In search of cool – Yet Another Year of Insanity

It is SWELTERING in London and is an inferno!

Today set a heat record—it got to 35 C (95 F) and some estimated it was 37 C (98 F) in the subway system, the Underground. That is truly HOT, considering that air conditioning is rare in this city, especially in the subway trains.

Oh it gets hot in Hawaii too, but somehow it is more bearable because I have central air conditioning in my apartment and in my car. Here my hotel room especially gets hot in the afternoon and all I have is a fan.

On TV tonight, the BBC is showing a documentary about learning how to ski! I guess they think by showing us scenes of snow we’ll feel cooler!

I did find A/C in the Tate Modern museum where I spent the morning.

On this trip I’ve tried to get to London attractions I’ve never been to before—you notice I did not see Big Ben, Tower of London, London Eye or any of those popular tourist traps?

So, on such a hot day, what better idea than to go to a museum with an exhibit about ice cream?! Joan Ishibashi and I found the British Museum of Food where they were holding their first exhibit about ice cream. The exhibition chronicled 300 years of culinary history and explored the science and psychology of ice cream, recalled the impact ice cream has had on the arts and culture and helped us understand why it has assumed such a place of affection and nostalgia in our hearts.

In fact, on this trip, I’ve frequently eaten heartily at the included breakfasts every day, had only a sandwich or salad for lunch, then just eaten ice cream for dinner! (Don’t tell my doctor!)

We thought surely it would be cool there, but unfortunately the museum was not air conditioned except for the chill room, which we enjoyed for only about five minutes then it was time to move along.

Everyone wanted to touch the block of ice!

Penny Lick glasses held a penny’s worth of ice cream. It led to a lot of disease because vendors did not wash the glasses between users.

We got a chance to make our own ice cream except that Joan’s and mine looked more like a milk shake. We should have shaken ours more vigorously but I was more interested in taking pictures!