Inaugural Photos of the Fortnight 1.0

For the inaugural photo of the fortnight, I've included a picture that makes me laugh whenever I see it. I keep it posted on my office wall to make me smile but also to act as a conversation piece.

Here's the photo.


Here's the story.

In 2005, Melissa and I spent 8-9 days in London, England. In our usual travel style, the trip was very much on the cheap. This wasn't an easy feat considering London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. I am convinced we did it on about as little as possible without crossing the line from tourist to transient.

We walked miles and miles to avoid having to tube it (which ended up being a bonus because London is a very walkable city). Food was amazingly expensive so the only places we ate out at were the Sainsbury's Deli (supermarket chain), the Boots pharmacy and Indian takeout once. We splurged once on a piece of cheesecake from the famous Harrods. Our hotel was centrally located near Buckingham Palace, but really wasn't even a hotel but rather a rundown building full of rundown rooms. Ours was on the 8th floor (no lift), yet the shared bathroom (nothing more than a closet with a toilet) was on the 7th floor. No issues with it though as it was central to everything and it had a reasonable free breakfast.

You'd think that with all of this money we were saving on the essentials, we'd splurge on the attractions. Think again. We spent the week doing every possible free thing there is to do in London, which there a great many and of great quality. We did the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery all for free. Great Museums. We hung out in the parks and checked out some excellent markets and generally enjoyed the history of the city from the sidewalks. Really, it was quite an enjoyable time.

One place we went was the Tate Modern, a gallery of modern art that enjoys a unique location in an old industrial power station on the banks of the Thames. I'm not real big on traditional art galleries, but I am intrigued by the wackiness of modern art. We spent a very interesting afternoon day in the gallery. At the end, I took a quick look through the gift shop. I am not one to normally pick up souvenirs along the way, but made an exception when I spotted the postcard of the stuffed bunny. Visually, it is kind of funny, but it is the simple title of the piece printed on the back that always makes me laugh.

'Bunny with head wound'