I love this idea that you can be in Istanbul at 8 in the morning and back in London before noon. And that's where we are now, West London, Uxbridge to be exact.
I unpacked the one bag I'd taken on the trip and found the keychain that Elmira, Jay's mother, gave to me in Istanbul. That's a portrait of the legendary Ataturk. He gained independence for Turkey, was the first President of Turkey and is the founder of the Republic of Turkey. He modernized Turkey, changed their written language from a arabic alphabet to an English alphabet, and transformed the former Ottoman Empire into a modern, westernized, secular nation-state. He also has been very good for the keychain industry. A cherished item, this keychain is (why am I talking like Yoda?).
Last Wednesday, between Robin's classes at Brunel University, we waked to one of our favorite pubs, The Malt Shovel, for lunch.
Fraser, from Scotland, was bartending that day. A very nice lad.
Robin ordered Aspall cider. See that stream of fabulous bubbles? Do you wonder why they're streaming only from the center of the bottom of the glass?
The engraved pattern in the bottom of the glass makes the bubbles. I don't know how or why. Just part of God's master plan I guess.
We like the glass pint so much we asked Fraser if we could buy it, and also the half-pint size. He checked with the manager and said no problem. How much? Whatever you like, or how about £2.50 for both. OK, add it to the tab, and one more thing, we need a photo of you holding our new souvenir cider glasses for the blog. Thanks, Fraser. We'll remember you.
In Robin's class I listen and learn a lot about the works of Shakespeare. I also work on my semester assignment, memorizing sonnet 81.
I also like to sneak in a drawing or two during class.
It's starting to look like Springtime on the Brunel campus.
