It's been a while. Be warned, under the cuts, this is a long 'un
And once again I'm writing out my adventures in one town while in another. Specifically, I've now left London and I'm settling into Arnhem. So I'll do a bit of a rundown of what I got up to in London...
I left you guys in suspense on Monday, having not quite decided what to do. Well, I ended up faffing around a little longer and eventually ending up at The National Portrait Gallery after a bit of a wander down Oxford St into Selfridges. The NPG was actually quite interesting, and I think I left with a bit of a better understanding of English Royal history, especially around the time of Elizabeth I. Also, unless it was just the artist doing his thing, Dickens was pretty cute. I then had to hurry back to Josh's place because I had his keys (I'd had a new one cut in Oxford St for my personal spare set). I stopped in at Tescos to buy food, and waited. And waited. And Josh rocked up some time after that. We went and played pool and I felt a bit odd, being the only woman in a room full of dingy lights and dingy men, but it was fun. And I won by 'de fault'!
On Tuesday, I decided I'd spend the morning wandering around the City (by the way, did you know the City of London is actually run by a corporation, and is theoretically independent of the Crown? They have to pledge allegiance every year to the monarch and government!). The City couldn't possibly take that long, right? Ah...no. I got off the tube around the London Exchange, and decided to follow the path laid out in a guidebook I'd borrowed from Sarah, whose house I stayed at over Shabbat. But you know how it is...you start off one way, you get distracted by the gigantic Monument which is the world's tallest free-standing column so you decide to climb it, you wander off into a little church where, just as you're about to leave you meet a woman who's actually a guide who tells you all about the best places to go in the city and how there was a church where Agatha Christie used to pray... Anyway. So I wandered through the city, ducking into little churches and bigger churches (I climbed up the the Whispering Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral and had a chat with a guard about the organ and Masonic symbols and how her son was getting married in the cathedral/crypt chapel) and I also had a nice chat with a woman who was sitting in the Royal College of Arms who let me subtly take a photo of the King of Arms' chair, even though you're not supposed to. This all took me until some time after 6, at which point I figured it was probably a bit too late to try and walk over Tower Bridge do Southwark as well. Also, I was about to die from having been carrying my laptop around all day. I wandered back to Josh's place and we walked to The Star of Bethnal Green Pub for a Pub Quiz, in which we came third last! But not last, that's the important thing!
Wednesday I woke up, and it was cold. And snowing. So I hid in bed and the kitchen until late in the morning. I'd spent the night before talking with Ellie (Josh's girlfriend, by whose auspices it was that we didn't totally FAIL at the quiz) and she'd recommended the Albert & Victoria museum (or the A & V as it's fondly known to the English) as well as the nearby Natural History and Science Museums, so I decided to go and do that. I thought I'd only be a an hour and a half or so MAXIMUM at the A & V, but it ended up taking about three hours, and that was even skipping out parts of the collection! I then wandered off to Highgate, where there's a famous, beautiful cemetery in which is interred the likes of Karl Marx...and other people...but the important thing is that it's beautiful, close to where I was meeting a friend for coffee and slightly morbid, as I'm kinda theme-ing my trip - what with the trip to the catacombs in Paris, etc. I was there by about 3, and then spent a good 40 minutes trying to find my way from the Tube station. By the time I got there, it was 10 minutes to 4, when the cemetery closes in winter, and they only let people in until half an hour before it closes. So yeah, I took some photos through the bars, but otherwise it was a waste. Oh, and I took a photo of a cat, because it's near where Dick Whittington apparently stopped with his cat. And it was a friendly cat. I then raced back to where I was supposed to be meeting my friend, ending up being half an hour or so late. We got coffee and wandered through the Campden Markets, which apparently is a meeting place for Goths and Punks, but the snow must have kept them all indoors. I did buy mittens, thinking that 5 pounds was a great deal...but they're coming apart less than a week later. I'm glad I decided not to buy the bright red bowler hat with a feather in the band for 20 pounds (I argued him down from 45). We ate delicious Indian food from a kosher restaurant in Golders' Green and the I went back and joined the Joshes for a drink at The Camel, a nearby pub which reportedly has boardgames, but I NEVER SAW THEM.
