Nerding Out

                So I took Friday and Sunday off, initially in the hopes of attending Wireless Festival. That didn’t work out, of course, but I kept those days free because I really, really needed a break. Friday was a pyjama day. I literally did not leave the flat. It was great. I got some serious TV watching done. I did work for almost nine hours Saturday, but Sunday brought with it another day off. Unfortunately, Sarah was working. But my friend decided to come up to London for the day and keep me company.

                We met at London Bridge at lunchtime and headed to Nando’s. Obviously. We had the strangest waiter who was really nice but wouldn’t stop talking to me about Canada and Nando’s and random stuff. It was really funny. From there we walked to the Tower of London. There must have been five million marathons going on because everyone seemed to be wearing a t-shirt supporting some cause or another. We had also forgotten that it was a Sunday. In July. There were a lot of tourists around the Tower of London (especially Tower Bridge) but surprisingly less than anticipated in the actual tower. Of course, because of my super awesome Historic Royal Palaces membership card I got in for free.

                We walked around the tower for a bit while I basically gave a guided tour because I’m a huge dork and spend way too much time there. We couldn’t see the crown jewels or the torture exhibit because there were huge lines. Because everyone loves diamonds and violence, I guess. We did take a Beefeater tour because you can’t go to the tower without taking one. It was hilarious, as per usual. I actually learned some things I didn’t already know, like about the tower’s architecture. That’s what I enjoy about the Tower of London: I learn something new every time I visit.

                After the tower we grabbed a few drinks at Wetherspoon’s before going our separate ways. When Sarah got back she and I watched Gossip Girl, as per tradition. I really don’t know what we’re going to do once we’ve finished the show. Our lives will be empty.

                On Monday I worked, but I had a day shift, which was unusual. I’d been meaning to go to an event hosted by Britbound for awhile, but they either didn’t interest me on days I had free or I had to work during social events that I did think I would enjoy. As it so happened, the stars aligned and I got my work schedule early enough to realize that I could go see Julius Caesar at The Globe. They took care of the booking fee so tickets were only £5. I was a little nervous before going, because I was going by myself and I wouldn’t know anyone and how would I find them? My brain was going crazy.

                I received an email saying to meet at a pub called The Anchor at 6:45pm. I knew there weren’t very many people going but I wasn’t really sure what to look out for. Fortunately, Marie-Clare, the Britbound employee who organized the event, arrived in a jumper with the company’s logo on it. I walked over and started discussing Shakespeare with them, because obviously we all had that in common. She had to leave and head to the theater early to make sure there wasn’t anyone waiting there, but did tell me if I was ever thinking of going to another play to let her know because she’d like to come. I really liked that. It’s cool when you don’t know many people that everyone is willing to just do stuff.

                While I was sitting around I met this Canadian girl named Mina and we talked for awhile. I didn’t talk at all to the other people going. Mina and I headed to The Globe together and I’m glad we did because we never found the other people from our group. We were ‘groundlings’ which meant standing. I had stood for a performance once before, several years ago, and it was a struggle. To be fair, Henry VIII isn’t exactly the most exciting play. I figured that now I’m more used to standing for long periods of time, maybe I could do it. Would I have preferred a seat? Yes, who wouldn’t want to sit down? But did I survive standing? Yes.

                It was a sold out performance so it was pretty crowded, but we were back enough that we had a good view of the stage. The actors are also always coming in and out of the audience which was a funny way to get jostled around during the show. Julius Caesar actually means a lot to me, even though it isn’t one of my favorites. That’s because it was the first Shakespeare play I ever read, when I was eleven (I was a weird kid, alright?). It was the play that started it all and I’d never seen it performed on stage or as a film.

                I have seen many a Shakespeare play performed on stage during my time. I have to say, this may actually be the best one I’ve ever seen. Julius Caesar isn’t exactly riveting and it really depends on the acting and the actors did not disappoint. The actors playing Cassius and Mark Antony were excellent but the real star was Brutus. He looked and acted the part, and Brutus isn’t exactly the easiest role to play. They also used vocal harmonies in a really unique and interesting way and the dance they do at the play’s end (because back in Shakespeare’s day they had to get all the dead people off the ground to prove they weren’t dead and so people would tell their friends it was good rather than super sad) was hilarious! It was traditional Renaissance stuff but they kept adding modern moves. I swear I saw some twerking in there.

                Overall it was an excellent evening and definitely makes me want to attend more Britbound events in the future. I’m starting to settle in and relax more. There’s no point living in London if I’m not doing cool stuff when I get the chance. And what a perfect way to start actually getting out and doing these social events than a Shakespeare play?  

Nice is Nice

My dad left on Thursday to go golfing in Scotland and Ireland for ten days or something. My mom isn’t the biggest London fan (she’s a bit better now that she’s realized it can be sunny on occasion) so before coming she had debated whether to stay in London for a few extra days or if she and I should go on holiday. After getting my current job, which has flexible hours, I was able to go away with her. We had looked at deals offered on sites like Groupon before settling on British Airways. They can be expensive but they also have a thing called Last Minute Deals, where you have to go away that month but it can be really really cheap. Then it was a matter of choosing a location: there were deals everywhere from Barcelona to Copenhagen. Ultimately we chose Nice, in the French Riviera. Ironically, almost a year ago I had suggested Nice to her in passing.

                I had to wake up really early to get to Gatwick Airport to catch my flight. I had cancelled my shift the night before (good call) but it didn’t make me any less tired. I had originally requested a minicab to pick me up at 4:15am, which I later changed to 4:45am, when I realized I didn’t have to be at the airport until 6:30am because I had carry-on luggage. I took a minicab to East Croyden station, to catch a train to the airport. Because it was so early, I had to get a cab there or else leave on a nightbus at 3:00am. Easy decision. Funnily enough, I caught the train I would have been catching had I been picked up at 4:15am. Unfortunately, that meant I arrived at Gatwick just as my parents were leaving their hotel. I sat and read for awhile before I began getting nervous at my parents’ absence. They both had to check baggage and neither of them were there. They came in running just past 6:30am and we had to rush to security. My dad’s flight was boarding at 7:05am and it was really busy. We thought he would miss the flight so our goodbyes were very rushed. My mom and I actually got through security before him, because they decided to swab his iPad. Security is so lax in the UK. I accidentally left my sunglasses on my head and the only reason I got a pat-down was because the machine randomly selected me. On the way back I would leave coins in my pocket and walked through just fine. We all made our flights. We had a hen party on ours. It’s a bachelorette party. All the girls were dressed the same and were obviously really rich because when my mom asked them were they were staying they said St. Tropez. You know who goes to St. Tropez? Beyonce.

The flight was a quick two hour trip (yay for Europe!) and customs was a nonevent. Another stamp in my passport and not a word was spoken. We then had to catch a public bus to our hotel, because there aren’t shuttles. It was a little confusing trying to figure out where we were supposed to get off. I eventually asked the driver. Just in time, too, because he told me it was the next stop. We got to our hotel, the Beau Rivage, around 11:30am. Check-in wasn’t until 3:00pm but we thought we would try our luck. The girl at the front desk was really nice. Not only did she give us a room right away, she changed it from a queen bed to two twin beds. The floor in the hallways has pebbles in the design, which makes it look like you’re walking on the beach (Nice, if you don’t know, is famous for its pebble beaches rather than sand). It was really cool! Our hotel room was nicer than I expected. I always think that when you can get flights and a hotel for so cheap it’s probably going to be a bit ghetto but it wasn’t at all. It was, however, very hot. We couldn’t get the air conditioner working.

