Advertisement
Published: March 9th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Buckingham Palace
Kat and I outside Buckingham Palace First off, I have to say that I am very excited to finally get my blog up and running. I've been thinking about this for a while, and finally just decided to do it. I hope you'll enjoy reading about my travels, and appreciate all your comments and feedback.
I was thinking about what to write about for this first entry, and was coming up with some good ideas. Then it hit me. St. Patrick's Day is about a week away, and around this time last year, I was in London having the best March 17th ever! If you think that drinking green Bud Light is a St. Patty's Day experience, you haven't been in the UK for the holiday.
One of my good friends from college, Kat, has been living and attending graduate school in London since we've graduated from Syracuse in 2006. Before I arrived in the city, I had been on a 2 week International Business study tour with my graduate program (which will be the subject of future posts). I flew into Heathrow about 2 days before the big St. Patty's day Saturday. It was my first time in London, and I was very excited
Accident
Tour bus totally plows over a street lamp to see the city. I've been to some random places in Europe before, but somehow never made my way into central London. I was finally about to and couldn't have been happier. After a quite pricey cab ride (20 quid to go about, oh, 1 1/2 miles!), I made it to Kat's flat. I had early morning flights and was quite tired by the time I met up with Kat. We walked around her neighborhood for a little bit, and then got some delicious noodles @ Wagamamas. Yeah, it's an international chain, but the food is fantastic. The first one just opened in the U.S. in Boston, so if you're over by Faneuil Hall, check it out. After hitting up a cool pub that night, I was exhausted and ready to crash. I woke up the next morning re-energized and ready to hit the streets of London. We went to all the popular sights like London Bridge (wasn't falling down, and no sign of Fergie for miles), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey. As we were heading to Buckingham Palace, we walked by a tour bus that had just plowed into a street lamp and totally destroyed the thing! Needless to say,
pretty awesome! We continued on to downtown London for the afternoon, and then went on to a personal favorite spot of mine - Emeritas Stadium - home of Arsenal! Didn't get to go in the stadium, but we did go to the museum! We also met up with our friend Catlin, who is living over in Ireland. After a great day of sightseeing, it was time for Kat and I to gear up for the big day!
We woke up and did what all people should do before a full day of drinking. Ate one single banana. Yup, all you need is some potassium in your system and you're good to go. We met up with Kat's friends from university, Frank and Tara (also both American), and it was go time. We hit up Gourmet Burger Kitchen for some quality "gourmet" style burgers and fries (I mean chips..) before the carnage ensued. Around 11:30am, we got in line @ a popular Irish pub down near Picadilly Circus. People were already boozing on the streets, and we were no exception. We had a few cans of Strongbow Cider as we waited to get into the already crowded pub. Once we
Great sign
Pretty accurate. got in, we noticed that it was also a huge 6 nations rugby day, and oh yes, Ireland was playing. It was perfect. We proceed to drink many pints of Guinness and cheer on the Irish National team. And boy, they were destroying the competition. Everytime Ireland scored, the pub went nuts. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, and what sport you are watching, but when the home team scores, the screams and high-fives come flying. All of the days matches were great, and it was good to see Ireland win on the holiday (otherwise, it could have gotten ugly). We hung out outside the pub for a bit and chatted with some locals, in particular, this one girl who was a cross between Rainbow Bright and Lucky the Leprechaun. She was definetly having a good time. At this point, Frank and I had the brilliant idea to start playing the ever popular drinking game "Thumper" and unleash it on the British crowd. We sat at a table and started doing the motions and hand-slapping, and everyone in the pub looked at us like we had a few too many Strongbows. We eventually ended up just chilling
and chatting it up with some other pub-goers. We then headed more into downtown London to a pub known as Wexy's Little Sister, of Wexy O'Conners fame. What's cool about this place is that it actually has a dumbwaiter that brings drinks up from the bar downstairs to the upstairs. It's one of the few bars in the world that actually has a system like this, and it's pretty damn cool. We hung out @ Wexy's for awhile with some of the locals (and a few travelers) and had a grand time.
After a full days worth of pints and pubs, we had one more stop to make. Since it was March, the NCAA men's hoops tournament had just begun. Our boy Frank had to go root for his Georgetown Hoyas, so we headed to one of the few bars in London that was actually showing the tournament. Not only was this a bar, it was an American style BBQ restaurant complete with pulled pork sandwiches, ribs, and all the "American style slaw" you could eat. Of course, I had to humor myself. Not gonna lie, the pulled pork was pretty delicious, although nothing as good as the states.
Kat and I in the pub
There's that Strongbow. We watched the Georgetown game for a bit, and then took off back to Kat's place. All in all, a great way to spend St. Patty's Day. Good friends, good places, and of course, good drink.
I woke up the next morning ready to head back to the states after being in Europe for a little over 2 weeks. I dragged Kat around to grab some "football" jerseys, but we hit the jackpot @ Soccer City. Seriously, if you are a soccer fan, this is your place. You walk in, and there is nearly every major team in the world's jersey. My head nearly exploded. We then met up with some of our friends who were studying abroad in London for the semester, and then I was off to the airport.
I had an incredible time in London, and really want to go back. But as I mentioned, another St. Patty's day will never compare to the one I spent there. Even though I wasn't in Ireland, I think London is pretty damn close. No matter how much corned beef and cabbage plates I may eat or how many times I hear "Where the Streets Have No Name",
British Flag
God Save the Kacz. I was always remember March 17, 2007 as one of the best. I'm sure I'll have a few pints of Strongbow this year to celebrate, but it won't be the same. Hey Kat, are you looking for a visitor anytime soon?
Until next time, safe travels.
-Kacz
Advertisement
Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0446s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb