.More beautiful Autumn days in Bloomsbury.   I’ve not experienced an autumn like this  since Oneonta.  Of course, the incredible fiery colors  and crisp temperature of an     Oneonta Fall are not here but the setting and the sky are great.  The only bad thing about these several days were some “dodgy tacos.”  I had lunch at a “Latin themed” local restaurant that was something of a cross between Fawlty Towers and Steve Martin’s “The Waiter” Sketch.  The couple next to me, arrived after me, ordered a much more complicated meal than I did and got it almost immediately.  I never got my side order, waited for ever for my tacos, and later in the day fond the tacos coming out of me with a certain vehemence.

Speaking of Oneonta, I had another great meeting with an alumnus.  This time, it was David Daly, Class of 1977.  David was another of the great Garth Stam’s recruits from the UK to our little college during the “first golden age” at SUNY Oneonta.  I’m actually lucky this meet and greet and all that followed happened. David and I had agreed to meet at a Starbucks in Soho,  down from the Piccadilly Circus Tube Station.  My phone decided not to give me access to Google Maps when I arrived at Piccadilly, so, using my powers of memory I made my way to the Starbucks.  There I sat until David responded to my e-mail stating that he too had arrived and did not see me or my red SUNY Oneonta bag.  Yep, there were 2 Starbucks and I was at the wrong one!  David came to me.  David has had an amazing career on both sides of the Atlantic.  We shared our memories of college days and our thoughts about the college today and what we both would like to do in the future.  David is also on the board of Fulham Football Club.  He is a lifetime supporter of the club.  David mentioned that Fulham would be playing Preston on Saturday.  A special treat was  the presence of American Brian McBride who had played for both sides during his English football career.  David kindly got me a ticket for the match at historic Craven Cottage.

There’s something special about a football match in London.  Craven Cottage, Fulham’s stadium sits along the Thames.  It was about a half hour tube journey from Russell Square to Putney Bridge then, literally, a walk through the park.  This park, Bishop’s Park.  David said to just follow the crowd and I did, through the lovely park.   The football match was pretty exciting.  While Preston got the better of the local boys inte first half, I guess Brian McBride must have brought some Yankee mojo with to the field at the half because Fulham tied the game in the very last seconds of injury time.  The Metropolitan Police and Transportation for London (TfL) did a splendid job on  getting us through the Park and safely onto the Putney Bridge Tube Station.  Unlike arrival for the match, everybody was leaving together.  It was a real production.

My last “Breakfast concert was Sunday morning at Wigmore Hall.  The Scottish Ensemble provided 5 of its string instrumentalists to serenade us with Mozart and Brahms.  The two pieces were played to perfection.  It was almost dreamlike to sit there and listen to the music.  I found myself thinking great thoughts to the grand music, not quite asleep, not quite awake!  It was an hour in paradise.

 

 

 

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