                I had been to Nice before, four years ago, but this was my mom’s first visit. Our hotel was situated in a great location, right on the Promenade des Anglais and just two minutes from Place Massena. Our first stop was the Hard Rock Café. I am one of those crazy Hard Rock people. I love going there. I love watching the music videos and I love the food. I’ve been to Hard Rock’s all over the world. My parents hate it but humor me. This one was quite nice. There was a patio area (too hot) and an upstairs, indoor area (meh) but there was also some tables inside slightly but still with the breeze from the patio and a view of the water. My mom actually really liked it. She took the seat where you could see the ocean and people and I took the seat facing the TV (I seriously like the music videos, okay?).

                Their menu is slightly different than the ones in North America, so I ended up trying a new drink. Usually I get their sangria but it wasn’t there. My mom and I both tried a drink called Pickled Tink. It’s strawberry something, vodka and pina colada mix. It was so good! We also had spinach dip for an appetizer, which they don’t usually have on their menu. My main, of course, was hot wings. I love their hot wings in general but the chef must be really good here because they were even better than usual!

                After lunch we tried walking down the Promenade des Anglais some more but it was so hot. I could feel my skin burning and even my mom was complaining about the heat. We got down as far as the Negresco Hotel before turning back. Once at our hotel we had little day naps but were very hot, even in our room. We had a tour booked for 7:00pm so we eventually had to get ready. The tour was to take us to Monaco. I have been to Monaco before and absolutely love it in the evening. There were just four of us on the tour: me and my mom and an Australian couple. Our guide was very nice. He first took us through the Old Town of Nice before heading up the coast to Monaco. I love that drive, especially as the sun is going down. Unfortunately he did not take us to the palace in Monaco, which was disappointing. The view is spectacular. All the multi-million dollar yachts in the harbor and the whole city. Oh well, at least I’ve seen it before. He did take us around Monaco a bit. He even took us on the entire Monaco Grand Prix track, which goes right through the city! Going to the Monaco Grand Prix is on my bucket list, so I thought it was awesome.

                As part of our package we had booked the tour with a three course dinner. It was an okay Italian restaurant. The Australian couple did not book with dinner but ended up joining us anyway. It was not as awkward as I thought it would be. She was a big talker and her husband was one of those adorable men who just sit there thinking to themselves while their wives talk forever. Dinner came with ¼ bottle of wine each. My mom doesn’t drink wine so I got hers too. It was actually half-decent wine. For our starter we both got ravioli which was really good. For our mains we had a choice of fish or veal. I don’t like either but figured I’d be safer with the fish. I was disappointed. Salmon is growing on me but I still am not a fish fan. I don’t like the texture. For dessert my mom had a tart and I had crème brulee for the first time. It was so good! I’ll definitely have to get it again sometime.

                Dinner took ages and by the time we had finished we only had about an hour left in the city. We headed up to the famous Monte Carlo Casino. I actually really remember my way around Monaco from last time so I was able to lead everyone up there without any difficulty. We had to go past the hairpin turn from the race track, then up through some gardens, before finally finding the casino. It is truly a spectacular building. The architecture is just breathtaking. Even if gambling isn’t your thing, go in for a drink or something, because it is really something. The Australian lady had forgotten to bring any ID so she and her husband didn’t go in. My mom and I did. It costs €10 to enter and you must have ID. I knew this from last time so it wasn’t a big deal. Last time I won €40. I wasn’t as lucky this time. I played until I was back at even, but we didn’t have a whole lot of time to do anything else, so I just played some more and eventually lost it all. I wasn’t playing with very much so it wasn’t exactly devastating. The second time I played I at least acknowledged that I was going to lose and my mom was okay with it.

                We had a little bit of time before we were being picked up so we walked around looking at all the fancy cars parked out front. The people of Monaco literally drive their cars up there so tourists will take pictures of it. There is so much wealth in Monaco it’s ridiculous. On the drive back we got to see a town called Eze all lit up. It’s on the hillside and looks really beautiful at night. We got back around midnight to our hot room and would only have a few hours sleep before our next tour.

                The one thing I missed out on on my last visit to Nice was going to Cannes. I love movies (duh) and Cannes is famous for the Cannes Film Festival. I didn’t know enough about Cannes to go on my own so we booked a tour that would take us to Cannes and through Provence. Pickup could be any time between 8 and 9am so we didn’t get much sleep. Especially since it was SO HOT. We basically sweat from the second we landed in Nice to the second the van picked us up. Even with breakfast (one of the better hotel breakfasts’ I’ve had) I still felt crappy. For the first leg of the tour it was a struggle to stay awake. I was tired and I’m fairly certain I had mild heat exhaustion. We first stopped in Antibes for twenty minutes to look at the harbor. You should see the size of these yachts! They are bigger than houses! I want one. I want a big one, because you won’t feel the waves as much. And, because, of course I’d want the big one. They were insane. From there we headed to Cannes.

                My biggest complaint about this tour is that we didn’t have a lot of time in Cannes. Only about forty minutes. For someone who really wanted to see Cannes, it was not enough time. We were very rushed the whole time, basically running from spot to spot, taking a picture and leaving. We were dropped off at the Festival Palace, where all the film premieres take place. We walked into the shop where I bought a cool-looking t-shirt about the film festival. They had handprints outside in the cement, like on Hollywood Boulevard. Had we had more time, it seemed like we could actually go inside. Instead I just took a quick picture of/on the steps to the cinemas, like in all the premiere pictures at Cannes. We then headed to a kiosk nearby. I needed to get my body temperature down, and to have some caffeine. I grabbed a Red Bull and some Diet Coke, which actually did the trick. We walked towards the beach and found the spot where the stars do their photocalls before their premieres. I took a few pictures. There was even a cruise ship in the background, like in a lot of the photos I see! We were about ten minutes away from pickup time so we had to get walking down to the pickup point, which was kind of far. We got to walk past all the hotels along the beach, where they have posters for the films premiering at Cannes. There were none right now, of course, but I could picture it.

                After our way too short visit in Cannes we headed to a village up in the hillside of France. We would get two and a half hours there, which was annoying considering how little time we had in Cannes. It was a cute village but we could have done it in an hour. First my mom and I walked around, trying to find a place for lunch. I wanted escargots but she really wanted something with carbs, so when we found a restaurant overlooking the hillside that had a club sandwich for her and ravioli for me, we decided to eat there, figuring we would be able to find escargot in Nice that evening. We grabbed some ice cream for dessert at a little shop and bought a macaroon. My mom had never tried one before. I really like them! Then we sat around waiting for our pickup time. Seriously, they should have given us ninety minutes in Cannes and ninety minutes here. I don’t even know how the other six people on our tour killed time, because they didn’t even have lunch.

