London so far

I like London. It’s a terrific city. British accents. Lots of history. Cars on the “wrong” side of the road. All the traditional touristy stuff is here, and sometimes it’s just fun to be a tourist! Plus there is random quirky stuff everywhere that makes me laugh - like the above picture of a sign on a park bench.

As I expected, our hotel is less than pristine. It looks like the hotel used to be old apartments which make for a more interesting experience if you don’t mind giving up a few American standards (i.e. large baths, standard beds, elevators, etc.). Since bathrooms weren’t as common 100 years old or so (think in-room wash basins instead), it’s hardly a surprise that our pre-fab bathroom unit doesn’t mesh well with the room. The bathroom is TINY. The sink sits over the toilet and the shower head is relatively close to the toilet as well. Basically the unit is not made for those over 150 pounds, taller than 5.5, or with long hair to wash. But really, all we need is a safe place to sleep and keep our stuff. Nothing too fancy needed. Plus the multiple flights of stairs we walk up and down each day gets us in shape (I will admit that neither of us can get up the stairs without stopping to catch our breath. Haha).

Amanda and I have done all sorts of things since we arrived Wednesday morning. To start with, we took a long nap as soon as we checked in at the hotel. Most travel guides suggest you stick it out and don’t succumb to the urge of continuing to function at your normal time zone. However, we really didn’t care. We slept for about 5 hours. Wednesday night we went to a fabulous little pub around the corner for dinner. It was low key and exactly the atmosphere we wanted.

Thursday’s event was the Tate Modern, preceded by a LONG walk by the Thames River. It was my idea to walk. I love rivers. The fact that most major cities are built beside rivers gives me all the more reason to visit those cities. I digress. Anyway, the Tate Modern occupies a huge old warehouse. Like the name indicates, it’s full of modern art. My most memorable “art work” was this film with 6 obsessive people repeatedly doing various random things like taking coats off hangers. Hard to explain. The film’s bizarre quality will always made it memorable in my mind. Wow, that last sentence reminds me of some sort of BS persuasive paper ….

Thursday afternoon I wanted to go to the Theatre. London’s West End district is renowned for Theatre. Some would argue that it bypasses New York as far as cutting edge theatrical performances go. Anyway, I left most of my research on current performances at home except for some reviews on a piece called “On Ego.” The show had a short run and closes Saturday. After wandering around for an hour, we finally found the theatre only to be told that all tickets were sold. Dang it! ::sigh:: So we ended up going for a more typical performance which happened to be Bernard Shaw’s “You Can Never Tell” at the Garrick Theatre. From our seats, we had a terrific view of the actor’s spit projectiles. Overall, it was a fun experience although a bit predictable. Edward Fox did a great job (he played a grandfatherly, all-knowing waiter) and was perhaps the best part of the play. Amanda and I have one particular line stuck in our heads: “you think you won’t, but you will.” This line was repeated several times near the end of the final scene and brought about loads of laughter from the audience. We will always remember it as a token of our London theater experience.

I have been told that Harrod’s is the essential destination in London for females. All that I have to say is that it was nice. I was there for quite a few hours this morning and only saw two levels. Most of the stuff I couldn’t afford and probably wouldn’t buy if I could – especially items of the gaudy variety. I prefer classic style rather than loud, fleeting trends. Does anyone really remember what Dior came out with last year? Hmm, probably not. I digress.

Our night ended with a trip to a little pub called the Bull & Gate. It’s a music venue for up and coming rock (among other genres) bands. For 5 GBP, you can see 4 live bands and enjoy yourself immensely. If you like rock or want to relive your youth, this is definitely the place to check out. Perhaps you’ll even get lucky like us and see British teens attempt to perform Reggae (it was hysterically bad). Haha.

Until next time.