Memory - of London, England

A window display here in Ottawa brought back memories of a trip my daughter and I took a few years ago. We spent two weeks in England, one week at a course in Canterbury, the second, mostly shopping in London.

The display features a London subway sign. I don't remember the stop, but I do remember wandering the streets of the neighborhood with my daughter, hunting for a special brush that would smooth down mohair fabric.

We went into one brush shop... (Yes, London has special shops for brushes!) It turned out that they didn't have the brush she was looking for, but they referred her to a shop that would certainly carry it...

The shop was on "German" Street, the clerk explained... and wrote down the address.

But he spelled the street J-E-R-M-Y-N.

"That guy must have dyslexia," I whispered to my daughter after we left the shop. "He had no idea how German is spelled!"

But when we got to the street... I was the one who was wrong! That's exactly how that street name is spelled in London!