                We then headed up through the hills of Provence. We saw a village made out of stone, which was pretty cool, and drove up to Gourdon, which is a village famous for gingerbread. My mother decided she spoke French better than me so when I insisted a shop sold gingerbread she didn’t believe me. It was actually really funny. The shop owner gave us a taste of the gingerbread which I really liked but my mom didn’t because apparently only gingerbread men are good. She’s weird. We then drove to Grasse to visit the Fragonard perfumery. I could have visited that before but I am really sensitive to smells so last time I sat outside with the hungover people I was with. This time I decided to go in. It was included in our tour so I figured if I got sick I could just leave and it wasn’t like we had bought the tickets. I made it through the tour. It was interesting, kind of. They showed how they make and bottle the perfume. As someone who can’t really wear it, I don’t really care. That was the last stop on our tour and we headed back to Nice.

                After a quick rest in our hotel my mom and I went walking through Place Massena to find a nice place for supper. Remember how I had ravioli for lunch because I figured we’d find escargot for dinner? My mistake. Nice is full of Italian restaurants (I guess because of its proximity to the country). Had I wanted ravioli I could have eaten at any number of restaurants. We did have a nice walk through Old Town during our search, though. We had resigned ourselves to return to the Hard Rock (my mom, ironically, was encouraging this – apparently because she really wanted another Pickled Tink). I had seen a restaurant on the same block that looked promising earlier, so we checked out their menu first. It had escargots! Decision made. It was called Balthazar. It’s typically a piano bar but today it was set up to watch the World Cup, which had started the day before (I saw some of the opening ceremonies in Monaco). I seem to always end up in Europe during the World Cup and always watching the games at some restaurant or bar. It’s kind of fun, because everyone gets so into it. My escargot were delicious! They were very traditional, which meant I had to pull them out of the shell. For my main I got some duck, which wasn’t very good. But I had my French meal and that’s all that mattered.

                Saturday was our last day. We had originally thought to stay until Sunday, but it would have been harder for my mom to get back to Calgary. We didn’t really need the extra day, anyway. Maybe if we had been in Barcelona or someplace, but I felt like three days was enough. The tricky thing was that our choices were limited to a 7:30am flight (to early) or 7:30pm (a little too late). We laid in bed until check-out time, which was noon. Then we headed to the Hard Rock for lunch. We tried the bruschetta for our appetizer this time, which was probably the best bruschetta I’ve ever had. We ate in the upstairs section this time. We chose poorly, because for some insane reason there was a birthday party happening for a five year old. What five year old has a birthday party at the Hard Rock? Anyways, there were a dozen screaming children running around. It was annoying and loud. But the food was good.

                We still had time to kill before heading to the airport. We weren’t really sure what to do. We had seen these trams on the Promenade des Anglais the last few days so we went to check it out. It turned out it was a little hour-long tour of the Old Town and up to the ruins of a castle. It wasn’t too expensive and we had nothing better to do, so we took it. It was actually really enjoyable. The audioguide was actually quite informative and the views of the city from the top of the hill were breathtaking.

                From there we walked down the beach and through the streets for a bit before heading back to the hotel to get our luggage and get on the bus to the airport. We were two hours early for our flight which turned into even longer because the plane was delayed. I only brought one book and their free wifi was terrible. I also missed my last train in London, so I didn’t get back until 1am. Sigh. But it was a nice trip with my mom, who headed home the next morning to Canada.

 

How I Spent the Bank Holiday Weekend. And Tuesday.

                It was yet another Bank Holiday weekend in England so we were once again faced with a long-weekend. Unlike Easter Weekend, however, we found ourselves in the position of actually having things to do every day.                

                Friday marked our one month anniversary of being in London. Things haven’t worked out exactly as planned. We are both still unemployed. Contrary to everyone’s opinions in Canada, it isn’t because there are no jobs available. There are thousands of new jobs listed every day. The issue is that the competition is fierce and we lack experience. Who knew that getting a university degree would actually hurt your employment chances? But Friday was also the day of Sarah’s first job interview. I am still an unemployed couch hobo so I went down to Kew with her. We left ridiculously early but it was a good thing because there was a lot more walking involved than we had originally thought. I can now say I’ve walked the entire exterior of Kew Gardens. Originally I was just going to hang out at a pub while Sarah had her hour-long interview, but the pub next door was closed. Fortunately there was a shop across the street called Ceramic Café. It’s one of those shops where you can paint pottery. I love doing that so I painted a butterfly jewelry box while I waited.

                On Saturday we planned to see the new Seth Rogen movie, Bad Neighbours. We originally meant to attend the 1:00pm showing but we were bequeathed with the delightful news the trains weren’t running. We were instructed to wait at a bus stop for a replacement service. After about ten minutes of waiting with a growing crowd but no sign of the bus, I remembered there was a neighborhood bus that took us exactly where we needed to go. The only problem? It would take an hour to get there, which meant we would be seeing a later screening. Then the bus wouldn’t go past the second last stop as the driver had gone over their allowed driving time. Fortunately, the very first time we’d seen a movie there we had taken the tube to Canada Water, so we knew the walk. Had we not, though? We would have been super lost and definitely would have missed the movie. For the record, Bad Neighbours was hilarious. We then had to take another hour-long bus ride back. Doing two hour-long bus rides really makes me appreciate the ten minute train rides it usually is. Never not work again, trains.

                Of course, that wasn’t going to happen. At least I knew in advance the trains would be down on Sunday. We planned to go to Shake Shack and take pictures of us crying over burgers. Because we love this actor Dane Dehaan and he was on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon telling a story about a time when he hadn’t had a burger in four months and then started crying in a restaurant. So, with Sarah and I being as weird as we are, we were totally going to replicate that. The bus was only supposed to take thirty minutes to get to Covent Garden but it took more like an hour. Once again, the driver was going over their time. It didn’t affect us at all but there were people on the bus absolutely freaking out, saying it was because she was driving too slow. The bus ride was slow, yes, but from what I could tell it was because there was loads of traffic, not anything to do with her. So we had our delicious burgers from Shake Shack and we took our crying pictures nobody understands and then we went to the British Museum (www.britishmuseum.org). It was a quick walk there from Covent Garden. We didn’t stay there very long. The museum is huge and it was a weekend, which meant tourists everywhere. Especially Asian tourists who just stand around in huge groups taking pictures of literally everything. We definitely went around the back side of the Rosetta Stone and made funny faces as people were taking pictures. Photobombing is fun. We kind of sped-walked through the museum. We saw the Egyptian, Mexico and mummy exhibits and some cool exhibit about money. But ultimately we decided to leave. We had a quick drink at a pub before hopping back on the bus to head back to the flat.

                Monday was an unexpectedly awesome day. Last week when we were in Liverpool I saw on Facebook that one of my favorite music artists, Ed Sheeran, was playing secret shows on Monday. I had made a joke to Sarah about how wouldn’t it be cool if we could go but there’s no way we will get tickets. Then I kind of forgot about the whole thing. Friday afternoon Sarah was sleeping on the couch when my phone went off: a twitter notification with the link to the tickets. I clicked it and saw they were only £6. Without even asking Sarah I grabbed two tickets. When she woke up twenty minutes later I told her she owed me money…because we were going to an Ed Sheeran secret show Monday afternoon.

