Thursday, 11 February: Despite the record-shattering two blizzards that pummeled the DC area on the 6th and the 10th, my flight was miraculously not canceled and I made it to Dulles with minimal road hassle. Who knew I had access to such luck?
Friday, 12 February: Mylene picked me up at the airport and took me straight back to the flat. We relaxed a bit and I showered and then I hit the road. I went to Goldsmiths, Deptford, and Greenwich, but couldn’t eat spring rolls and chips at my favorite chippie because I was inexplicably nauseous. Then I went to the Whitechapel Gallery (modern art) and a really cool vintage shop somewhat nearby. I really wanted to buy a retro British Airways flight attendant satchel but couldn’t rationalize paying £45 for it. I learned later that those satchels are wildly popular with London hipsters right now, so I’m glad I didn’t buy one! I perused through Spitalfields Market and devoured a pasty from a stand in Liverpool Street station, even though I still wasn’t hungry and felt nauseous. At this point I bought a trillion trashy magazines from the exact same WH Smith in Liverpool Station where I bought all my trashy mags last time. Then I headed home.
Saturday, 13 February: Mylene went with me via bus to Victoria Station; I caught a train to Brighton and she went to her nearby Spanish class. On the bus we passed the Fulham grounds where Chelsea FC plays; there was a match about to take place so the streets were awash with blue-clad fans. There were also eight million policemen in riot gear standing around, and some were on horses who were wearing riot shields over their eyes. HOT. I wish I could’ve snagged a picture! Brighton was lovely and we even saw the sun for a little bit. Panos picked me up at the station and we went straight to lunch at a vegetarian Indian buffet. He took me to Brighton Pier, down to the beach, over past the Royal Pavilion, and through the Brighton Museum. We went through The Lanes (the very cool streets filled with indie, funky shops) and then took the bus to his house so we could hang out, drink tea and eat McVitie’s biscuits, and watch the semi-finals of some reality dance show. I got to meet his cute English Springer Spaniel, too. Then we took the bus back to the station and I caught a train back to Victoria and headed home.
Sunday, 14 February: I met new friend Will at South Kensington station and we took the tube to Abney Park cemetery in Stoke Newington. First we stopped for a typical English breakfast at a cafe (okay, it wasn’t so typical for me, given that mine was a vegetarian version) and then we schlepped the long schlep to the cemetery. We wandered around and took pictures and then caught a bus to King’s Cross and took the tube to Covent Garden so I could finally buy my lampshade at the London Transport Museum shop. We poked around the market for a while, then took a nice walk through the neighborhood and took the tube to Harrods so I could buy thank you gifts for Mom, a souvenir for Olivia, and look for things for the cats (to no avail; they already owned all the decent toys I saw!). We took the tube to...somewhere...and then took a bus to the house he shares with two roommates. He made us tea and we watched some stuff on his computer while he downloaded a shitload of postapocalyptic TV shows and movies onto a flash drive for me. After that I miraculously found my way back to the bus station and took that to Victoria, where I caught the tube home. At night Mylene, James, and I went to a lovely pub near their flat for drinks. It was delightfully dead in there and they played a weird range of music (The Carpenters, Oasis, a cover of a Miley Cyrus song, and so on).
Monday, 15 February: I went to an amazing digital design exhibit at the V&A (unfortunately it was choked with children who hogged all the interactive displays) and then to the Saatchi Gallery, which is all contemporary art. I grabbed two sandwiches from Pret a Manger and ate them in a park outside the Saatchi next to a footie pitch where a group of posh kids (their school bus was a freaking Mercedes!) played footie. I gave pigeons my crumbs and it was very nice. I made a last-minute decision to take the tube to Westminster and walk the Embankment all the way from Westminster Bridge to Millennium Bridge (it’s a long haul, but I always enjoy walking it). I walked across Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern, where I checked out an exhibit in the turbine hall which was basically an enormous black box that you wander through. One side of the box was open, giving ambient light that took away from the scary/challenging aspect of the whole thing. Plus there were kids racing around inside, pissing me off. It was a bit disappointing, to say the least. I crossed the bridge back over to St. Paul’s and decided to go inside for the first time ever. Then I saw the price (it was like £13, and my money was running low [I still had some shit I needed to buy]), so I decided to scrap it. I can’t believe I still haven’t been inside! But it ain’t going anywhere, so I’ll get inside at some point. I took the tube to the University of London main campus and bought a t-shirt from their student union (since Goldsmiths is part of UL). I combed through the campus Waterstones for some books I wanted and snagged one of them. I stopped at Piccadilly Circus on the way home to check out another big Waterstones and managed to find another one of the books I wanted. At some point during the night I got sick and some puking ensued; it was rather abrupt: it hit and then passed and then never came back. Hmmm.
Tuesday, 16 February: I took a bus to Hammersmith, then took the tube straight to Heathrow from there. I got there two hours before check-in, perfectly timed, which gave me enough time to pick up a few more souvenirs for friends and magazines. On the flight home I had an entire row of four seats to myself, which was divine, but screaming children in my section of the cabin detracted from the joy I felt at all that lovely legroom. Still, at least I was able to drown them out with earphones and Virgin’s fantastic movie/TV programming range.
Things I wanted to do/see but didn’t get to do/see: visit Absolut London ice bar, go back to Highgate Cemetery, take a Blitz walking tour, hit the Chinese restaurant near Highgate that sells vegetarian fish and chips. Maybe one or two other things, too.
All mornings and evenings were spent relaxing with Mylene at her flat. I had a really great time with her and she was a fabulous hostess.
So, all in all, it was a really good trip. I felt a weird disconnect to the city that I really couldn’t explain. Like I wasn’t fully there. Who knows. I still love London profusely and truly believe it to my spiritual home, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t fully emotionally there. Honestly, I still feel that way even now. There’s a lingering disconnect and malaise that will hopefully pass soon as I resume the shackles of an ordinary life.
song heard most recently before posting: Patterns—Simon and Garfunkel
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