Random Traffic Through Nick's Brain

Our trip to London went quite well. Lots of walking and wandering around the city. Pictures are up.

At times, the trip felt weird. Erin, Alma (and Micah), Katya, Hannah, and Steve are all people we’ve seen in Boston. It felt somewhat like “Different place, same people.”

Wednesday

Immediately buying a 1 week zone 1 and 2 travelcard was worth it. Buying last week’s Time Out, not so much.

Had my ploughman’s lunch at a pub near the dump we were staying. Needless to say, also had a few pints. Mmm. Walked to Covent Garden. Almost bought tickets to Meyerling, the ballet, instead of Samson & Delilah, the opera. Found a nice Scotch shop. Bought a half bottle poured directly from the cask. It tastes pretty good. The Doc Marten store is mostly touristy junk now. Very small selection of Docs downstairs only.

We wandered around for the rest of the day. I didn’t get lost, I knew where I was going, all the time. Kinda cool. The A to Z we bought was mostly useless. London geography makes sense to me.

In Leicester Square, ordered tickets to Pirates of Penzance, with Anthony Head as the pirate king. At the booth, Dina says to the guy selling tickets “Three tickets to Pirates.” Still paranoid from the near debacle at the opera house, I said to her “Make sure it’s ‘of Penzance’, not ‘of the Caribbean’.” The guy in the ticket booth had a good laugh.

Off to a pub for more drinks and food. Had a pint of Guinness for both St.-Patrick’s day and for Ellie’s birthday.

Play was in the Savoy. Beautiful theatre. Unfortunately, Anthony Head didn’t project enough to be a good pirate king. Mind you, he looks about 10 years younger than he does in Buffy.

Things that I remember hating about London. The toilets suck. The pay phones mostly suck. The only good thing about them is that you can receive calls at them. We should have tried harder to find cell phones to rent. By the end of the trip, I think we came to the conclusion that we would have paid £20 or £30 each to rent a cell phone for the week.

Thursday

Early Opera House tour. Erin also bought a ticket to Sampson & Delilah. The tour was great. The amphitheatre is stunning. Makes me regret accepting the math department instead of the architecture department way back when.

Dropped by the London Transport Museum, also in Covent Garden. Bought a couple of gifts for friends. I was good and bought low variance gift, instead of the high variance gift that I wantedand still want to buy. Erin wandered off to do a walking tour.

Dina and I wandered to Young’s Founder’s Arms, my favourite pub, right near the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern. Met Hannah and Alma there. Founder’s Arms is on the South Bank of the Thames. I love that you can sit outside, have a pint, or even a lager shandy, gaze at the city, and watch the people go by. Alma tried to convince me that there are nicer places down by Richmond. I don’t think that she quite understands that I want to look at a city, not a small town, across the river. Had a lager shandy (half lager (that’s beer) and lemonade (that’s 7-Up or Sprite)), and a Scrumpy Jack’s.

Walked across the Millennium Bridge. It’s quite nice. St.-Paul’s is under renovation. Attempted to take a bus to the West End. We got on the bus in the wrong directionNot my fault.. Dropped by an internet café, had a kebab… mmm… and took a cab into the West End. Sat down at another pub, and drank more. Steve got lost on his way to meet us due to bad directionsAgain, not my fault.. I have to remember that I lived in London for two years, and shouldn’t be cowed by people who, though they live there currently, haven’t cumulatively lived there as long as I had.

Once Steve got there… well… by this time I was decently drunk. Surprisingly, it was probably the only time I was drunk the whole trip. I wouldn’t claim I was completely sober the rest of the time, but the pints of cider and beer were spread pretty evenly throughout days full of walking and eating.

Anyway… off to Chinatown. Mmm… Crispy Duck. The only one I had while I was there. I should have ordered a second one.

Friday

Got off to a late start. Bought some coconut and almond oil conditioner at Boots. I have to remember that I now f’ing need haircare products when I travel. Bought two flavours of Lucozade, the English Gatorade equivalent. One tasted horrible… thankfully I was attracted to it’s New Flavour! label.