                So Monday arrived. The secret show is to promote his new album, Multiply. The premise of his secret shows was exactly that. He played a thirty minute gig in Ipswich at 11:30am, followed by an hour long show in London at 4:00pm, followed by a full concert in Dublin at 9:30pm. The doors for the venue, Koko, were to open at 2:00pm. Sarah and I headed down there early to grab some Nando’s before the show. We got to the venue around 1:30pm and the line was huge. This was my fifth time seeing Ed Sheeran and every time has been completely different. The first show was in Phoenix last February. He was just starting to get famous but had already announced his tour and ticket prices. I figured paying $25 to see him in a smallish venue was fair. The next two times were in Edmonton where he opened for Taylor Swift. I met him at the second concert, which was amazing. The most recent show was in New York, when he played to a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Gardens. I’d gone to that one because I thought it was really cool to be able to say I saw him for $25 at the beginning of the year and at MSG at the end of it. And now here I was, having paid £6 to see him play in front of about 500 people. It was insane. I have now seen him more than any other musical artist with the exception of Alexisonfire. He’s catching up to them. But what was really cool was the crowd. For Phoenix and New York City it was 80% people who like The A-Team and nothing else and for the Taylor Swift shows it was all girls who liked Taylor Swift. But this crowd was different. It was 80% diehard fans, like myself. Lots of us had t-shirts from the different shows we had attended all over the world. People were sharing stories about the different concerts. It was really cool to be surrounded by people as passionate about the music as myself.

                The doors were supposed to be opened at 2:00pm but we actually didn’t get in until more like 2:45pm. We grabbed some drinks and checked out the t-shirts, which were disappointing. I definitely would have picked one up if it had the date on it. But I really could care less about a generic t-shirt. I’m only shelling out money if it’s got the actual event on it. We could have been halfway to the stage but I like to be able to move, so we found a pole in the middle of the room and hung out there. It worked out perfectly because nobody tried to take our spot, we could take turns leaving to grab drinks, and we had a perfect view of the stage. We also know where to look in all the pictures his manager posts of the audience.

                Ed came on promptly at 4:00pm with a shortened version of my absolute favorite song of his, You Need Me I Don’t Need You. You want to appreciate his talent? Watch a live version of that song. I’ve seen him play a twenty minute version before but obviously that wasn’t going to happen if he only had an hour. He then moved on to Lego House followed by one of his new songs. He then played I See Fire from The Hobbit movie, which I was really hoping he would play. I recorded it on my phone because artists don’t tend to play their movie songs very often in concert. He then played what is so far my favorite song on his new album, One (the album drops June 23^rd). Sarah had run to grab drinks during that song and all of a sudden he started playing her favorite song, Drunk. This was Sarah’s third time seeing him live, but the first by himself (she came to the Taylor Swift shows with me). He never played that song with Taylor. I started freaking out and she made it back just in time. He then played Give Me Love, which he always used to open his shows with. I love hearing that live because he changes the way he sings the course and it’s just heaven in my ears. He next played The A-Team, obviously, and finished the hour with his first single from the new album, Sing. I don’t really like that song. It sounds very Justin Timberlake-y and like he’s trying to get his music played at nightclubs. He’s still crazy talented, though. He is probably the best artist to see live. His albums are great but him live is just insane and indescribable.

                The show took exactly one hour, just as Ed said it would. It was still definitely worth £6. I’d pay twice that just for one song. He’s playing the O2 arena in October so I’ll definitely see one of those shows. Or all four. We’ll see. After the show we went to a pub to grab some food but the kitchen closed at 6:00pm. How is that a thing? The kitchen should be opening at that time, not closing. Ultimately we ended up back at Nando’s because we have a problem.

                After a lazy Tuesday morning we had to head back to Kew to pick up my pottery. It’s not the greatest work of art in the history of the universe but it will do for something I hadn’t been planning on doing in the first place. The walk was a lot hotter than anticipated and I ended up getting heat exhaustion because I’m awesome like that. It was actually kind of freaky. I thought I was just hungry but when I tried to get off the train at Waterloo I had the shakes. We ran in to a Costa Coffee at the station and I sat in the shade and had a drink and a muffin. It worked and we were able to continue on with our day.

                We were seeing a play at The Globe that night so we decided to kill the hours before then exploring the South Bank. We first walked through the Royal Festival Hall. It was very posh and I bet it’s gorgeous when there are events. There are six levels to explore but it was quite intimidating. We couldn’t really tell where we were allowed to be. Also, there are bars literally every few feet, which I found amusing. Then we found the greatest place ever, the British Film Institute (www.bfi.org.uk). I am seriously considering a membership, because it’s only £40 and you can go to all sorts of screenings and get tickets to the London Film Festival in the fall and they have all sorts of monthly members-only events. For example, next month there is someone coming in to do a lecture before a screening of 2001: A Spacey Odyssey. The second I have a job and am making money I am getting this membership. The building is really cool. There’s a couple bars and several screening rooms. There is a library full of film literature. I really want to check it out and see how much of it I had to read in school. It’s free! There’s also their mediatheque room. They have thousands of film titles from the National Archive that you can watch. FOR FREE. You can go every single day but you can’t stay longer than two hours. It’s pretty much become my goal to watch every single title. We got a ticket for half an hour so we could check it out and I put on 24 Hour Party People for Sarah to watch while I checked out the different titles available. It’s pretty cool. We definitely don’t have stuff like that in Canada.

                After our movie ended we continued walking down the South Bank before eventually reaching the Globe shortly after 5:00pm. Our show wasn’t until 7:30pm but we were both fairly hungry so we started looking around for a place to eat. We first checked the menu at The Swan (www.loveswan.co.uk), which is the restaurant attached to The Globe. It looked pretty tasty and smelled delicious but we had time to debate our options so we continued down the sidewalk. We didn’t find anything that seemed as appetizing as The Swan so we quickly returned. We were a little disappointed initially to find that the menu they had shown us was not available if you were attending the play. We had to order off of a pre-set three course pre-theater menu. We decided to just go for it and definitely did not regret it! For our starters Sarah had pea soup (which I did not try because ew) and I had some salmon with bread and pickles. I don’t usually eat salmon but I thought it sounded the best out of the options. For our main Sarah picked her selection solely based on the fact she felt like eating broccoli. It ended up being served alongside some kind of fish. I tried a piece of it and it was actually really good! I had macaroni and cheese, which sounds childish but I have found that macaroni over here is delicious. It was served alongside a salad that was bitter and somehow very addicting. For desert Sarah had a strawberry something and I had chocolate mousse. It was such a large serving of something so rich it made it a little less enjoyable than the rest of the meal had been.

                Overall dinner was amazing, though, and we had a great time. The restaurant is situated right on the Thames and from my seat I could see St. Paul’s Cathedral and the bridge from Harry Potter. I ordered a half-bottle serving of wine so as to avoid having to order by the glass and save some money and Sarah and I laughed at how the waiter poured two glasses. Because I am so Canadian I didn’t want to bother him so I just took turns drinking out of both. It was pretty funny. We also enjoyed eavesdropping on our table neighbor, who we nicknamed Dr. Shakespeare. He decided to give a complete synopsis of the play we were about to see to his dinner companions while adding his own personal tidbits of (false) information. Seriously, I studied Shakespeare. He was so wrong.

