Now I see where that tornado came from...

In case any of you missed it, a few weeks before I arrived here there was a tornado in London. Now I thought that was silly, because who ever heard of a tornado in Great Britain?

Today, I found out I was wrong.

According to news reports, there were wind gusts in excess of 99 MPH in and around London. These were winds that, like Ithaca winds, always seem to be blowing in your face. I wasn't too concerned until I attempted to leave the ICLC today to take the tube home. Unfortunately, I have to take the Circle line home, which, for you non-Londoners, is a tube line that actually started running in 1775. Or something like that. So of course, with the wind, it wasn't running. Not to worry, because it's only a half hour walk from the ICLC to my flat. So I head up the road to Hyde Park, my cut through to get home.

Wrong again!

Little did I know that London closes its parks in case of wind...I'm the kid that was on the beach during hurricanes when I was little, so this seemed a little extreme to me. Anyway. I have no idea how to get around this massive park to get home, but I figure, hey, it's a straight line home, I can do it.

Not so. London, as we have discovered, does not have straight lines. I walked straight in the direction that should have led to my flat, instead, I ended up much father west of it looking at a street sign that said my area was a mile back in the other direction. Thank goodness Andrew was in the flat with our multitude of maps and was able to get me back home.

I did see some cool shopping and pubs in the area I was wandering around in. I should be able to find it again if I try to get home without using the tube or Hyde Park.

Fortunately, I was only carrying my big black bag of doom, which weighs easily 100 pounds (4,245 kg or something), so now my back hurts.

Only one way to fix this... off to the pub!