2005-05-31 - 11:50 a.m.

back from Londontown yesterday morning. we got in at round 11:30, which i thought would be plenty enough time to recover to get back to the workday today, but i am utterly swamped with things i want to sort out in my head and stuff that i want to learn and do and....of course share with my readers about the trip.
anyway.
i am also sick as a dog. i have no voice really and so all interviews for an upcoming article due june 15 are on hold. on top of that, i have weird flu-like symptoms like coughing and body aches. overall, i'm thoroughly phlegmatic, which in my mind is the best way to finish up holidays since that way you get a day or two to recover without feeling guilty. :)
christine is the most amazing travel partner ever. i know that this is because she was perfect to ME, but you must give props where props are due and i feel very lucky to have found someone whose priorities mesh with my own so well. where we disagreed there was always good conversation and then a resolution reached that made us both happy. very good. i have a lot to learn from her.
i flew into london by myself on Wednesday morning and got to my hotel three hours before check-in time. i decided i didn't want to wait that long so i went ahead and sprang for the additional apartment suite, which came with a stove and microwave and a fridge and which then compelled me to go straight to the grocery store (it's one of the first things i do anyway at the beginning of any trip, since i truly believe that the way a nation shops tells you volumes.
apparently the British shop in a fabulously organized fashion and are a nation even more obsessed with getting the most out of their time than we americans, since many of their meals were such good and unique meals as "red pepper and chile chicken in peanut satay sauce" packaged in what at first glance was an egg carton for ostrich eggs but really is a neatly compartmentalized case. fabulous.
i had a turkey-with-brie and mayonnaise sandwich with lettuce on pita with an apple and some carrots for lunch, and then i went to see lara and roj at their flat on Wimpole street.
i got to meet Miles and see Jody again. they are both absolutely gorgeous. Miles is very very sweet; Jody is growing up fast! we spent some time in the flat chatting and catching up, and then we went to the local residents' park to sit on a bench in the sun and just in general spend more time. it was very nice. i met an ex-pat from New York who was sweet and made pleasant noises about New York. then we went off to home to wait for Roj and what are apparently the best fish and chips in the world. (they were right, we went back there twice more.) i got back to my hotel after a walk to the tube, which felt eerily like walking home in new york, so much so that i had to check myself from jaywalking across the street.
i went to sleep 'round 11, 11:30, knowing that Christine would be at the hotel early in the morning.
i slept a little fitfully, for some reason, having weird dreams about people coming into the room and saying, "I'll take it!" while i was still sleeping in the bed.
i woke at six and went back to bed, and Christine arrived right on time, at 8 or so. she showered and we went down to our first English breakfast together of roasted tomatoes, bacon and eggs, mushrooms, toast, and beans. Loverly.
our hotel was quite close to Buckingham palace, so we went to check out the changing of the guards, which was perfect timing for us.
once there we observed the local constables being polite as possible to the throngs of tourists clogging the area in front of the palace for the changing of the guards. they were perfectly nice ("keep moving please, keep moving. thank you.") and when we stopped one of them to ask questions after the changing of the guards, he was so accomodating, and so willing to answer questions that we thought he might be a fluke. anyway, it set the note for the entire weekend, as it were, because everyone was incredible nice. i was so impressed, and sadly, less and less enamoured with new york as i spent more time in london. lara points out that perhaps it was because we were tourists that they were so nice to us, but i know for a fact that the NYPD isn't all that nice to tourists. at buckingham palace i noticed a guard dressed in the traditional bearskin hat shaking his head, trying to re-seat his hat or something like that, and it reminded me so much of a dog trying to rid itself of water that i almost laughed out loud. the whole action sent these very mesmerizing ripples through his hat.
anyway. from there we walked up the mall (pronounced, "the mail, because then otherwise it'd be where you have shops and things, then, wouldn't it?" said the nice constable) and over to Trafalgar Square and crossed that to visit the National Gallery. we saw vermeers and gaugins and van goghs and seurats...it was wonderful. i do love seeing good art up close--affords you the perfect opportunity to study it. we spent much more time in there than we expected, although we were quite shocked to see how much time had passed. there were further nice experiences to be had, as well--all of the guards in the museum were super nice (they approached US when we looked lost) and the rooms at the national gallery are numbered, so that you could find your way with ease. it was rather easier to maneuver in than the Met. also, it was free, and you can't beat that.
we meandered through the gallery, taking our time, and then up Piccadilly Circus to Fortnum and Mason for Afternoon Tea. it was rather cheaper than i thought it'd be. and nice to wander through Fortnum and Mason afterwards. very cool, very expensive stuff in there.
from there we meandered back to our hotel by way of st. james' park, which had an pond and public area, and also we got to do part of the Diana Princess of Wales walk, which is marked by really cool in-ground metal markers that point out nice views or interesting historical facts. very good.
we discovered a new bird that we'd never seen before that, for me, really tied in the whole birds-and-dinosaurs-are-related fact: this one had a hard helmeted head that extended up from its beak, and the weirdest looking feetsies i've ever seen: big webby things that look like feathery fronds on each toe. very odd. it's called a "coot." i wonder if that's where the phrase "you crazy old coot" comes from. or is that, "crazy old coon"? whatever.
anyway. by the time we got back, it was time to meet maureen at our hotel, but she didn't make it, so we headed out to see Will at a cool little club called the Bedford. he was great, the crowd was amazing, and we had a great time meeting some of will's musical friends. we felt very hip, having plans already on our first night together in London!