                We still had some time before the show so we went and grabbed our tickets from the box office before it got busy and had a drink outside while we watched the sun go down. For our drink we went to the outdoor section of The Swan, which is only for ticketholders, as it has direct access to the theatre. It was a really cool set up in the courtyard. They have it themed like the theatre would be in Shakespeare’s day, with cleverly named substitutes for burgers and beer. It kind of reminded me of A Knight’s Tale, to be honest.

                Ten minutes before the show they opened the doors and let us in. The show we were seeing (Sarah’s first at the venue) was Titus Andronicus. It is one of the few Shakespeare plays I have not read or seen some version of. We always knew we wanted to see a show at The Globe, sooner rather than later. When posters advertising the production made comparisons to Quentin Tarantino films, it peaked out interest. We still neglected to buy tickets, however, until after the show opened last weekend and it made the news because audience members kept fainting. Because that is what seals the deal for us. I have seen a play here before, Henry VIII, several years ago. I got standing tickets for that show. It’s a cool idea. Basically, because poor people in Shakespeare’s day stood in the center of the theater, they sell really cheap tickets if you feel like standing. I’ve done it once and I really don’t need to do it again. Standing for three hours or more is hard work and even if you can do it, it’s still in the back of your mind that your legs are getting cramped and tired. For a sold out show they put nine hundred people in the standing area. Sorry, but I will pay the extra £10 to sit. Which is what we did. We were right on the side of the stage, in seats referred to as ‘restricted view’. The thing about The Globe, though, is that all the seats are restricted view in some way or another, because it’s almost a complete circle. You will never be able to see the full action. In our case, there was a pole holding up the roof of the stage that was in our way sometimes. Not a big deal.

                The story of Titus Andronicus is not one of Shakespeare’s best. I like my tragedies with some substance, personally. Titus Andronicus returns from war with a former queen who marries the Roman emperor. She’s basically the devil and her sons rape Titus Andronicus’ daughter and cut off her hands and cut out her tongue. Titus Andronicus decides to get revenge but cuts off his hand because that’s apparently helpful. There’s also a black guy who is having an affair with the psycho queen. And a bunch of people die at the end in a scene that definitely can be described as Tarantino-esque. Mostly because there’s dancing involved in the murder. All it really needed was Stuck in the Middle With You. That’s what I would have done. But we weren’t really expecting substance (I’ll save that for Hamlet). We did have four people faint in the audience so we got what we came for. I think North Americans must be really desensitized to violence, though, because Sarah and I didn’t even bat an eye at the parts that made people faint. I didn’t even realize people had fainted because it seemed so tame compared to what I was expecting.

                Side Note: When the show ends all the dead people get up and do a dance. Seriously. Slumdog Millionaire style. Fortunately Sarah and I knew about it because they told us on our tour of the Globe last month. Apparently it is done because, in olden times, people were really upset. And if people were upset they wouldn’t recommend the play to their friends. So it had to end on a happy note, even if everyone was dead.

 It was still a fun experience, though.  I think this is when it finally hit us how awesome London is. Where else in the world can you see an Ed Sheeran Secret Show for £6 on a Monday afternoon and the next evening see Titus Andronicus performed in an exact replica of Shakespeare’s Globe? 

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." - The Beatles, Strawberry Fields Forever

                Last Friday Sarah and I decided to take a break from job-searching and get out of the city for a day or two. We ultimately decided to go on an overnight trip to Liverpool. In the UK they have this company called Megabus (www.megabus.co.uk) who offers ridiculously cheap fares on bus rides all around the country. They’ve even expanded to include some European destinations! I had taken them several years ago to Manchester and back. We were able to get return tickets for Liverpool for only £14 which was pretty sweet.

                We decided to go up on Tuesday which meant waking up at the wonderful time of 5:30am to catch the bus. We didn’t go to sleep early the night before either because why would we do that when we could have an Andrew Garfield marathon? The London Tube was striking Tuesday and Wednesday which meant the train the Victoria was going to be crazy. We were lucky enough to get on near the start of the line and actually got seats but it filled up fast and I felt like the devil for having a suitcase. To be fair, I was trying my best to keep it out of the way but when there’s a million people crammed on a train it’s going to feel like an elephant. After a torturous thirty minutes we arrived at the Victoria train station. We had forty five minutes before our bus was due to depart but I would definitely rather be early than late, especially on tube strike day. Our bus ended up leaving fifteen minutes late because of European driving laws requiring that drivers rest for forty five minutes (the previous bus had gotten in late). It wasn’t a big deal but one lady going on a bus to Nottingham was flipping out. Seriously, if fifteen minutes is affecting you that much, maybe you should have planned better.

                I was pleasantly surprised to see that Megabus has updated a lot since my trip to Manchester. The first time I took them it was a double-decker bus, completely full. There was very little leg room and no amenities besides a washroom. This coach had seats with extra leg room, plugs to charge laptops/phones/etc. and free WiFi! It was great. Sarah and I watched the saddest movie ever, a Belgian film called The Broken Circle Breakdown that I absolutely love. Then I read half of The Fault in our Stars, because obviously the previous movie had not upset me enough. The bus made two stops, one in Leicester and one in some university town, before arriving at Liverpool One Coach Station at 1:35pm.

                Before touring we went to check in to our hotel, The Sir Thomas (www.sirthomashotel.co.uk). Originally we had planned at staying at a hostel. I’ve stayed in hostels before and they are fine as long as there’s no curfew but it’s still a pain having to share a washroom and bring your own bedding and stuff. I had checked out the hotel deals on Expedia for fun and we actually got this hotel for just £3 more than the hostel! I’ll take that. The hotel was lovely and if you go to Liverpool I definitely recommend seeing if they have cheap rooms available. It’s perfectly located just off the main shopping district, at the corner of the Cavern Quarter. We literally never had to take transit because everything was walking distance. The staff were really nice and the rooms are clean. Yes, they are small, but it’s what we expected. We also got two beds! We have been sharing a couch bed for so long it was nice to have a night in a bed to ourselves. There was wifi in the hotel and really good curtains (it’s the little things that help).

                We’d been travelling since 7 that morning and hadn’t eaten at all so before heading out we grabbed lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. They were having a lunch deal of one course and one drink for £7.95 so we took advantage. I had some penne pasta that I think confused itself with a salad but was still pretty tasty. Finally, we were ready to head into the city. Tuesday’s stop was The Beatles Story (www.beatlesstory.co.uk), which is basically a museum dedicated to The Beatles. You can get an added package taking you to some Elvis museum but we really could care less so we got the cheaper ticket. You get an audio guide and it takes you through several rooms. It starts from their early years to how they all met. They go into detail on their various managers and drummers and acquaintances. Then it’s the stuff we all know about: Beatlemania, the break-up, etc. It’s really interesting and we were fortunate enough that it wasn’t very busy. After we were done we headed back up to the hotel. We got to walk along the Albert Dock, which is one of Liverpool’s most famous landmarks. We took a different route back to the hotel which allowed us to walk down Matthew Street, the self-proclaimed ‘Home of the Beatles’. That’s where The Cavern Club is located.