Standing on the right on escalators is a great thing. I’m sooo surprised that it hasn’t caught on here. It looks like the Buffy cast is in London. Allison Hannigan, and unfortunately Luke Perry, are playing in When Harry Met Sally. We toyed with the idea of seeing it: it’s one of Dina’s favourite movies, and who wouldn’t want to see Allison Hannigan fake an orgasm. However, the best blurb they could muster for the play was “Fans of Allison Hannigan and Luke Perry will be delighted.” We finally decided to give it a miss.

Saw the Weather exhibit at Tate Modern with Erin. It was awesome. Probably the best piece of modern art I’ve ever experienced. Mirrored ceiling, about four stories up. The mirrors move lightly. They pipe in smoke and mist. Half circular orange light at one end. Near the ‘sun’ all colour is washed out, except for this one woman who was wearing some sort of weird material that kept it’s reddish-pink colour. She looked like the girl in red in Shindler’s List. The social response to the exhibit was fascinating. The artist is either a genius, or lucked out. My guess is genius.

We then puttered around the rest of the Museum. I quite liked it.

Met up with Dina, Hannah, and Steve, and took a ride on the London Eye. Really nice views of London. Unfortunately, it was raining. Oddly, a patch of sunlight was moving in at quite quick a pace. It missed us by about 30 minutes.

After, back to see Weather with the three that hadn’t seen it. We liked it that much.

Another stop at the Founder’s Arms for more drinks. Meandered back across the Golden Jubilee footbridge, and stopped at Dina’s favourite store, Next. As Erin and Dina are trying things on, I’m standing near the dressing rooms holding / looking at two of the little tops that Erin bought. A sales lady walked up to me and asked “Do you need some help sir?” Might I say that I’ve probably never disliked a redhead more. I would have said yes and tried them on if it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t want to chance ruining Erin’s purchases.

Re-met Hannah & Steve at Veeraswamy, a nice Indian restaurant. Dina made the good decision of four main meals for the five of us. This plus all the appetizers, drinks, bread, and desserts ensure that we were not overfull. Dina & I went off to crash at Hannah and Steve’s.

At some point, we realized that Dina thought I didn’t want to stay at their place for our whole trip (they have an extra room / mattress), and I thought Dina didn’t. As my dad asked, arent’ those sorts of misunderstandings supposed to happen after more years of marriage? I guess Dina and I are precocious. They have better facilities (shower, mattress, food), price (free), and company than the hotel provided.

Saturday

Slept in. Booked our vacation to Vegas online. How weird is it to book your vacation while on vacation. Dropped by Sainsbury’s, a supermarket chain. Bought some nice scotch for myself. A smokey Glenfiddich, a brand I am not usually into. Bought all sorts of weird food for people. Shopping for food in another country is an experience.

Off to Hampstead for crêpes. Mmm. The stand is still there and going strong. Visited a few pubs. Had a London Pride for Daniel. Forewent visiting HYELM, the place I used to live in when I was in London.

Off to Zaika to meet Derek and Siobhan for more Indian. Again it was pretty good. All in all, we went to two of the better Indian restaurants in London. I was quite unimpressed by the taste to price ratio. Veeraswamy was about £40 each (~ $75) and Zaika was about £55 each (~ $100). I didn’t think they were worth it. Maybe low cost traditional Indian is better in London? Maybe my palette has changed since I first had good Indian in London? I don’t know.

After that, off to the pub to chat with Derek and Siobhan a bit before they caught the train home. Caught a double decker to the West End. Another of my favourite activities in London is to pick a random bus, sit on the top deck, and watch the city go by. Walked around the West End and Soho. I’m a bit disappointed that we never got to go to the Intrepid Fox, a goth / metal pub. Oh well.

