Day 5 – Wednesday, May 8

Interesting thing about the British, or at least as compared to many Americans, is that while they seem to be as tied to their electronics as we are, they physically connect to them differently.  In the US, we constantly text, email and listen to music and occasionally make actual telephone calls from our phones.  We wander from place to place staring at our screens, anxiously awaiting the latest update from our friends and families or that urgent message from work – often with the tell-tale flashing light of a Bluetooth headset embedded in our ear.  We subscribe to phone plans with unlimited text and calls, paying a premium for “high-speed” data services to handle everything else.

The British, or as least the majority of the Londoners I observed, are just as addicted to their phones at the rest of us with two major differences.  First, they don’t appear to use Bluetooth headsets.  Instead, they use the corded headsets similar to those that come with Apple’s iPhone.  It doesn’t appear that there is an overabundance of iPhones (to be honest, I’m not sure I can differentiate the different types of phones once they have covers on them) but the corded headsets are everywhere.  At first, I thought they were simply listening to music but, if that is the case, then London is populated by a high number of mentally ill music lovers wandering the streets talking to themselves.  Without the glow of the Bluetooth, it’s difficult to be sure.

The second major difference has to do with the expansive Wi-Fi network that blankets the city.  What Molly learned when she arrived in London and spoke with a very helpful gentleman with British telecommunications powerhouse Vodaphone (which owns a large chunk of Verizon), is that rather than use their phone data service for mundane tasks like texting, they use free applications that do the same thing over the Wi-Fi networks.  Apps like WhatsApp send text messages for free and another application, KakaoTalk, actually allows users to place free phone calls wing voice over IP technology through Wi-Fi.  Of course, both of the people in the call have to be using the same software but it’s a small issue when you consider the calls and text messages are free.  You

also need to be a subscriber to one of the wireless networks in order to connect to it but when you consider that the same companies that provide the cell phones also provides the Wi-Fi access, it doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent. 

Another quick disclaimer: I am not suggesting that WhatsApp and KakaoTalk are the only or the best solutions available. They are the ones I am familiar with and that we have been using to stay in touch with Molly while she has been in England. 

Of course, Skype is always an option for free calls and text-like services.  Video chatting with Skype has allowed us to actually see Molly while she has been abroad and we used in often when she was in New York.  Skype recently launched Skype Wi-Fi – a new feature that allows users to connect to subscription Wi-Fi services and pay only for time used utilizing Skype Credit.  I discovered this option while using my laptop in my hotel and finally paying attention to the popup from Skype that kept telling me Skype Wi-Fi was available. 

After closing the notice without paying attention to it a number of times, I finally clicked through and discovered what it was all about.  Through a variety of partnerships, Skype lets users connect without signing up for all these different services and being forced to remember an assortment of user names and passwords.  Instead, Skype logs in and, through a paid Skype account or Skype Credit, allows unlimited access for sending messages and downloading or uploading email.  The per-minute charges vary by country but, as long as the sessions are fairly short, it certainly serves as a cost effective option.  This is a guess on my part since I didn’t discover the services until after I had already paid for internet access through my hotel.  For browsing the internet, however, I can assume the costs could build very quickly and any savings would be lost.

Quick aside – not that this rambling narrative has had anything to do with the actual trip to England – if travelling abroad, check with your cell or internet provider for any reciprocity agreements that might be available.  I learned, after the fact, that I could have added international Wi-Fi to my AT&T internet service and connected to any BT hotspot in the world for a monthly fee that would have cost about the same as what I paid for a week of service tethered to the hotel.

One other option I want to mention, and I am sure there are many others, is ooVoo.  Initially created as a video conferencing service for businesses, ooVoo is very similar to Skype and is free.  A big difference between the two is that ooVoo offers a much slicker interface (not that appearance has anything to do with functionality) and allows multiple, simultaneous video connections.  What this means is that a family spread across multiple time zones or continents can all talk and see each other at the same time.  Subscribe to ooVoo and there are additional features (Skype works the same way) for a reasonably small fee.

Again, I am not endorsing one of these services over the other (unless there’s some financial incentive attached in which case I’m more than happy to single out a particular service – listening AT&T?), I am simply making reference to the ones I am most familiar with and have personally used.  If readers have other suggestions (are there readers out there?) please feel free to comment because I am always looking for free to inexpensive solutions to problems and challenges.

Back to the daily adventures – Wednesday was the beginning of readings for Molly and her screenwriter friends so I was again on my own for a big part of the day.  Most of the morning was spent following up on ignored email, dealing with work-related stuff (technical term for working on vacation) and starting to compile the material for this narrative.  Then it came time wander a little more and explore the neighborhoods between my hotel and Molly’s class buildings.

Part of the exploration included taking a closer look at the ever present  phone booths in London.  Already mentioned because of their use as a Wi-Fi hotspot, they also have a couple of other uses.  One is for use as a telephone booth.  While I am not sure I ever saw anyone use the phones, they were all in one piece with the handsets attached unlike most American phone booths. 

The other use is for advertising.  Random checks of the flyers and ads stuck into the booths showed that most of the ads are for adult “escorts” and similar services.  Other types of advertisement may have been posted but, to be honest, I wasn't sure I really wanted to look that closely.

Finally, based on random checks, the phone booths appear to also serve as a urinal.  Stepping into one – or sticking my head into one in reality – smells much like walking into a giant litter box that hasn’t been cleaned – ever!  The stench is enough to make your eyes water and your nose burn and could be the reason I never saw anyone actually use the telephone.  Still, it would provide Superman with a place to change in a pinch!

Since Molly was busy most of the day, we decided to focus on going somewhere fun for dinner.  For a change, the choice was easy because we had decided that at some point we needed to have meat pies on Fleet Street in honor of Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.  While Molly finished up her educational experience for the day, I did some research on restaurants in the vicinity of Sweeny Todd’s barber shop.

We settled on The Old Bank of England, a pub on Fleet Street where they served a variety of pies.  Aside from being located in a former bank and featuring incredible architecture and beautiful design, a disclaimer at the bottom of the pub’s website was the final selling factor. 

The tunnels and vaults below the pub are said to be where the notorious barber Sweeney Todd carried out his atrocities. He was famous for his pies too…

When we arrived, the place was packed with what appeared to be several office parties so seats were not available.  Thinking we might need to opt for another choice, we took a stroll down Fleet Street to see if there were second options available.  There were others but, having already been in the Old Bank, Molly and I decided to return there and take our chances at finding a table.  We lucked out – the crowd had thinned slightly and we were able to find a table in the back.  We quickly ordered – Molly chose the Chicken and Sweet Corn Pie and I selected the Old Bank of England House Pie with steak and venison.  Unfortunately, they were so good we both devoured our own without sharing so I have to take her word that the chicken pie was as good as mine.