Easter Weekend

It’s Easter weekend in London and I’m sure there are loads of things to do but Sarah and I were too scared to leave the flat, for the most part. If London is crowded on a normal weekend I don’t want to imagine what it’s like on Easter weekend. Not to mention London always does engineering work on the trains at the weekend so getting anywhere at all is a hassle.        

                On Friday we mostly just stayed in the flat, minus leaving in the afternoon to walk to a giant Sainsbury’s in Sydenham. The walk is over a mile and on the way back I had at least ten pounds of groceries. I think I’ve done more walking in just two weeks in London than I did all last year in Calgary. Involuntary healthy living, I suppose. The walk there was nice; the walk back, less so. I don’t like hills with groceries. It’s just not happening.

                That night Sandra made us chicken (with soy sauce – who knew that was a delicious combination?) along with some Chinese rice I picked up on our shopping trip. We watched Diana with Naomi Watts which was really slow and not very good. One of the characters actually says “I don’t perform heart surgery, heart surgery performs me.” I kid you not. We took a small break to watch UK Master Chef. We’ve watched just about every episode of it since we got here. It’s really addicting. And makes you very hungry. I don’t know how the episodes work in North America but here it’s three episodes a week. And the judges are really nice! They actually give this thing called constructive criticism instead of just swearing and telling people to get out of the kitchen. It’s surprising.  It’s an actual competition not a spectacle. That’s probably why I have no issue watching it.

                Saturday we decided to brave leaving the flat but it was a very calculated decision. I’d been saying for awhile that we should head to Canary Wharf and check it out. I find it really pretty. It’s all tall buildings and water and architecture. The only problem is that it’s where all the big office buildings are which makes it basically impossible to visit during the week. I once got stuck there at rush hour and it was a nightmare. So many people trying to get on the tube. So you basically have to go on a weekend to have a stress-free visit. We were initially going to see this British thriller called Locke, starring Tom Hardy, but ultimately decided against it. Not only did they not start showing it until 4:10pm, they also weren’t selling matinee tickets. Matinee tickets are the best. They are significantly cheaper. Oh well, it’s not like we have jobs. We can go during the week.

                We left around noon. There were no delays with the trains which was nice. Personally, I love Canary Wharf. It’s basically the definition of a concrete jungle. It’s all tall glass buildings and random water areas and the occasional park. I’m a city person so I love it. We walked down Isle of Dogs and came back to Jubilee Place near the tube station where we had lunch at – you guessed it – Nando’s. It’s just so delicious. We went back to the flat after and watched movies.

                For dinner that night we went out to Le Querce with Sandra and Imogen. That’s the Italian restaurant in the neighborhood Sarah and I ate at on Tuesday and absolutely loved. It was another lovely dinner this time around. We laughed and ate good Italian food. I had a seafood platter to start, made up of prawns, clams and mussels (!!!). As my main I once again had ravioli. No dessert this time, though.

                When we awoke Sunday morning (Easter Sunday) we found rain. And grey. I feel bad for everyone trying to do Easter egg hunts at Kensington Palace and stuff. As it stands, we weren’t planning on leaving the flat all day anyway. But some sun would have been nice. Overall this was only the second really rainy day. I don’t know why everyone thinks it rains 24/7 because it’s absolutely not true. Does it rain more than Calgary? Definitely. Do we forget what the sun looks like? No, we just saw it Saturday.

Easter Sunday was one hundred percent uneventful. We literally watched movies all day. I finished American Horror Story: Asylum which I’m happy about because it sucked and now I don’t have to watch it again. I made rice for supper. My cooking skills are unparalleled. I Skyped with my parental guidance for the first time since I left, which was nice.

Monday is a Bank Holiday (that’s what they call them here) so it meant another day of lots of people out and about – except not us. I would just rather do things on days with less crowds. On a sunny holiday Monday everyone is going to be everywhere and I just really hate walking behind slow, stupid people. So it was another indoor day. I watched the new Game of Thrones and Mad Men, which was the least monotonous part of my day. Because I’d never seen them before. I finally finished reading Divergent…just the first book…it took me awhile. Only two more to go, so I should be finished sometime next year.

Despite our best intentions to stay inside we got restless and decided to walk up to the Horniman Museum (http://www.horniman.ac.uk/). It was much hotter out than expected and I was exhausted by the time we reached the museum. I dehydrate easily and was light-headed for most of our visit. The Horniman Museum, like many museums in London, is free. There are exhibits on animals, a temporary exhibit of photos of the arctic, and exhibits on music and Africa. If you pay you can get into the aquarium. It’s not the greatest museum of all time but it’s so close to where we are staying that it’s a nice way to waste a few hours. It also has gardens and a park. In the gardens they grow fruits and vegetables, which is cool. Most of them aren’t ready yet, though, so it just looks like trees. So, at the conclusion of Easter weekend we returned back to the flat like the cool people we are.