I am TIRED. Though not as tired as I was yesterday.

Now I am only kind of tired.

Since I haven't posted any pictures yet, I give you this one.

Oddly enough, it was from the plane.

 
I know. You wouldn't have guessed that, would you.

The colours were even better than the picture shows, which was why I took it. It's still a pretty picture, I think.

Anyway.

Where was I.

 Oh yes. This morning Miriam tried to feed me everything under the sun. David has informed me that this is usual and she doesn't take offense if I don't eat everything offered to me. I had meusli, and it was nice.

Both Miriam and David left for their respective work places, and left me alone to totter off.

And totter I did!

Went to the train. Miriam very kindly supplied me with an Oyster card.

I wandered around for a while. Topped up the phone that Allison lent me. Wandered around some more.

Then I came across Trafalgar Square and this fellow hanging out with Mr. Nelson!



Hilarious.

Also the National Gallery. Took a totter in. I forgot that they owned The Tailor. I like that painting. I'd put it on my wall. They had a few other pieces that I'd forgotten they had. A whole room of Rembrants! Good grief! A couple of Vermeers. A few of the rooms were closed up, which sucked, but there you go.

I didn't stay long. I lingered in the bookstore a little bit. Drooled on a giant tome of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, but I didn't buy it (but I DID write down the ISBN).

Went to meet David at the Google offices. Got lost. Everything in London is WAY closer together than I'm used to, so I keep overshooting things by a long, long way.

Eventually found David, but had to phone him to figure out where the hell I was ("Do you see the Starbucks?" "Yes." "Do you see the strange man in blue waving his arms like a rediculous person?" "....ah. Hello.").

Google's cafeteria is AMAZING. We were greeted at the door by one of David's coworkers, a very, very, very skinny computer engineer in a faded, holey rock and roll t-shirt, pants that were a little bit too short, and sock feet, and I thought: "MY GOD! It's just like hanging out with my friends!"

(I love you all, friends.)

We had lunch. I was very jealous the whole time. David gave me a tour of the Google offices, which included a coffee room with TWO baristas to make your coffee, a 'garden' with a napping capsule (WHICH I REQUIRE), a games room (darts, pool, and a large selection of console games), and a music room (with professional instruments and microphones and everything). Apparently they have a double decker bus on the third floor, which they use as a meeting room. It was, apparently, a sulky consolation prize after the landlords refused to allow them to install slides or firemen's poles.

They also have a life sized horse sculpture with a lamp on it's head.

Also this:

Why, that's just a bathtub! you say.

Why would Google have a bathtube in their reception area?

(Though to be fair, why would they have a horse with a lamp on its head in the cafeteria, but I digress.)

This, my friends, is Douglas Adams' bathtub.

Apparently some engineers saw it go up for auction and decided to buy it and put it in the office, and then the bosses heard and told them to spend what they had to to get it.

I understand that it used to be filled with blue foam balls and had a sign inviting people to have a sit in it and get some great ideas (as a great man had done before), but there had been some issue with people getting drunk on gin in it, and since it's in the reception area...well, they decided to slap some plexi on it and use it as a coffee table instead. (The red you can just see is a towel, in case you were wondering. The cards are quotes from the books. I don't know why the globe with the pirate flag was in there.)

Yep. So after that I left and went to Regency Park by way of Baker Street (passing 221b, if course). There I read my book and lay in the sun and watched the ducks and the herons and eventually fell asleep.

I'm not sure how long I slept for, but I felt a lot better when I woke up.

Wandered around the part some more. ALL the flowers are out. It's very pretty.

Then came home and wound down. Tomorrow I was hoping to catch a matinee in the West End, but everything I want to see doesn't have a tuesday matinee.

Who knows. Tomorrow is a mystery now.