                We rested for a bit at the hotel while trying to plan our night. We hadn’t gone out for a night on the town since arriving in England so it was really fun to be able to get all sparkly and put a skirt on. We went to a restaurant down the road called The Living Room (www.thelivingroom.co.uk/liverpool). It was supposed to be kind of posh but relatively affordable. They actually had a really good supper deal going on but I wanted something outside the selection. Sarah and I split a bottle of some amazing Italian Cabernet (Banfi or something is what it’s called). I had duck spring rolls to start followed by gnocci as my main. Both were delicious. For dessert I had chocolate fondant with some Bailey’s on the rocks. The restaurant itself was very nice, though it was quite empty when we were eating. But, to be fair, it was only 7 on a Tuesday. They were incredibly quick: we were on our main course by 7:30!

                From there we headed to the legendary Cavern Club (www.cavernclub.org). You know the place. If you’ve ever seen a picture of The Beatles playing, you’ve probably seen the Cavern Club. It’s not just famous for The Beatles. Many other bands have played there over the years. Nowadays it’s more of a tourist attraction, unfortunately, though that’s to be expected. It’s so cool being able to stand in such an epic spot and everything is just like you imagine and then you look next to the bar and they are selling t-shirts and postcards. The bar is mostly populated by tourists who wear backpacks and are just there to say they went in. There were a few people who were doing like we were and clearly had put effort into going out. We actually picked an excellent time to go. We arrived shortly after 8pm, which is when these two young guys with guitars who call themselves the Nowhere Boys (haha, you’re so clever…) started their two hour set. They are a Beatles cover band, in case their name didn’t clue you in. You’d think I would find that lame since I find everything touristy lame but I actually loved it. There was no better way to experience The Cavern Club than by listening and singing along to the songs of The Beatles. They played a wide variety though sometimes they confused us (like saying they didn’t know how to play ‘Yesterday’. Who doesn’t know how to play ‘Yesterday’?) but ultimately it was a lot of fun. Sarah requested that they play ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ and they did and we were freaking out and singing all the words but nobody else seemed to have any clue what the song was. They should be ashamed of themselves.

                When the set was over we left and headed closer to the center of town to go to a club called Popworld (www.popworldliverpool.co.uk). Now, we chose to go here because it was the closest club that was open on a Tuesday night and not a gay bar. We were very disappointed. We showed up around 10:30pm and it was empty. Like, we had been expecting it to be pretty quiet initially, since we assume when clubs are open until 4am people probably don’t really start going until midnight. But this place was empty. Literally just us, a DJ and a depressed bartender. We actually felt sad for the place. Things were not boding well for our night out, after such a good beginning.

                We left after about ten minutes and started heading up the street where lights were flashing. We didn’t want to stray too far and fortunately we found a place at the top of the road. It was called Soho and it doesn’t even have a website. The music was Top 40 which is what we expect on a night out. It wasn’t busy but there were at least people. We sat outside until it got busier around midnight and then went inside to dance. One of the things I’ve always loved about going out in Europe is you meet so many people. Sure enough, I met some really cool people like Sasha and her boyfriend Chris who were, like us, coming up from London for the day out of sheer boredom. I also met these two guys from Switzerland, Danyal and somebody whose name I forget. They were actually at The Cavern Club and said hello when they recognized me from earlier. I talked to them for quite awhile, about everything from travel to music. It was really fun. We did not want to stay at the club until 4am so we tried to leave around 2am, like back home. We got back to the hotel at 3 so we were partly successful.

                The next day we awoke feeling good (I’m not being sarcastic) and got our stuff together to check out of the hotel at 11am. Our coach wasn’t leaving until 3:10pm so they were nice enough to let us leave our suitcase and backpack with them for a few hours. We had booked a tour at 11:30am. The tour was, of course, The Magical Mystery Tour (www.cavernclub.org/the-magical-mystery-tour). As one can guess, it was a two-hour Beatles tour. We got on the Magical Mystery Tour bus and our guide took us all over the city. It would be really hard to see these places outside of a tour, as they are quite spread out. We saw Penny Lane, George Harrison’s birthplace, Strawberry Fields, John Lennon’s home with Aunt Mimi, Paul McCartney’s childhood home (one of them, anyway) and much more. It was really informative and definitely a good way to kill time. The tour dropped us off at Matthew Street shortly after 1:30pm. We’d already done the Cavern Club so we grabbed some lunch, grabbed our suitcases and boarded the coach back to London.

                The only problem with Megabus is, at the end of the day, you are stuck on a coach for five hours. And that gets boring, even when you bring a book…and a laptop…and a DVD player…I watched Rebel Without a Cause and slept and messed around on the internet and everything but the time did still drag. It probably gets easier over time; it’s been nearly four years since I last spent that much time on a bus. I’m out of practice.

                That’s what is so awesome about living in Europe: you can decide last-minute to go on holiday somewhere for a day or two or a weekend and there’s always great deals. We don’t get opportunities like that in Canada, since there’s very limited ways of getting places. So Liverpool ended up being our first jaunt outside of the city. Can’t wait to see where we head next.  

The Last Four Days

                This week we are going to start buckling down and stop our touring, for the most part. On Monday we stayed in the flat literally all day applying for jobs. We also did laundry which meant we had to buy laundry detergent and not break the machine. We didn’t and our clothes are okay. Hurray for adult life! We accomplished quite a bit amidst watching around six movies over the course of the day.

                The one other important thing I got done Monday was transfer my money to my UK bank account from my Canadian one. I was putting this off as long as possible because I thought it would be difficult, but it actually turned out to be quite easy. I used a company called CanadianForex (www.canadianforex.com). You tell them how much money you have to transfer and they give you a rate. Once you hit Okay, they prepare to transfer the money to you. In the meantime, you go on your Canadian bank account and pay them the money, essentially giving them money to give you money. Because I’m with RBC they actually show up as a Payee so it was relatively painless. It takes them about three days to get the money and about one day after that for me to receive the funds in my UK bank account, which is why I really wanted to do it at the beginning of the week. I did leave some money in my Canadian account, just in case. The only issue I ran into was minor. They have to call you to confirm the deal. Of course, they have my Canadian number. So they sent me this panicked email saying they had to get ahold of me before processing the transaction. So I gave them a call on my landline. The girl I spoke to, Hilary, dealt with everything swiftly and it was completely painless (I hate making phone calls). 

                Tuesday was another day at the flat spent watching movies and applying for jobs. The thing that nobody tells you is how hard it actually is to find a job. Your university degree is basically useless. Everybody wants experience – even entry level jobs. It’s a bit disheartening. And everyone is a telemarketer masquerading as an actual job. Sorry, but I know how my parents treat telemarketers and they are probably nicer than some people. Not happening. On the bright side, I received a phone call from Google to discuss future job opportunities. Not immediate, but maybe future ones. It at least broke the ice in terms of actually talking to a professional so no matter what it was a good thing.

