaining about the struggles of the day. I finally saw what I came to see in England.

Except Thirsk. I'd like to visit Thirsk, where Jim Wight did his work that became famous in the James Herriot books.
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The other day I discovered something strange about our cat. I suppose that in the cat world "strange" is a relative term, but this was the first time I'd heard of a cat that likes to eat tortillas. Yes, tortillas. And I wouldn't've believed it if I hadn't'a seen it...