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Nick Cave plays a private show for me . . .
. . . and a few hundred others, in central London. Freakin' fabulous!! Greetings from Chester . . . but let's step back a few days to London, London, London!!!!
Some highlights from the last time you heard from me:
- Finally found Abbey Road . . . dodged a few vehicles to get my pic taken in the crosswalk, but made it across safely (Grade 6 crosswalk patrolling does not come in handy in a foreign country!)
- Visited the gravesite of Karl Marx (and for those who don't know who he is, open a book . . . we all had the same schooling!)
- Sat in a choir box at Westminster Abbey during an evening service . . . serious goosebump moment!
- Oh, and last but not least . . . saw Nick Cave perform at a record shop in the middle of London!!!!!!!!
After my eight-plus hours of being a full-blown tourist on Sunday, a night of paralyzers were in order, and my sore feet thanked me for it. On Monday morning we awoke and made our way to Harrod's, if for anything, to experience the ultimate in cheese, tackiness, and sheer self-indulgence. And I'm not talking about the store itself (which really is quite awesome),
Karl Marx said he wanted something simple.
You decide . . . if this is simple, sign me up!!! but I did have trouble deciding throughout the day which was more tacky . . . the memorial to Diana & Dodi with their faces in cutouts surrounded by fake flowers and candles, or the bronze statue of the two of them releasing an albatross into the wild with the phrase "innocent victims" underneath. It was a topic of conversation for a while, but I settled on the statue, if only because Dodi is made out to be some Herculean God with his shirt open and flowing in the wind. (Oh, and there was a memorial book nearby, to which I signed, "Diana, you were lovely, but your sons are hot. Love Georgia from Canada.") And because I take great pleasure in extreme tackiness, this was a delightful treat for me!!! Monday night was exciting to get out of the grub clothes for a bit and dress up to go out for a gorgeous dinner for Jeff's birthday.
Tuesday I had a ton of stuff planned and was ultra determined to see/do it all (by the end of the day, I was a sheer genius at riding the Tube, even offering up others directions on how to get around
Oh, the humanity!!
I'll let the statue speak for itself. . . . and I know those of you that went to Spain with me a few years ago find that very difficult to believe!!!) I finally made it to Highgate Cemetary, but it was a bit of a challenge. After getting off the Tube I stopped at a corner shop to ask for directions, whereupon I was told to go up the hill, turn left, and ask somebody else. Directions followed, I stopped to "ask somebody else" who in turn told me to keep going up the hill, come to a traffic circle and "ask somebody else." You can see a pattern here . . . finally made it to the cemetary, and it was well worth it, as only myself and a few thousand of my closest spirit friends took in the surroundings in the gloomy weather. Being the big scaredy-cat I usually am, even I find it highly unusual that I am so taken by cemetaries (don't even mutter the words "Exorcism of Emily Rose" around me!), but it was a gorgeous place with plots that were well into the hundreds of years old.
Next on my list was Abbey Road, but first I decided to
Westminster Abbey
View from inside one of the courtyard walls get completely lost near the cemetary and was assisted by a lovely Londoner who took me on a bus and straight back to the Tube! (Side note: Such nice, friendly people in London . . . I had no problems whatsoever.) Yay, made it to "The Road" and along with walking through the crosswalk, I signed the wall in front of the studios to leave my mark there forever (or at least until the next rain washed it away!) Made my way to Covent Garden and bought a fab pair of shoes . . . not what I was looking for, but I couldn't resist! Although, it was also hard to resist the Edmonton Eskimos trucker hat circa about 1975 I found in a vintage shop on Neal Street!
I think there was some more stuff in between, but even now I'm losing my mind . . . probably because of my next stop, quite possibly one of the most wonderful things I've ever experienced. I went to Westminster Abbey hoping to get on to one of the free tours, but had miscalculated my time and they'd already ended . . . but lo and behold, I was first
Are we possessed?
It's like Harrod's took me and Jeff over . . . check out the gleaming red eyes! in line, if I was interested, for the evening service 45 minutes later. I've been lucky enough to see a few massive cathedrals and mosques in my life, but for me, nothing even holds a candle to the Abbey. Being at the front of the line, I was seated in one of the choir box seats for the service, right next to the choir. I had chills and goosebumps the entire time, it was so utterly magnificent!!! As most of you know, though, my mind does tend to wander, and I began imagning the White Stripes at the pulpit rocking out with spectacular accoustics in the cathedral . . . but I digress. It was lovely, a total, complete highlight!
Wednesday's plan was to go to the Tower of London (which I seemed to keep putting off for one reason or another), but in the end, a lad by the name of Nick Cave won . . . do I regret my decision not to go to the Tower? Hell no!!!!!! On Tuesday while taking the Tube home I grabbed one of the free newspapers that are given out at the stations and had a quick read-through, and in
John, Paul, George, Ringo . . . and Georgia!
Does my wide smile give away how absolutely giddy I am in this picture?!! a tiny, little corner of the paper was an article saying Nick Cave's new band, the Grindermen, would be playing a free show on Wednesday afternoon . . . it was a no-brainer for me. It was very fab & very cool, and another very unexpected highlight in London . . . (oh, and for those of you who are interested, there is some video coming home to Canada of that show!)
I'm sure I've thoroughly bored all of you by now with my ramblings (talk about self-indulgent!!), but I think it's time to leave London there and move onto gorgeous Chester (& area). I can already sense the different pace up here, and I know I'm going to love it. Kate has already been such a welcoming host, and she and her friends have a weekend packed full of activities for me . . . and apparently a liquid called al-co-hol will be involved, and it's supposed to make you giddy, goofy, and act a little strange. Looking forward to it!
I hope this finds you all well . . .
Siblings: Tell Mom & Baba I'm doing great, no need to worry (good luck!), and give
Isn't he lovely?
Spotting Big Ben throughout my stay reminded me of going to Kelowna on family holidays and my dad giving a dollar to the first one of us kids to spot 40-foot Fred (or was it just to shut us up for a couple of hours?!!) the munchkins big kisses from their favourite thea!
Moosh: I suck, I know, but happy belated 30th . . . we'll celebrate next time you're in Edmonton!
Chanz: Happy Birthday, darling . . . I better see some pics from that shaker.
Cheers,
Georgia
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No I am the fave Thia!
Keep up the adventures sis! And tell me you bought vintage Eskies hat!!! That would look sweet at Grey Cup ;)