Today was a low energy day, at least for me. Ferris and I have been battling laryngitis for the past two days and today I awoke with almost no voice at all. Ferris sounds like one of the geese we encountered yesterday honking in Hyde Park. Only half of her words come out at normal volume, the rest are a breathy rasp. I decided early on that my plan was to stay in today and this was nearly 100% accomplished.
The exception was to make an unscheduled trip to the Bank of England late morning. Why the Bank of England? It's a bit of a long story. A few days ago we took a cab ride and I pulled out a 20 pound note and handed it to the driver. He looked at the note as if it were a bomb and said "Where'd you get this? Where'd you GET this?". I was startled and afraid to answer for fear I'd inadvertently handed him counterfeit money and would get in trouble. After a moment I explained that the bill came from a drawer at home where I keep money left over from past visits. He said "impossible; this note is at least 20 years old!" I suddenly remembered why I might have these bills and went to the master concierge Fabrizio (no not better than Ugo but pretty darn good) who confirmed that these bills, and I have a lot of them, were indeed old, so old that no regular bank can exchange them. Only the Bank of England can do this and there is only one location for the Bank of England in the heart of the banking and commercial district. Needless to say this is not anywhere near us nor was it probably anywhere near where I'd been on previous trips which is why I think I still have them. But the good news is that the Central Line (which is near us) goes directly there. The aptly named Bank stop a mere 10 stops or so from Marble Arch.
I'd almost decided it wasn't worth the trip until this morning when I discovered 6 more 20 pound notes. That was it. Now the amount was too big to ignore, and this morning might be the only time I'd be able to go when the bank would actually be open. Knowing that I wasn't up to par, Ferris took pity and agreed to accompany me. To my surprise we walked into an imposing greco-roman building without passing through so much as a metal detector. A female guard asked the reason for our visit, asked to see the notes and then directed us to a room filled with tellers and NO customers. We were able to go to the Bank, exchange money and be back at the hotel within 45 minutes. Hurray! And with 290 additional pounds in my pocket. I'm sure they won't stay there for long.
Our traveling textile group met for the first time after lunch. Most participants are from Santa Fe and about half are people I've met previously. Jill gave us a brief orientation and then the group (without me) set off to visit a textile dealer. I had a lovely restful afternoon and evening on my own, recharging my batteries to prepare for a full day of activities tomorrow.
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