highlifer

England Day 1

2 weeks ago today we landed in London. Due to some computer problems in our apartment, my original plan to blog each day was foiled, but let's see if I can catch up now.

After landing at 7 a.m., we dumped our luggage until noon, when we could check in to our apartment. Our apartment was by the London Bridge, so we decided to walk across it. Once there, it was a short jaunt to the Tower of London, so we decided to go inside, a tourist thing that I normally wouldn't do, but with time to kill, it seemed like a fine thing to do. It was actually great fun!

The pictures above are from the Tower of London. The Ravens are cool - the rumour is as long as they stay alive on the tower grounds, the monarchy will stand.

Inside the Tower are the dungeons, complete with tons of medieval weapons (a mace! a lance! Swords aplently!) as well as models of the brave horses. And the crown jewels. Which looked extremely fake. But sure enough, a few days later, there was the Queen opening Parliament wearing the jewels.



After the Tower of London, we checked into our apartment and took a serious nap. We missed Chelsea (and Drogba's hat trick) but the nap was sorely needed. Upon waking, we decided to head into the city proper. My plan that night was to go to Fabric so we decided to take the train nearby and get food, then I'd head to Fabric and the others would go elsewhere. The closest train stop, however, was Downtown/Financial district and it was totally dead. We weren't that far from Soho/Covent Garden area, but we couldn't get our bearings. The biggest lesson of London - let cabdrivers take you everywhere. You can't figure it out. I never quit trying,and I never figured it out. So after wandering around in desolation for a good hour, we caught a cab, went to Covent Garden and had a delicious meal at Livebait.
I had the halibut with tagine and it was delicious. And a blackberry caiprinha which was doubly delicious.

Then we went our separate ways - it was about 11:30 and I had to get to Fabric by midnight so as not to get stuck in a queue. Mike, Amber and Tom went to our neighborhood pub, The Rose. Fabric really was great. I was there mostly to see Ellen Allien and the bPitch control group - they were in one room, the middle sized one. I was a little traumatized upon getting there and realizing she wasn't on until 3. I wasn't sure if I could make it. But the room was so awesome - you really couldn't get bored. If one room got boring, just move to another one. I liked everything in bPitch control room, and also liked Rex the Dog in the smaller upstairs room. The main room was a bit too traditional techno for me and I didn't spend much time there. (The crowd was very different in the 3 rooms too - big room mostly cheesy Euros and Arabs, small room mostly Germans and Thais (I don't think I heard English in this room all night) and the small room, punters. After Ellen Allien, I went upstairs for BBC dj Rob da Bank, who played the same stuff I'd hear at Taxlo. Does dancing to Song 2 every get old? After that, it was 4:30 and I thought I should head home.

The cab driver couldn't find my street. This was the only time it happened on the whole trip. So I said, just drop me at the London Bridge tube stop, and I'll find my way from there. Generally, to get to the tube, we had to walk through a tunnel. (Remember, at this point, I'd been in London less than 24 hours.) So I walked through the tunnel, only to see I was right by the water, which meant I'd gone the wrong way. (He'd let me out at the main tube entrance, where we'd always used the rear.) So, back through the tunnel I went, and to my apartment where, at 5 a.m I went to bed.(No one tell my Mom about me wandering through underground tunnels atSouth London at 5 a.m.)

posted by jamie @ 11:38 AM