Sunday

Lot of walking. Took the tube to Bank. Walked to Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar. Took a bus to Mornington Crescent, the station that was closed all the time I was in London. It felt like some sort of closure seeing it open. A lot in London has changed in a few short years. The Swiss Re. building is beautiful. Looks like a Fabergé Egg of a skyscraper. The Tate Modern, Millennium Bridge, Queen’s Golden Jubilee Bridge, and Tate Modern are all new. There are also a bunch of other little changes. Starbucks is now everywhere. The congestion charge has lightened traffic in London considerably.

Anyway… near Mornington Crescent, had a Kebab, again. Mmm. The only problem is that I remember the chili sauce being slightly more vinegary. Still yummy. You can get decent kebabs in Montreal, but not in Boston.

Tube up to Hampstead, and Dina and I walked down to Chalk Farm to meet Erin. Then, off to Camden Town. Eek! I always thought that Camden is a cool market. It’s much better in some ways when you’re poor and have no money. Visiting it on vacation was a big exercise in self restraint for me. Lots of goth. A juggling store. Cool antiques. Nice art.

Stopped at a pub (where else) for a late lunch / early supper. Had roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Yeah! Another of the foods I wanted to eat crossed off my list.

Off to Alma’s for her Birthday. Cool crowd. Hung out at the Hare and Hounds pub for a while. Their sign is pretty cool. Someone making a shadow bunny on a wall with two dogs looking on. Then, back to Alma’s. A bit of reading. A lot of drinking. Alma actually tried to hide out in her room for a while before getting back to the balcony.

My reaction to parties are much calmer nowadays, even if I only know less than half the people there. Also, cute, dumb, gothy 19 year olds don’t have me tongue tied anymore. I’m not sure if things are so much easier as I get older and more socially experienced, or if it’s because I’m no longer looking for sex.

Back to crash at Hannah & Steve’s.

Monday

A long, long, long, meander around the city, vaguely hunting for a kebab. I know where the kebab shops are, but I felt like wandering around the financial district instead. Off to tea at the Ritz with Dina, Hannah, Steve, and Erin. It was wonderful. Surprisingly, didn’t stuff myself silly, given there was pretty much all you can eat scones and clotted cream. Mmm. It was a very nice, relaxing setting.

After tea, well… off to the pub. As we’re sitting there, talking and drinking, who should walk by the window but Katya. It’s a small, small world. Talked a bit more, and finally took a bus home.

Tuesday

Walked with Erin to Covent Garden. Passed through Neils Yard again. It’s just a magical little place tucked into the middle of London. The automata museum in Covent Garden is closed. Walked to Tower Hill to meet Katya and Dina.

Had lunch at the Minories, a place I used to go to when I worked in the city. Had a nice steak and ale pie. Mmm. I love the way the English use up every bit of space in London. The pub is under the tracks. It’s a beautiful little place with brick arched ceilings.

Walked over Tower Bridge and back. Looked longingly at St.-Katherine’s Docks. Didn’t get to see it, or visit the Charles Dickens pub. Oh well.

At the airport, forewent a beautiful bottle of 40 year old Laphroaig. I’m still moping about not buying it. The £375 (~ $700) was probably worth it, considering the bottle would have lasted me a lifetime.

Some things I didn’t get around to, that we’ll have to leave for next time, are having some beer from the Wychwood brewery, having some Dog’s Bollocks (again, beer). Didn’t have enough Crispy Duck. Visit St.-Katherine’s Docks, and Charles Dickens pub. Wagamamas, which has expanded from one location to many, was also missed. We didn’t do fetish night at Torture Garden. A pity, since I brought clothes (and hair glue) for it. I still should hit Kew Gardens, Highgate Cemetery, Kensington Palace, and Greenwich. I also have walked the Silver Jubilee walkway, but not all in one go. I meant to do it this time, but never found a free day, as the walk is quite long.

But I did what I really wanted to do. I walked around London. A lot. I think it cured me of wanting to live there again. But still love wandering around London like no other city that I’ve visited. Only Venice and Paris come close.

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