Journeys, Elephants, and Castle - London Weekend
14 October 2007
First, let me say HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY to my dear mother! love that woman. wish I was there! :)
this little outing of ours to London las weekend was an awesome rollercoaster involving money, caffeine, and sore feet! it all started on friday night when we stayed over at Rachel's hall [since she's closest to the train station] and just hung out. we went to her pub at Clarence Dock, had a couple drinks, and met some nice guys at the pool table named Richard, Laurence, and Patric...without a K...because he's half French. Laurence knew someone who lives in Laguna Beach and was like:
"yeah, she has a really strong American accent. she says things like 'that's so fetch."
what? anyone can say that.
saturday morning commenced at 0430 hour [we're getting really good at catching trains at ridiculous hours, I swear] without any real sleep for any of us. some of Rachel's flatmates came home from their night out and I heard them thinking//hoping to myself:
"God, I hope that means that we have to get up soon and my alarm will go off. PLEASE go off, alarm. PLEASE."
it didn't for a long time of sore back and cold floor, but all for the excitement of our first weekend trip! once it did, we trekked over to catch the train, only to get off in London short 92 pounds [long story, sort of] because of a ticket ish. Cue the first low of the weekend! we finally arrive, learn a quick lesson about the price of a singe Underground pass [4 pounds! ridicle!] and make our way to our hostel, amiably titled Journeys, Elephants, and Castle. no words, no explanation, no history...just 3 unrelated words. :) brilliant! even now, we still don't get it. we got greeted and check in by perhaps the most unfit woman to work front desk at a hostel who, by the end of the weekend, clapped at Jessica to get her attention. what human does that to another human?
first thing we did was head to Camden Town to see and shop in the punk and funk of London, a side of the city I think a lot of people overlook or neglect but is very much a large part of London pop culture whether it's your taste or not. tucked inside are some great artisan stalls with handmade goods to be haggled over. after grabbing some [probably] overpriced food at Camden Lock, we Undergrounded it to the main sights of London IE London Eye, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and lastly and quite appropriately Buckingham Palace. before getting to the palace though, we had an intense action shot photoshoot of each of us trying to run and jump sort of gracefully through all the gorgeous leaves in St. James Park. it was just too darn pretty not to use up the rest of our cameras' batteries. evidence of our shenanigans can be found on my Picasa page. :)
after a long, long day of a buttload of walking, we went on an intense search for a local joint with reasonably priced food for dinner, but ended up at a restaurant near the Millennium Bridge called Black and Blue partially because it was the only non-completely crowded places and it had 2 statues of bulls at the entrance. how can you say no to bulls?? it had, perhaps, the greatest toilets I've ever seen: all were individual rooms with amazing sinks and full-length mirrors, we ordered a spinach artichoke dip that we devoured in, oh say, 45 seconds flat, and ordered 2 still waters in a fit of desperation, 2 pounds each! tough financial lessons are being thrown at us all over this country. after our ravenous appetites were satisfied, we Undergrounded back to J,E, and C to hang around the hostel's pub for a while. played a couple games of pool with a cool local named Junior where I discovered my innate propensity for a) scratching, b) hitting the cue ball up and over/u-turning it around other balls, or c) hitting them completely off the table. live and learn, I say, live and LEARN! the day ended as we all went into a coma in our beds.
day 2! bring on the charm of notting hill, AKA my home hopefully in the sort-of near future!
let's just say, we spent ample time in shops, cafes, and at the Travel Bookshop [yes, the one from Notting Hill the movie] and walked away with some good deals from Portobello Road. the whole day, I don't think I ever said "Portobello Road" without singing the song from Bedknobs and Broomsticks and then realizing that I still only know the first 2 lines of the whole of the song.
woe, c'est moi.
we took a coach bus back to Leeds, which we sort of prefer over trains if they're the same price and time. it feels a lot more personal since you actually get to see the surroundings that you're driving through and stuff...it's almost like a roadtrip, but someone else has to pay for gas and drive and everyone has their own personal roadtrip soundtrack. Christine and I shared my ipod, and I think our song for the roadtrip was...Stand Out, by none other than glorious Powerline. :)
peace out, girl scout.
[[[ if you fancy seeing one of the best picture slideshows this side of the Atlantic, check our Christine's blog! www.heywheretheheckareyou.blogspot.com ]]]
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