                We decided to put pants on and go to dinner at a restaurant down the road called Le Querce (http://lequerce.co.uk/). It’s an Italian restaurant and not too expensive but what it ever delicious! I got the ravioli and some fries and Sarah got lasagna and we both were very satisfied with our meal. I also got some wine in a gracious amount, which is better than I’ve seen at most pubs. We got dessert. Sarah had ice cream and I had cheesecake. My cheesecake could have been better, to be honest. We definitely want to revisit this restaurant, and hopefully soon.  

                On Wednesday we took the train to Surrey Quays to see The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which we get a couple weeks before the USA. That doesn’t happen very often so we made the most of it. I loved it. Definitely better than the first and Dane DeHaan (who I love) was so good as Harry Osborn. A million times better than James Franco.

                Thursday we decided to actually go do something before our self-imposed isolation on Easter weekend. After we got up in the morning we went to Nando’s for lunch. I got the actual chicken this time instead of chicken wings and was not disappointed. I also had a caramel cheesecake for dessert which was just to die for! We then tried to visit the National Gallery (www.nationalgallery.org.uk). We wandered around for a little while looking at the art but it was quite crowded with tourists and school groups so we didn’t stay for very long. I’d really like to go back on a quiet day and spend the whole day there with an audio guide just completely nerding out.

                Side Note: I started watching American Horror Story because they have it on Netflix and I’m completely obsessed. I watched the entire first season in less than 24 hours. Evan Peters is amazing. That is all.  

‘We are, by the sufferance of God, King of England; and the Kings of England in times past never had any superior but God’ – Henry VIII

Today we did what we had meant to do last weekend, which was go to Hampton Court Palace (http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/). You want to do it on a nice day and last weekend it rained so we put it off for a few days. The day began overcast but gradually got nicer so it all worked out. We took the train for an hour into the countryside before arriving at the palace. Because of our Historic Royal Palaces membership we got right in. I cannot stress enough how awesome the membership is. It has already paid for itself and then some. Like Kensington Palace, several of the exhibits were closed because they are redoing them. Unlike Kensington Palace, there’s enough to see that two or three closed sections doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.

                We first visited the exhibit on young Henry VIII, which traces the beginning years of his reign, along with Katharine of Aragon and Thomas Wolseley. We then visited the King’s Apartments, which is in the Baroque part of the palace. These are set up as if King William III (I think it’s the third) still lived there. We had learned about him and his wife, Mary II at Kensington Palace. Then we went to an area dedicated to King Henry VIII and his six wives. I love the Tudors so I will visit any exhibit dealing with them. They are soon opening an exhibit on George I I believe, and are currently changing around the Queen’s Apartments.

                We then headed out into the gardens, which are beautiful. The best gardens are obviously at Versailles but these are pretty good. We first went left outside of the palace and walked along the side wall. We made a pit stop to visit the Royal Tennis Courts. We left the palace grounds and went into the section you don’t need a ticket to get into, where we had lunch outside (with a 10% discount courtesy of our membership card). We then attempted to visit the famous Maze but it cost £4.50 to go in, which is ridiculous. You already paid to go to the palace, why charge for the maze? So we headed back to the grounds and walked to the Privy Gardens, which are my favorite. They are well-sculpted and colorful and have a fountain filled with terrifying fish. I have an irrational fear of fish. They also have the Great Vine, which is the Guinness World Record holder for longest vine. I guess it’s pretty big.

                We took a few pictures and headed back to the train, where we ran into our first train drama since we arrived. There was something happening at the stop we were supposed to transfer at so we ended up having to go all the way into the city to get back to the flat. Three trains. Sigh. We were doing so well before that. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching movies (Lawless and Snow White and the Huntsman). Later, Sandra, Imogen, Sarah and I all ordered Chinese food. There was some sort of set menu meal deal that was meant for three people to share and we decided to stretch it to four. Firstly, there was definitely enough food for four people. We even had multiple helpings. Secondly, it was DELICIOUS. I don’t know where they ordered from but it was the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. Everything was so good! We watched British MasterChef and Great Expectations before heading to bed.

A Day of Wandering and Accidental Pub Crawls

“I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.”  

- Roman Payne, Rooftop Soliloquy  

                Our day began very late. We always mean to wake up by 9:00am and get the day started but it rarely plays out that way. It actually turned out to be a good thing we slept in and got a late start to the day, since we aren’t very good at killing time (pub, the solution is always a pub). We ran into some confusion trying to find the correct tube stop and got off a little early. It shouldn’t have been a big deal since we were in the general area but we did end up walking for awhile until we finally found our first destination: Kensington Palace.             

                I’ve been to Kensington Palace (www.hrp.org.uk/kensingtonPalace) once before and it was definitely better then. Fortunately, because of our Historic Royal Palaces membership cards we didn’t have to pay, because I would have been annoyed if that was the case. The biggest exhibit, the Kings Apartments, is currently closed for renovations. The Queen’s Apartments has literally the most morbid exhibit I have ever seen. The entire thing is about King William and Queens Mary and Anne…and Anne’s eighteen dead babies. It started out alright enough. In a room of authentic furniture Sarah got guilted in to sticking around for a lecture by someone that works there. It was on fashion, technically, but actually really interesting. Hannah, the lecturer, was probably the best part of the whole exhibit. Sarah and I were saying afterwards that listening to people talk about something they are passionate in is always interesting, and this was the perfect example: take a topic neither one of us are really interested in, but we gladly listen because they make it fascinating. The exhibit went downhill from there, however. It was, like I said, all about Queen Anne’s eighteen dead babies. She had something like thirteen miscarriages, five stillbirths and one child who died at eleven. There was literally a room with eighteen dead baby memorials. It was super creepy and morbid and we just really did not like it. The only part of Kensington Palace that remained from the last time I visited was the Fashion exhibit. They show dresses the royals wore from the 1950’s to 1980’s. Queen Elizabeth II in the 1950’s was actually pretty stylish, not going to lie. They were both our favorite dresses of the exhibit. They also had dresses worn by Princess Margaret and, of course, Princess Diana. 1980’s dresses are so bad. There was one Diana dress that everybody was oohing and ahhing over that seriously looked like Molly Ringwald’s Pretty in Pink dress. Overall, Kensington Palace took a lot less time than we thought it would and I’m really glad I didn’t have to pay because right now, it’s not worth it. I would be willing to go once the Kings Apartments are reopened. It’s not like it will cost me anything. The membership card is so far the best thing I have purchased.

                We walked down to The Orangery to see if we wanted to eat there but it was expensive, even with our 10% discount, so we grabbed a quick snack at the café at Kensington Palace. The guy at the till was really nice and asked if I wanted a glass with ice for my diet Pepsi. Little things impress me, okay? After our snack/lunch we started to explore Hyde Park. It involved a lot of walking. Hyde Park is massive and you will never cover it in a day, but we had fun. Every time we got to a fork in the road we would pick a direction. We actually ended up seeing a great deal of the park: the Peter Pan statue, the Italian Gardens, the Serpentine – we even saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain across the lake. After walking for over an hour we reached Marble Arch, which meant we had essentially walked from High Street Kensington (think the top left hand corner of a map of Hyde Park) to Marble Arch (bottom right corner).

