Beautiful London, I missed you.

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Alright, apologies ladies and gents it took so long for me to get back into this - I suppose it’s because London doesn’t feel like a “travel spot” anymore. God I’ve missed this city. I just feel at home wandering around its many little streets, hunting for a non-existent litter bins, stuck in non-moving traffic on a bus, or saying “ta”. (Is that even how you spell it?)

Day 1:
First day wasn’t eventful - got some life-stuff done in Luton before heading on down here. Plan was to stay all night for the Canada Day concert but it was too crowded by the time I got there and truth be told I was exhausted. I did stick around for a bit of it though - it was nice to see so many Canadians out and about, all the flags, all the Molson Canadian beer haha.

Day 2:
Started my day down at Speedy’s Cafe for a hot chocolate and lunch to go. (Saw a few Sherlockians around the Cafe too - that’s always fun). Had my picnic in Regent Park, made a few squirrel friends - and a bothersome pigeon - and walked through the gardens a bit before it started to spit rain... so... I did the only logical thing in London and went shopping. Ha. Primark... you will be the death of me.

Rest of the afternoon really was just spent wandering around the streets - around Oxford, Leicester Square, Marylebone and the like. It’s lovely when you find yourself on the small roads away from the tourists... you really get to appreciate the city. I found the cutest little bookstore which I spent ages in; I currently have no *need* for new books (sigh) but I know I shall return once I’m back from my trip.

At night I went to see Cripple of Inishmaan, staring Daniel Radcliffe. I got the cheap seats, so spent the entire time leaning over the guardrail, but for 9 pounds, it was worth the crink. It wasn’t the most magical of stories (I didn’t even mean to make an HP reference, I swear!), but good cast all around. I always forget how short Daniel is... total side note.

After the play I decided to continue my wandering ways, heading down the Embankment towards Waterloo, taking a kajillion photos along the way. There were some pretty great street musicians on the Jubilee Bridge, and I discovered there's a big festival or something coming to South Bank - so had a good look at their goodies. I also had the misfortune of being in a flouncy skirt... it was quite windy... I almost gave a show of my own... especially on Waterloo Bridge. Oy.

But seriously, London is a stunning city at night with all the colours and lights.

Day 3:
Today wasn’t much different - a lot more wandering! (Wandering makes for uneventful entries, sorry!) I headed down to Trafalgar to try and get day tickets to “The Hot House” (more on that later) and then I wandered off towards Leicester Square, only to realize I hadn’t been to the British Museum in all my visits... so, you guessed it... I went off in search. It’s a nice museum, and like most nice museums in London, it is free. Gloriously free. You can easily spend a day there if you’re interested in all the artifacts - I especially enjoyed the Egyptian and Greece sections... made me reflect back on Gr. 11 and 12 world history classes. Aw.

(Also, I’m apparently stuck in Harry Potter mode because the Greek Statues, sans noses, were just making me think of Voldemort. I am so cultured. I know)

Wandered over to Victoria Station after that (oh, that was a long walk indeed...) to buy my railcard. After misspelling my name twice (sigh) the staffer asked what my name meant since it’s not English. He had a jolly good laugh at my response... I’m like, it’s not a joke? Haha.

From there I wandered on back to Trafalgar for the play. Since I got the cheap day tickets, I was up in the boonies (last row, side, horrible view again)... but then I got upgraded to second row because I was a single ticket. Like. I was literally on the stage I was so close. Actors were walking by so close I could trip them.

Have I mentioned how much I love London?

The play is kind of an odd story - very much leaves you with a “what on earth did I just watch” vibe, but in a good way that definitely has its share of laughs, and the cast is brilliant! Simon Russel Beale’s facial expressions alone make it worth the price. I spent forever staring at Harry Melling because I knew I knew him... before cluing in he was Dudley (from HP). And the entire reason I looked into this play - John Simm - was fiendishly cool, cold and fab.

(Fun note: in one scene they scarf and I mean scarf a giant cake - it was so energetic that pieces of cake flew everywhere... including on me and my pants. Thanks guys.)

And that's that. I'm falling asleep, so tired. I'll try and actually update this daily as per usual. Until then!

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Comments

[Irene]

HP reference
Day 2, 3rd paragraph...I've got computers on the brain. I couldn't understand what the Hewlitt-Packard reference was...

[Gp]

HP Reference
@Irene i think that was surely for Harry Potter.. M i ryt Jewel :)