of course the tube--and london--closes down super early. so christine and i came up with the crazy idea of taking the tube all the way to London Bridge. once we got there we were like, 'uh oh,' which way do we go? so we asked a random guy, who, as it turned out, was locked out of his own home, and asked him to help us find a club that would still be open. we found one together, the three of us, and proceeded to close it down, process during which both C and I got groped by a old american guy and C made friends with a nice constable who then proceeded to take us on an awesome tour of londontown. he knew everything! it was wonderful.
we ended our tour at around 4:30, 5AM and just in general had a ripping good time. we even got to see Big Ben as the sky was lighting up...very cool. it was a real treat to walk through the town with someone who knew what they were talking about! and it was also a treat to see it with absolutely zero tourists around whatsoever.
anyway, we crashed for a few hours and then i went to breakfast while chrstine slept a bit longer; then we made the decision to pack a brown bag lunch and redo everything we'd seen the night before, just for the sake of seeing it in the daytime.
we queued up to see Westminster Abbey, and then walked to the London Eye/London Aquarium and had lunch there, and then we meandered over to the Tate Modern and opted to bypass it. on the way we spotted a cool exhibit sponsored by the Discovery Channel that was called, "My Other Life." it was about ordinary people who led "other lives," in terms of their hobbies and stuff, and although i wouldn't have said that simply having a hobby was "another life," it was a nice small exhibit to go to and see, and refreshing to see how many other folks balanced their worklife and their passions, and it was also oddly apropos to C, who is struggling at the mo with work issues. then we took the Millenium Bridge over to St. Paul's Cathedral, and then we promptly forgot that we were supposed to go to the Globe Theatre. I mean, seriously, just, bang, forgot, just like that. Incredible.
so we walked back to the hotel, i think, checked out, and took a taxi to wimpole street, where roj and lara had graciously loaned us their flat for the weekend. C and i both experienced overwhelming feelings of inadequacy and having done something wrong in our own lives when our friends were clearly living such happy stylish lives. i was alternately peeved at myself for not being in a similar space, and proud for being able to count such accomplished folks as my friends. in the end all that mattered was that it was such a fab experience to live on the same street as Professor Higgins and the Brownings, although i think both C and I are determined to find ourselves a flat in central London.
i dragged C to the Golden Hind for dinner, having gushed about it for a day and a half, and we were both suitably impressed with the garden peas and the fried haddock and the service.
we had grand plans to wake up at six-thirty and go to portobello road for some shopping but that didn't happen; instead my pen pal mark came at 9:30, 10 while we were having coffee and we had a lovely time catching up. we all went to portobello road in the end, where C bought a cute miniature stool (for plants, you know!) and i bought a crab that had been carved out of wood (to signal to jim when i am being a crab, you know. because my tank top with the "big Crab" logo on it isn't obvious enough.)
we took the tube back to have some lunch at a pub near covent garden, and had meat pies for lunch. mark had a burger. i couldn't yet bring myself to have such american fare.
we meandered through the department stores, then, looking for the perect gift for Lara, and finally found what we were looking for at a place i now can't remember, and then we wandered over to New Bond Street and i ogled the Smythson's stationery, which i promised myself would be my first purchase once i sold the book.
i am ever so tired of Crane stationery; the fibres get stuck in my fountain pen and create obnoxious little wriggles all over the page.
we stumbled back home, had a drink before dinner, and then dragged mark to the Golden Hind again, where we learned that the chef was leaving for New York. poor Lara and Roj. Lucky MEEEEEE. snark.
that night we went to a few clubs and had a scare when C's passport was missing--but we discovered it lying under a table at the previous bar. lest you think C is in the least bit unconscientious about her belongings, know that her bag had been actively unzipped and her passport poached from her. horrible.
anyway. there was a bit of a scuffle during which we confronted the bunghole who had done the poaching (we were told this by the maitre d', who had seen the whole thing happen, and who also got a tongue-lashing from yours truly, for letting such a wretch stay in his bar) and then we went home to more booze. goodness.
so now we are at sunday. C and I were utterly depressed to be leaving. we couldn't believe that it was our last day; we had so enjoyed our time there and we just didn't want to leave, although by this time i was of course a little lonely for jim and the Great Sprocketini.
we decided that we'd spend the day doing mundance things, like looking at Regent's Park and meandering down to pick up some things from Boots and anything else we'd want to purchase. Regent's Park was beautiful but proved to be a big mistake in that everything was so blasted perfect that it only cemented our desire to stay and become the best ex-pats you've ever seen. they even had fecking citronella growing in the gardens, you know, the better to protect the users of regent's park from nasty things like flies and skeeters. of COURSE! of COURSE!
everyone was so happy in the park, and there were children everywhere, and families, and couples snuggling, and everything was
perfect
so
perfect
aaaaAAAAaaaa!
anyway. we took photos and lamented some more and then we meandered home again and straightened up a bit and had some tea to fight off flu/cold/sore asses from walking symptoms, and then we were off to dinner at Masala Zone for Indian food.
on the way back we turned onto "our" street without even looking, which was a sure sign to us that we'd just better move there, already, only to try and stick our key into the wrong door (off by one number). oops. sorry, next-door neighbors.
anyway. we spent some time cleaning and then indulged ourselves in a little brainless but fun collage making, and then tumbled off to bed.
the next morning was an early one for us, and we reluctantly dragged ourselves out of the flat on wimpole and into the awaiting cab, who, at the end of our ride, asked if we'd be needing a ride back when we returned from our holiday to the states.
clearly, i must move to the UK. blargh!

 

 

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