Packers, York, London Tube, Oh My

My posting has to start with a congrats to all Packers fans.  For Ann and all of my in-laws and friends in Wisconsin, what an ending.  Who would have thought at the start of the season that the Packers would be SuperBowl Champs?  My Rams will be back there next year.  Sadly, the game did not start here until about 2am this morning, so we had to record it.  Ann left for Frankfurt this morning, so we will be having SuperBowl Wednesday night upon her return!!!  I promise to sing the National Anthem without any mistakes as well.

So, we had another fun trip this weekend.  We ventured to Northeast England to a town called York.  If you are a Braveheart fan, you will know that York was the staging ground for the English Army for all of the invasions of Scotland!!!  Anyway, it was an easy 2 hour train ride from London.  York was founded by the Romans somewhere around 70 AD, and amazingly, a substantial amount of the original city walls still stand.  It is an awesome sight.  You can actually walk about 4.5 miles around the city on the walls.  York is also home to York Minster, one of the largest Gothic Cathedrals in Northern Europe.  It was incredible.  We hiked the 275 steps to the top and had brilliant views of the City and countryside.  Beyond that, York had been home to the Vikings and English Tutors, so the architecture greatly reflected each of the eras.  There was a tiny winding street called "The Shambles," which dated to something like the 13th century and it was a medieval street with overhanging timber framed buildings and it once housed like 200+ butcher shops.  It was awesome.  We had a very traditional English tea at a famed tea house called "Betty's."  Other than that, it was a nice relaxing weekend outside the hustle and bustle of London.  

This leaves us with the Underground.  One thing about our move that we did not think about was the great shock to our immune systems.  We have quickly discovered that some of the germs and stuff that we are exposed to in the US and have built up immunities over time does not protect us so easily here.  Case in point, the TUBE.  Now, as far as commute, mine is just a simple one line transfer into Central London where I work and it is quite easy.  Ann, on the other hand, works off of the Jubilee Line which has constant interruptions and delays due to the expansion for the Olympics.  Anyway, regardless of commute time, the Tube should be more appropriately called the Petri Dish of death!!!  When you are jammed into a train car and everyone around you is coughing up lungs, you can only pray that you will not die of Ebola later that day.  They can't manufacture enough hand sanitizer to meet my needs.  I could not imagine if I was actually a germophobe and had to endure the Tube on a daily basis.  One would need a hazmat suit)  Anyway, just another interesting aspect of life in London to share.                

Cheers

Kevin