Who threw the shoe?

Whilst studying at Cambridge, one must avail oneself of activities designed to provoke, entertain and bemuse.

Last weekend, it was London's turn to become the backdrop. It was Susanne's last long weekend before she started work, so we booked a 4 star hotel via priceline for 59 pounds, and set off to see Big Ben. We arrived early afternoon, checked in, and went directly to TKTS at Leistershire (sp?) Square. We scored tickets to what I wanted to see last summer, that being 'Chicago'. After a pint on Charing Cross Road, we checked the 'Time Out' tour book (thanks mom and dad!) and discovered that we were one block from Bar Shu, which was described as a Szchewan restauant that was still true to its roots. Right they were - that place sizzled, provoking the tastebuds with some of the spiciest food this side of the Great Wall. The people at the table across the aisle asked the waitress to remove the chilies from one dish, and her slotted spoon removed an entire large bowl full! The place was also immaculately clean and our food was delicious, beginning with a rolled up beef appetizer, Ants Crawling up the Tree and a spicy stringy potato dish and of course some hot and sour soup.
After cooling our mouths with another quality English pint, we saw quality entertainment, London west end style with a fabulous rendition of Chicago. We tarried a bit on our way back to the Hotel, marvelling at Picadilly Square.
Our comfortable hotel made us extra sleepy, which meant that we didn't leave that cocoon until late. After a nice brekkie near Paddington Station, we set off to Portabello Road market, where we had cursorly explored a year prior.
What a market! My wonderful memories of that bustling street as a young lad were confirmed - it appeared to be every bit as entertaining as I remembered it to be. There were jewelry stands, records, tools, clothes, compasses, all sorts of interesting dodads. I fell in love with one item that Susanne made me come back and get - a mantle clock circa 1925 like the one that was at my paternal grandparents' house. I was and still am absolutely smitten with it.
Next was a dinner of Ribs (yes Erik, England has great ribs!) and then off to the Tate Modern for a beautiful dusk view of the Thames, dessert, coffee and some very bemusing and beautiful modern art pieces, including an old VW Microbus as Art - hmmm. Most of the pieces were incredible, with Dalis intermingled with Picassos and Monets. Then the return train home.


Then came last Friday night. We arrived at the gorgeous Cambridge Union Debating Society building to see former Aussie PM John Howard. Not being a big fan of his, but realizing that he was a guy who was a 4 term PM, it seemed like a good bet for an entertaining evening. As he started to speak, a guy two rows in front of us started to yell 'racist'. Although the accusation may have been appropriate given his questionable immigration policy of literally refusing entry to all who tried to get into Australia illegally, leaving some to die on the ocean, the method of attack by the heckler was really ineffective and obnoxious. When he did it a third time, he was asked by the President of the Society to leave and he refused. The Society security guard came over to escort him out, and as he was being ejected forcibly he threw his boot at Howard! Howard's minimal security guards blocked the good throw, and Howard unabashedly continued his talk. I can see why he was popular, as he carried himself well and did not sherk difficult questions such as his positive??? impressions of George Dubya, and his support of China in light of its Human Rights record.

The next night being halloween we were back for more Cambridge union entertainment, bemusing ourselves with solving a murder mystery. We arrived 'en mask' with our teammates from the LLM program, aka 'The Killer Bees', and set off to the Bar to solve the mysterious killing of Paris Wilton. Unfortunately, it was way too crowded to make any headway with the confusing plot, so off we went to party number 2 at 'The Cow' for more great costumes, and then to party number 3 at Darwin College for another masked event. And yes, before we went out we gave out more candy (Haribo!!) to the street kids in one night than we have given in 15 years at 15 Hillcrest. They kept coming in waves until our 2 huge bags of mini Haribo goodies were gone, and they still kept coming!

One last thing. In case anyone thinks that this place is just one big party, let me tell you that between all the aforementioned fun, I have been working my butt off trying to keep up with the reading. I figure about 1000 pages of complicated stuff very week as assigned readings. It is challenging, exhilarating, provacative, sometimes entertaining and often bemusing, indeed.

Until next time, the adventure continues.

So there you have it, bloggers.