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April 4, 2006

London, Day Three

Today was the second (and final) day of the Visio conference, which ran until 4 or so. Following wrap-up, a group of us adjourned to a (different) pub (London's economy seems to be composed largely of pubs - the businesses on a given street seem to go pub, pub, hotel, book shop, pub, sandwich shop, pub...), where we unwound and caught up for a few hours.

Speaking of pubs, I've had several people write me to tell me that my <Keanu>Whoa!</Keanu> moment about finding a pub dating from 1727 is not, in fact, any kind of big deal. Jeff e-mailed me (title of the e-mail: "1727? P'shaw"):

Screw that, 1727. That's like a modernist Olive Garden in the Mall. You're in frickin' England, dude.

Danika (who hails from Boston) was similarly unimpressed:

Oh - you Northwestern mods. I've got a haunt back home that dates from 1757.

I'm reminded of that great line in "L.A. Story" where Angeleno Steve Martin is giving a tour of Los Angeles to visiting London-dweller Victoria Tennant. Driving past a number of oversized houses, he quips, "Some of these houses are over twenty years old!".

So, yeah. I'm from a part of the world that's a mite ... newer. Shoot me.

One thing I can't get over is how it feels to walk the streets. This part of London seems to have a uniform building height of around four or five stories, which, combined with the twisty roads and whatnot, gives the whole place a bit of a maze feel ("You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike"). Cities like Seattle or Vancouver have tall buildings alongside smaller ones, punctuating the skyline every few hundred feet or so. London, not so much. I'll see if I can't capture a few photos of what I'm talking about.

The rest of my week is customer visits, and - with luck - siteseeing on Thursday. It'll be great to fire up the 'ol camera.

Posted by Gavin Shearer at April 4, 2006 10:37 PM. Posted to MSFT | Travel.

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