I landed safely in London and ventured into town to meet up with some Camp Chi friends. We hit the ground running, starting with a traditional English lunch: fish and chips. Brett took us a downtown pub and taught us the correct way to eat the dish (you put vinegar and salt on the fish). It was pretty good, though kind of heavy, but definitely a good choice given where I was. We left lunch and went to the British Museum. The museum is filled with stolen goods from all over the world: Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc. Some of the items and exhibits were interesting, but given that I'm not a huge museum person, I probably didn't appreciate it as much as some of the other sites I saw. We left the museum and headed to Piccadilly Circus, the downtown theatre district to see if we could get tickets for a show. Piccadilly Circus reminded me a lot of New York. It's a very busy area with lots of theatres, bright lights, shopping, and restaurants. Brett recommended History Boys, a studio show based on life in London. We were able to find cheap tickets and bought them. We had some time before the show and decided to go to Buckingham Palace. On the walk there it started to snow. We walked through St James Park and to the Palace, took lots of pictures, and decided to go warm up with some high tea. The tea and finger sandwiches were refreshing and sheltered us from the cold and snow. We left tea in time to go to the show. The show had a small cast, simplistic set, and detailed plot which shed light on the culture of an all boys school in London. It was very entertaining.
Friday was a packed day. There were many sites I wanted to see and I carefully scheduled the day to fit in as much as possible. I saw many of the famous London sights including Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Big Ben, the houses of parliament, Toefgler Square, the National Portrait Gallery, and others. The London Eye is larger than I could have ever imagined. I found Big Ben to be unimpressive, though I compared it to the Astronomical Clock, to which nothing truly compares. The front of the National Portrait Gallery houses statutes, a large fountain, and a huge open area with some park benches and many people. It was a great place to stop and rest while enjoying some of London's finest people watching. After a quick break I ventured over to the Camden Street Market, a popular Friday outdoor market. The market was a unique mix of clothes, bags, pashminas, fresh fruit, fresh fish, carnival food, artsy pieces, jewelry, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It was eclectic and exciting not to leave out cultural at the same time. I spent a couple hours walking the market and then headed back to Brett's to shower and get ready for the night. I joined Jen Tenzer, a former Elm Place grad, ice skater, and Camp Chier for a night on the town. Her and I and some of her friends went to Cheers, a local bar for a couple drinks and some dancing. It was a great night.
Saturday morning I went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. This was probably not the best day to go, as it was packed beyond belief and hard to see what was going on beyond all the tourists and cameras. I found my way through the nearby gardens and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings of the nature around me. I left this part of town to head to Knotting Hill and the famous Portobella Market. On the walk to the market you pass many movie setting houses. I kept looking for Hugh Grant, but sadly couldn't find him. This market was much more upscale than the Camden market and also very enjoyable. I spent some time walking the market, saw a few more sites, and went to dinner with the Chi crew. Brett has made reservations for us at Absolute Ice Bar for Saturday night. From the outside the ice bar looks like any other restaurant or bar. When you walk in the employees drape a furry cape over you and pin thick gloves to the cape. You then walk through sliding double doors into ice world. The walls, bar, chairs, and tables are all made of ice. Scattered throughout the room are ice sculptures with dancing people carved into them. Drinks are made solely with absolute vodka and poured into glasses made of ice. The room is much smaller than I imagined but it's more than enough to occupy you for your 50 minute stay. We spent a good 30 minutes taking pictures and 10 minutes enjoying our drinks. The last 10 minutes were a bit cold but we nevertheless spent it looking around and talking about how cool the bar was. It was definitely a unique experience and something to see.
I left Ice Bar and headed for the airport where I would attempt to sleep for 3 or 4 hours before my flight to Italy.
No comments:
Post a Comment