                After sitting for a few minutes to rest our legs we discussed what to do next. If we wanted to walk more we could have gone to Harrods or one of the museums in South Kensington, but our legs were exhausted. We couldn’t take the tube anywhere because Central Line between Marble Arch and Liverpool Street was closed. It was a weekend in London, after all. Do the tubes ever all work on the weekend? In the end we decided to go on a random bus adventure. So we picked a route on a double decker (that would eventually put us at a tube station since we had to meet Sandra at 7:00pm down at Westminster) and got the front row of the top of the bus. We picked a pretty good route, too. It went through Oxford Circus, the British Library and Tottenham Court Road. After about thirty minutes of people watching we arrived at King’s Cross Station. I didn’t tell Sarah where our end destination would be and It was fun when she finally figured out why I had brought her to a random train station.

                We were there to see Platform 9 ¾, of course. We both like Harry Potter. Neither one of us have seen the attraction before. It seemed like a perfect way to kill time. I must admit, I was a little concerned we weren’t going to find it. I didn’t need to be worried, though, because there was a massive line. It was around this time we realized they were charging for pictures. We just took sneaky ones so we aren’t in them. Later we complained about how stupid it is to take something silly like platform 9 ¾ and actually charge people to take their pictures at it. Why can’t it just be a fun little free thing?

                We were still way ahead of schedule so we had a couple drinks at a pub at King’s Cross Station (along with some very good fries – I mean, chips) and eventually took the tube to Westminster…where we were still thirty minutes early. So we went to another pub. I don’t quite know how our afternoon turned into a pub crawl but it did. We met Sandra under Big Ben shortly after seven, and met up with her friend Laura shortly thereafter. From Westminster we walked to Garfunkel’s Restaurant in Covent Garden. There was a closer one in Leicester Square but I wanted Sarah to see Covent Garden on a Saturday night. On our way there we passed Number 10 Downing Street, the Horse Guards Parade (sans horses), and Trafalgar Square. Then we went to eat. I have loved Garfunkel’s Restaurant (www.garfunkels.co.uk) since I first tried it. Their pepperoni pizza is great, because the pepperonis are spicy and the crust is super thin. After our supper we went up to Covent Garden. It is a pretty cool spot. Also, perhaps the highlight of my day, we found a Shake Shack. That’s right, like New York Shake Shack! I am so pumped. We already know we’re going on Monday for lunch. This is how we make plans, because we will now schedule our entire day around eating lunch at Shake Shack. We’re so cool.

My Very First London Birthday

Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new.

Sammy Hagar

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_birthday.html#LWf0DMqZKbRt8bSp.99

Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new.

Sammy Hagar

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_birthday.html#LWf0DMqZKbRt8bSp.99

Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new.

Sammy Hagar

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"Every year on your birthday you get a chance to start new" - Sammy Hagar

                By some miracle I wasn’t jetlagged today. I definitely thought I would be because I went to bed at 7:30pm last night. I woke up and it was a little light out and I felt well-rested and I could hear people in the flat. Then I looked at my phone: it was 10:30pm. I woke up again at 1:00am wide awake. It did not look good. I ended up playing around on my phone for an hour until I got tired again. When I checked the phone next it was 8:20, ten minutes before we wanted to get up in the first place.

                We headed out around 9:30am. We went down to the shop to pick up Oyster cards to get around on public transit, then headed to the train station. It’s amazing how much I can kind of remember in terms of getting around. It was after rush hour when we boarded the train so there weren’t many people on it. When we got to London Bridge we headed to the Tower of London. It’s my favorite attraction in London, our first day in the city, and my birthday, so it made the most sense to spend the day there.

                Instead of buying tickets we actually bought an annual membership. For a joint card it’s only £69 – which is only £34.50 each – and it gets you into the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House and Kew Palace. It’s a pretty good deal and we are already happy we did it. We’re seeing three of those five things in the next four days. We’ll have already saved more money than it cost us. Besides unlimited access to those five palaces for a year, we also get 10% off of gift shop and café purchases and invitations to membership events, such as access to a private room at Hampton Court Palace and rooftop tours. Totally worth it! Check out http://www.hrp.org.uk/SupportUs/Membership/ if you’re interested. Even if you’re just visiting, if you plan on visiting more than one of those you’re actually saving money (to put things in perspective: a one day ticket to the Tower of London would have cost us £23).

                We spent half a day at the Tower of London. A lot of people literally go and see the Crown Jewels, the White Tower and take a Beefeater Tour then leave but I never like doing that. I check out each and every exhibit. By all means, check out the Beefeater Tours – they are absolutely hilarious and a highlight of my visits to the Tower – but there’s so many cool little things to check out. I’m a nerd. Whatever. They play the Laurence Olivier version of Richard III IN AN EXHIBIT ON RICHARD III. Why would I not like this?

                After a solid several hours of touring we remembered we were jetlagged. We had a few hours until our dinner reservations so we headed back to the flat. Sarah had a nap. I don’t nap. But we were glad we were able to rest a bit. At 5:00pm we headed to dinner. Our reservations were for 6:45 but I had no clue where we were going so we left early. We ended up finding an easier way to get there literally as we were waiting for our train and arrived around 6:00pm. Not a big deal. I’d rather be early than rushing.

                At 6:30pm the doors to the restaurant opened. We had chosen to have my birthday dinner at Dans Le Noir (www.danslenoir.com). This is a restaurant that originated in France but has expanded to several countries around the world. Basically, you eat in the dark. It’s cool. To begin, you check in for your reservation. You can either get a cocktail from their menu or a surprise cocktail. Sarah and I both ordered the surprise cocktails. They were absolutely delicious, and I can be quite picky with cocktails and martinis. We sat at a table in the lounge where one of the welcome guys came over and explained the menus. You have four choices: Meat, Fish, Vegetarian or Surprise. That’s all you know. We each picked the three course surprise menu along with a surprise wine pairing for each course. After you lock up all your personal belongings in a locker the manager introduces you to your waiter. Your waiter is blind and teaches you how to maneuver in the dark. You grab his shoulder and he leads you into the restaurant, which is pitch black. And I mean 100% black. I definitely walked into a chair. I was concerned it would be unsettling but it was actually fine. I actually found myself behaving as I normally do in restaurants, including facial and hand gestures, despite the fact Sarah couldn’t see me. I also somehow managed to not spill anything on myself. In fact, the most unnerving part was walking to and from the table. You’re supposed to use your other senses. I didn’t really get that, though I did feel like Daredevil does when he gets pictures from his other senses. They are dead serious about the light, though. One guy snuck a cellphone in and took a call and he actually got kicked out.

                As for the food, like I said we got the surprise menus, which could be anything. You don’t find out what you ate until after dinner, when you’re led back to the lobby. Our starter ended up being some kind of crab, with a rose wine which was delicious. Our main was springbok, ostrich and crocodile paired with red wine. Obviously I would never so much as touch those if I saw them on a normal menu. But I didn’t have a choice and it was actually quite good, especially the herbs on one of them (I think the ostrich). Dessert was cheesecake. You can’t go wrong with cheesecake. And dessert wine.

                We finished up quite early (it only took an hour and fifteen minutes) so we had a quick drink at the pub and headed back to the flat. We’re still jetlagged so exhausted. But it was a pretty damn good first birthday and first day in London.