Exchange Zones

I don’t know how others cope with a jetlag but my way of dealing with it is to simply accept the local time and ignore my body’s biological clock.  I figured that if I keep myself sleepless long enough I am able to get a good few hours of sleep in the new time zone even though it is still the day time in the old time zone.  However to fight the sleepiness off I need to be active. 

As I flew against the sun, the night of my flight from Vancouver to London became extremely short and I was only able to catch two hours of sleep.  I arrived at my friend’s place in London at about 1pm which was only 5am in Vancouver.  In effect I slept for only two hours during the last 21 hours and I was committed to fight my tiredness for at least another ten hours.

The most effective way to do that is to hit the streets.  I was staying near the Marble Arch and the Speaker’s Corner of the Hide Park.  I think it is a perfect location for exploring London. According to my friend this was also one of the safest parts of the city with extra police presence due to the very close proximity to Connaught Square and the residence of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

The only plan that I had for this afternoon was to not fall asleep.  So I just walked around, breathing the London air, and getting the first impression of the city.  I went along the edge of Hide Park following Park Lane from Marble Arch to Wellington Arch.  I resemble a royalist as much as a night resembles a day.  I think that kings and queens are simply a relict of the Middle Ages (for a good reason also called Dark Ages) and I have as much respect for them as for last year’s snow, but being in London and not seeing the Buckingham Palace could be perceived as ignorance, so from the Wellington Arch I headed towards the home of her majesty…

After giving whole 15 minutes of my undivided attention to the BP I turned my steps towards the Green Park. (Why would anyone pay, I think about 30 Pounds, to see the living quarters of her majesty, is beyond my comprehension). In the Green Park I noticed several beach chairs at the north end of the park.  “Well”, I thought, setting my butt in one of the chairs, “it is really generous of the Queen to make them available for us poor folks” my respect for her slightly rising...
‘Two Pounds please!”
“Excuse me?!” – I opened my tired eyes.
“Two Pounds for the use of the chair” – the attendant demanded the pay not more than two or three minutes after I sat down.
”No way!” I answered getting up.  So much for the Queen’s generosity…