Londinium

It has been a wee while since I last wrote anything of any relevance to anyone other than myself (bad teenage angst - down!), so in order to sort this problem I shall summerise my trip to The Big Smoke.

Friday
Caught the train down to Kingscross from Waverly around 11am. Fairly uneventful journey with a minor delay due to a stupid lorry driver catching his/her vehicle in overhead power cables at a level crossing; Am I the only one who thinks what it takes a great lack of intelligence to manage that feat? Got into Kings Cross around 4pm and then started worrying about how I was ever going to find my way out to Victoria station (note: I had been to London once before when I was very young, so had no idea about what to expect from transport etc). Successfully navigated the tube and Victoria Station and caught the train out to West Malling where I was staying at Simons place that evening. The countryside around there is very beautiful - it reminds me of home quite a lot, so the train journey was rather nice in terms of scenery. Si picked me up from the station and we spent the rest of the day chatting, went for a walk and had a meal with his family. T'was quite a long tiring day, but fun and a bit of an adventure (and I love train journeys, so it wasn't too bad).

Saturday
Got up quite late and had breakfast with Si before we headed back in to London. Took a trip on the DLR out to Stratford (we were aiming to go and see The Globe but got the wrong Stratford apparently) and back before meeting up with Lou. We wandered around a bit in Westminster area and St James' park before hunting for somewhere to have a coffee and dry off - monsoon season had struck London it would seem! Ended up in a Starbucks (bluegh) and sat chatting for a couple of hours. I was struck by just how many Globalisationbucks there are in London - silly numbers, and several on the same road. (On a side-note; one of the damn places has opened on South Clerk St here in Edinburgh - that makes at least 4 within 15-20 mins walk of eachother - bah!). Si headed off a bit later to his brothers place and Lou caught the bus home, and I went to Leicester Square to meet up with Doug, Cat and Zara. We met up and had something to eat and a chat; was rather shocked by Cat's bluntness I have to say. She was very forward in asking personal questions and suffers from what is commonly known as 'Overshare Syndrome'. Also discovered that various bits of gossip had made their way to London unexpectedly (thanks Stu) and seemed (at least to Cat) to be good topics of conversation...hmmm. Was not overly impressed by her, but that is all I shall say on the subject. Zara headed off to see her parents while the rest of us contemplated going to see a comedy show, but ended up being to lethargic to give it any real thought and went back to Doug's place and watched TV for a bit before sleeping (3 in the bed was a little cozy really - and no, it was all perfectly innocent before you ask).

Sunday
Another late start - bit through no choice of mine. Someone, who shall remain nameless, took for-bloody-ever getting ready (incidently, walking around in very see-through underwear in a room with a person you don't know is called 'exhibitionism' for future reference - possibly also 'attention seeking'). Left my stuff at Dougs place because the rucksack seemed to somehow get heavier and heavier over the weekend with nothing being added! We headed up to Camden Market for a look around and for Cat to meet her friend Polly: it was eclectic and busy and touristy (for the most part) but a lot of fun (p.s. if anyone is looking for a birthday present for me may I suggest the Space Invaders LED t-shirt from Cyberdog - tres tres cool!). Had some breakfast (crepps - yum!) and looked around: got some earings for myself and for Gesine for her birthday. We then headed out to St Pancaras to see Cat off and had lunch (crepe again - goats cheese!). Cat got the train, Polly disappeared, and Doug and I went to meet Lou and Claire at the British Museum. We got so terribly lost on the way there - my guide book apparently felt no need to include such things as major roads etc, so it was around 4pm by the time we got there and because Lou got lost too she arrived at around 4.45pm, 15mins before the place closed lol! Having successfully failed to see much we all piled back towards town to find some dinner and Claire went home (chest infection). This came in the form of Mexican street food from Wahaca in Covent Garden area. Seriously good stuff! and their Wahaca Mules (drink) are to die for :D Was pretty stuffed after that so we wandered around to find a quiet pub for a drink: we found The Sussex. The Sussex is basicly Doctors except in London. Was quite reassuring in this sea of confussion to find a pub where it was quite possible that everyone might actually know your name! I had been due to go back to Lou's that evening, but because my stuff was at Dougs place it ended up being much simpler just to go back there, and we duely did. Watched Dodgeball - not as bad as I had expected.

Monday
The alarm went of hellishly early but we didn't need to be leaving until 11am (Doug was heading out to Austria with Google for a conference). Watched the news, got washed and changed then went out for breakfast to a place up the road. It was nice just to be able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine while eating toast and watching the world go by. We wandered back to pick up stuff then up to the tube station. We said our goodbyes at Green Park and I continued on to Westminster to change to get the Northern line to Blackfriars to meet Jordan for lunch (yes, all I did all weekend is eat apparently!). It was a nice but brief lunch (he was on his lunch break from work) and we had a chance to catch up - I do miss him a lot, as I miss all my friends in that neck of the woods. That over I hopped on the tube (getting good at it by this point - God bless Oyster Cards) to meet Helen at Charing Cross Station. Another round of coffee ensued and two hours of chat before wandering around a bit aimlessly. We met up with Lou again at Leicester Square and went to get show tickets - Avenue Q!!!!!! Got pretty good seats for £20. Popped out for dinner (not that I really needed it!) before hand then headed back to The Noel Coward Theatre for 8pm. The show was superbe and so funney; I had known the music for a while, but the show itself was something else - go see it!!!!! That done we saw Helen off at the station before Lou and I caught the bus to her place. Slept as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Tuesday
Lou was up and out reasonably early, and I was out not long afterwards to head for Kings Cross. Got there a bit early - just in time for a power-shortage in the main concourse, so had to listen out for the announcement of train times instead. Got on the train quickly then got a text from Helen to say that she was at KC too, so she popped up to say cheerio before she caught her train to Hull. The trip back was uneventful but I got some work done at least.
Got home, unpacked, showered, made a cake, did a clothes wash before heading up to Tim's for dinner at 7pm. Was a nice chilled-out evening and he's a lovely boy :)

Right, so that was probably a more detailed summery than either you or I was expecting. the trip was good fun, and I reckon that should work take me to London in the future then I think I could probably handle it. Truth be told I really rather liked it after the pace of Edinburgh. And I would be able to see a lot of my close friends who I miss a lot when I'm up here. It's something to consider anyway.

The next few days have in store: 2 deadlines, a hen party, lunch and coffee with various people, pool, pub quiz and possibly the farmers market - will see. Busy busy :)