Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Rest of my first week

I have almost a full week to catch you up on, so brace yourself for a long one. Sit back, relax, take a break from work, and read on.

Wednesday - My last blog post day. I decided to take the day off and relax in Sidcup, read my book (The Other Boleyn Girl, very fitting for London), drink some afternoon wine, hang with the fam, and eagerly await the return of Jules and David from work to hear about their days. Yes, I sound like a thumb-twidler awaiting the tales of the outside world to help escape from my domesticated captivity. I have so many days here, and it's nice to have a much needed self-inflicted day of rest for me, my wallet, and London cause I don't think the city can handle THIS all the time.

Thursday - I woke up feeling pretty broodle, I've had a persistent cough since December (which has almost cleared by now) but to top that off I came down with a cold that has apparently been circling around the greater London area. The plan that evening was to meet up with Paul, one of the Brit boys I met on the cruise, to go for drinks in Leicester square. As tempted as I was to stay at home drinking tea, I forced a few Advil cold and sinuses down my throat, bundled up, and trudged onward. Leicester square is a bustling hub of activity during the day and night. It is right next to Picadilly Circus, and is equally as touristy, so I blended right in with my Canada scarf and camera in hand. Seeing Paul in London was so weird and awesome. I've only known those boys for a month but it feels like years as we all spent almost every day together on the cruise. We walked around a bit, then went to four pubs where I was able to savour a different traditional ale at every stop. I'm drinking a LOT of beer over here and it's bringing me back to my highschool and uni days. How I miss the tastey suds, I wish my body could stomach it like I used to. But alas, I am a woman of 25 who is a shadow of her former 19-year-old party animal self. We had a lovely old time Paul and me, reminiscing about our days at sea over drinks then dinner. I caught the 10 oclock train back to Sidcup where Christine and Jules were waiting to give me a ride home. They remarked on how "together" I was after all those beers, shortly after which I was struck with a mean case of the hiccoughs which thereby solidified their observation.

Great Thursday.

Friday - Was a jam-packed day. Jules, Christine, her friend, and I went to the local mall Bluewater - We walked into the mall with purpose, with what we thought would be self-restraint, I had my mom's voice echoing in my head "unforseen costs, unforseen costs, avoid unforseen costs" (shopping would fall under the 'forseen' cost category unless you go in with the willpower I possess...ed). Jules had to buy some boots, and I had to get a camera adapter cord so I could upload pics and visually fill all you kids in on my goings on. Well, this mall is AMAZE across the gaze. So many new stores that I've never heard of! It was like I had never been to a mall before. After a lovely milk-shaked lunch and a few hours of browsing, I walked out with two pairs of shoes, one practical, the other impractical, but I justified the latter purchase with the fact that they were on sale, and when the man rung them up an extra £15 was deducted. Eh!?? Anyway, Jules had no luck until the very end when we wandered into a random store and found a delicious pair of boots she proceeded to buy.

We had to make haste shortly thereafter as I had to catch a train into London where I'd be meeting my cousin Andrew at London Bridge staysh. With less than a minute to spare I caught the train settled down with my ipod, and admired my new purchase (which I had changed into en route to the train). I got into London Bridge around 4:50, 20 minutes late but in one piece and looking rather dashing in all my impracticality. Andrew chose this location under the impression it would be a great and convenient place to meet-- many-a-pub can be found in the surrounding area. What we didn't factor in was that this joint train and tube station is one of London's largest, with 15+ exits, and more people than mecca (well not quite but you get the pic). After many hilarious phone calls during which we remarked on the impossibility of finding eachother in the masses, Andrew made his way to the nearby Burough


Market and instructed me to ask for directions and head there to find him. It was like hide and seek with cell phones. Thankfully Jules had pointed out the Market the other day so I made my way there quite easily, and after one more exhausted call, I spotted Andrew in the midst of the market. We had a comical reunion in the middle of a cobble stone road which appeared to be out of commission until a large truck came towards us mid-hug out of nowhere and at full speed, horn blaring and lights blazing, and we had to jump out of the way to avoid impending death. That being said, we had a HUGE laugh while walking through the market, and ended up heading into the Market Porter, a super old English pub in the heart of the Burough. We had THE BEST time, catching up, chatting about friends and family and life in general. I asked a group of rowdy men to take our pic and we ended up hanging with them for a good hour, during which they bought us pints and entertained us with their cockney humour and quick Brit wit, which Andrew and Mel also possess. Melly - you would've loved this night. When we're in London together, whenever that may be, we're heading to the Porter. So, after what became a very international night of meeting brit blokes, an american business man, and his australian boss, I had to jet off back to Sidcup to meet Jules. I said farewell to Andrew (who is a professional singer for Wells Cathedral about 3 hours west of London fyi) and caught the train. Jules and I got a ride out to Checker's pub about 10 mins from the house in Sidcup and met up with David and his buddies. We had great chats over drinks and it was nice to meet his friends who were all so nice and welcoming. SO that concludes Friday.....






Saturday - Jules and I had an amazing lazy day. Sweet David made us lunch in bed and we chatted about the previous night. We watched a movie called 'The Downfall' about the last days of the demise of Hitler, a lil depressing but SUCH a good flick, I recommend it. We then got ready for our big night out to celebrate my bday.

Stay tuned, I'm hungry and need a break from writing, will post the second half in a bit!!!

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