Curious fact about mints

In the UK you will find gum and mints in peppermint and spearmint flavours, but never in wintergreen.  Most Brits haven't even heard the term "wintergreen."   Did some research, and apparently the smell of wintergreen (chemically known as methyl salicylate) is strongly associated in the UK with either a) bathroom cleansers, or b) muscle-relaxing ointments.  Perhaps my wintergreen-scented aftershave explains why I can't get a date...

The Blue Plaque next door

London is famous (ok, not really) for it's "blue plaques", which are circular signs on buildings commemorating famous people who lived in a house for a period.  They look like this:

So on the building next to mine, there is a plaque commemorating the residence of "Alexander McKendrick, Film Director."  Who???

Being something of a film buff, I got curious about McKendrick, and learned that he was the director of  The Sweet Smell of Success, The Man in the White Suit, and The Ladykillers, three all-time great films.  If you haven't seen these films (I've been trained not to use the term "movies", which they don't use here in the UK), put them on your NetFlix list, you will not regret it.

Trivia point: in Barry Levinson's Diner, one character's dialogue is nothing but lines from Sweet Smell of Success.

Why it might not be worth it to get cable TV in London

Simplified TV listings for 7pm:

BBC 1:  News
BBC 2: Reality show
ITV 1: Soap opera
Channel 4: News
Channel 5: Reality show
Sky 1: The Simpsons
Sky Living:  American crime drama
Sky Atlantic:  Quiz show
Watch TV: Reality show
Gold:  British sitcom from the 70s
Dave:  Reality show
Comedy Central:  American sitcom
Universal: American crime drama
SyFy:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer
BBC 3:  Awful celebrity reality show
BBC 4: News
ITV 2:  Reality show with awful celebrities
ITV 3:  American crime drama
ITV 4:  Nature documentary with David Attenborough
Sky 2:  Reality show
Sky Living 2:  Nature documentary with David Attenborough
Sky Living 3:  American crime drama
FX:  American crime drama
Sky Sports:  Fantasy football:  Gondor vs. Shire
Challenge:  Quiz show
MTV:  American sitcom from the 80s
Comedy Central +1:  American sitcom
Comedy Central Extra:  American sitcom from the 70s (M*A*S*H ye shall have with ye always)
Sky Arts:  Reality show
Sky Arts 2:  Nature documentary with David Attenborough
ITV 1+2:  Nature documentary without David Attenborough (series finale)

...you get the picture.  Thank God for The Simpsons.

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Founded in 1570 (or perhaps 1420), the Whitechapel Bell Foundry is the oldest manufacturer in London.  It's where Big Ben (the bell inside of St. Stephen's clock tower at the Houses of Parliament) and the Liberty Bell were made.  They are open for tours on a very limited basis -- only about 3,000 people a year can take the tour.

Bell molds were still warm from the previous day.  Molds are filled with "loam", a mixture of sand, clay, goat hair, and cow manure.

Bells in a mold
 
 The large furnace

Bells lying around everywhere

Molds for handbells

The large black form on the wall is for Big Ben

Bricks are used to form in the inner mold

 A bell for Elizabeth's diamond jubilee

 A frame for eight bells

 A 14th-century bell in for repairs

 Clappers

 A bell on a tuning table

A handbell on a tuning lathe

Meerkat's big London Weekend

Tower Bridge!

Where's the Queen?

Friends, meerkats, countrymen!

Me at the V&A!

What a big memorial!

"And did those paws in ancient times..."

Fun on a Boris Bike!

I like riding on the top of the bus!

Picadilly Circus.  Big deal.

National Gallery.

This is where Will and Kate were married!

Me at Big Ben!

Trafalgar Square

Buckingham Palace, again.  Still no Queen,

I like the big seats on the Underground!

Advertisement about "strange US preference for frozen food."

Business week is running these print ads, which are also displayed in Underground stations:

Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

In search of another iconic London experience, I had Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Hotel in London.  There's some debate as to the difference between "High Tea" and "Afternoon Tea."  Some say that "High Tea" requires hot food, others say that "Afternoon Tea" ends at 5pm and "High Tea" begins at 5pm.  Since I had tea at 5:30pm, but there was no hot food, I'll stick with Afternoon Tea; also, that's what the Ritz calls it.

Tea is served in the Palm Court, which is a Louis XVI-style dining area that alternately looks beautiful or tacky, depending on how closely you look.  Gentlemen are required to wear a jacket and tie, and I couldn't help but notice at the coat check that there were ties available there should the gentleman have forgotten his.  They were all nicer than the tie I was wearing.  The waiters (all men) are dressed in red waistcoats and tails, although the obviously clip-on bowties are a bit of a setback.  I got the sense that most of the people in the room were tourists, given the number of photos being taken and the variety of languages being spoken.  I did not take pictures, but here's a link to the Ritz website http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/types-en.html

Once seated, your platter consists of:

• Ham Sandwich with Grain Mustard Mayonnaise
• Cheddar Cheese Sandwich with Chutney on Onion Bread
• Cucumber Sandwich with Cream Cheese, Dill, and Chives on Caraway Seed Bread
• Chicken Breast Sandwich with Horseradish Cream
• Scottish Smoked Salmon with Lemon Butter on Rye Bread
• Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich with Chopped Shallots and Watercress
• Tea Pastries and Cakes (chocolate cake, strawberry meringue cookie, lemon custard tart, and something that looked like carrot cake that I didn't bother with)

There are about 20 teas to choose from, served in the most proper way, meaning:

• Loose tea right in the pot with the hot water
• A strainer that sits astride your teacup, so that as you pour the tea the leaves in the pot don't get in your cup (at least, the larger ones don't)
• An extra pot of hot water, so that if the tea in the pot gets too strong for you, you can dilute it
• Milk and sugar on the side.  I am starting to appreciate a bit of milk in my tea, something I never did before.

I chose Lapsang Suchong, a Chinese tea that is smoked over pine (smoked like the way meat is smoked, not the way tobacco is smoked), which makes it taste strangely like a peaty Scotch.

After you finish your finger sandwiches (or, eaten as much of them as you can), they bring The Best Scones You've Ever Had, with jam and clotted cream.  The only thing you need to know about clotted cream is that, regardless of the creamy texture, the fat content is so high that in the US it is classified by the FDA as butter.

Then they bring a lemon custard parfait.

Then they offer you additional desserts from a cart.  I deferred.

The Ritz website says that bookings may need to be made 12 weeks in advance.  Maybe so at Christmas time, but I booked five days in advance.  That said, every table was occupied.

Overall, it was a very nice way to spend an hour and a half on a damp chilly Sunday evening, even if it meant missing the Giants-Falcons game.