even more crap from johan

Farewell to the United Kingdom, my relatively happy and content home for the past four years and a bit. I genuinely enjoyed my time there -- about the only things that i disliked were the absolutely mental cost of housing and (when i bothered to think about it) the large tax upon alcohol.

I feel like i understand Pink Floyd and The Hitchiker's Guide (even) better now, and so many amazing places and things i saw: London, the South Downs, Oxford, Edinburgh, and some musical artists i never imagined i'd ever have a chance to see: Kate Bush's Before the Dawn, and the Penguin Cafe, a band put together by the son of Simon Jeffes (the father founded the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, but died long before i ever had a chance to see them). (As well as some other bands i'd never heard of, or didn't expect to see from quite so close up, like Camper van Beethoven and Coco Rosie in Brighton, The Amsterdam Klezmer Band, and TMBG(for the first and best time)! in London.)

Contrary to what most (especially British) people expect, the weather didn't bother me... after decades of miserably heat in the Southern half of Texas, mild Summers and mild Winters seemed like a pretty good deal.

And so much i didn't see -- Cornwall, Wales, the Peak District, Bath, most of the North. I guess i'll just have to go back.

I've written up through the 11th of Sept for our 2014 trip to Suisse.