After another late start, I decided to spend Thursday mainly wandering around an area called Convent Gardens. It's mainly a quaint little shopping area with a couple of random markets/malls and tiny little shops that have been there for years and once again I was following the recommended walk in the guidebook. But, once again, the best moments came when I went off the beaten path and discovered an amazing little alley full of bookshops called Cecil Court. I also met a literary agent there who ran a store stocking only first editions (mostly autographed, and all expensive) who told me to have more confidence in my writing and gave me a card/bookmark-with-his-name-on-it. Now all I have to do is finish something. After some time in a coffee shop, I decided to stick with the shopping theme, and went to a couple of famous shopping districts. I wandered into the Burlington Arcade, full of insanely luxurious shops and guards whose duty it is to eject people behaving inappropriately and take photos with tourists such as myself. I also went to Fortnum and Mason's, the fanciest department store I've ever been in. The men working there were wearing tail-coats! Then it was home for a quick meal and back to Soho for Avenue Q, to which I had bought tickets earlier that day at the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square. Lotsa fun was had, that's all I'm saying. Oh, and my Bad Decision Bears had their fun by suggesting that I walk through dark and almost-deserted areas of Soho to a different Tube station so I didn't have to change trains. I guess it was revenge for resisting the decision to take advantage of the multitudinous half-price/2-for-1 cocktail offers around the theatre.
Another late start of Friday meant that all I had time for was trip to Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (totally worth it) and a bit of internet-in-a-bar before running off to Hendon where I was staying for Shabbat with a family by the name of Berke. The wife was an ED paediatrician, and it was really interesting to talk to her - it gave me a lot to think about regarding future career options. And her kids were cute and drew me pictures when I left. That night, I went to a bowling alley with the Joshes which was combined with a club/cocktail bar, karaoke rooms and cinema. It was also very crowded and we had to wait until 11 to get our hour on the lane, but it was lots of fun anyway! I also sorta got them to make me a cuba libre by getting extra lemon slices in a rum and coke and mashing them up to get the lemon juice which they didn't have.
We were supposed to meet with Josh L for breakfast/brunch on Sunday, but we slept in and Josh B had important Valentine's Day stuff to do. So I wandered off to London Bridge and Southbank area, which was actually quite nice, with a bit of sun even! I started at the shule in Bevis Marks which I almost missed again, taking my time to find it (which is totally different to getting lost) and then spending a whole minute inside because the people wanted to go home. I walked across Tower Bridge, sat in a bar for an hour or so after having paid an exorbitant amount for a tiny coffee because I figured I may as well get internet access out of it, then wandered along to find an old operating theatre that was originally part of a 19th century hospital but was only rediscovered in 1956. I had to wait a while to get in because they were having a talk that had completely filled up the museum, so I wandered to Southwark Cathedral (where I believe Dickens and maybe also Shakespeare would have prayed) and a nearby market (which was mostly shut) and an old (16th century or so) carriage inn, which was very old-world indeed! Back to the operating theatre, I found it quite interesting, seeing all the herbs and things hanging in the garret, but the operating table was a bit...disturbing. Especially the box of sawdust for soaking up blood. I then set off again, passing a replica of The Globe to the Tate Modern, where despite myself, I stayed until it closed. There was one particularly interesting exhibit, which was basically a large pitch-black box that you simply walked into, then out again. It was a lot freakier than it sounds. It was raining by the time I left, so instead of walking across the Millennium Bridge, I set out to find the nearest Tube Station, catching a bus as well. The bus driver let us off at Blackfriars' station though, which was a bit stupid because it was closed! I then caught the tube to Whitechapel and walked across the bridge to take photos of Big Ben and Parliament House while also checking out the London Eye. I didn't bother getting tickets, though, it was packed with courting couples. Instead, I caught a train to Hendon, where I fulfilled one of my life's ambitions by having kosher Thai food (not a curry, unfortunately) before (getting lost on the way to and) meeting up with my friend Dana, who I'd really only met again just over a week before. Totally different music tastes aside, I liked hanging out with her a lot. Then it was back on the second last Tube of the night (I was so scared I'd have to work out how to take a Nightbus from Tottenham Court Road) to Josh's place!
So, my last full day in London. I had to do something Monopoly themed. But since I knew coffee at at least 21 different stops would be a bad idea, albeit not as bad as booze, and souvenirs would totally blow my budget, I decided simply to get to each street and take photos of street signs. And that took damn well long enough! I left at 9ish, and it took me a whole hour to make it to Old Kent Road, which is closest to one of the most confusing Tube Stations I've ever been in, Elephant and Castle. I also got stuck around Euston because I was desperately trying to find a kosher restaurant/cafe that reportedly was in the area. I gave up, but found kosher sandwiches in a shop attached to King's Cross Station (which is right next to St. Pancras Station from which I would be leaving the next day for a flight which didn't provide food) which was, as they say here in the Netherlands, good luck in bad luck. Which I seem to have a lot of. So, I was >4 hours in and had only done one leg of the board. But things started to speed up then, what with all the purple set streets being fairly close together...but then I had to trek all the way out to the City for Vine St, which was also near Fenchurch Station. It was then I decided that I wasn't going to do the stations in order (I'd already done the other two) if I wanted to finish at any reasonable time. I'd also already ruled out revisiting Highgate Cemetary that day. And it was just as well I decided that, because as I was waiting for a bus to take me back down Fleet Street and the Strand to Trafalgar Square, it started raining. It didn't last long, but the sun then set, and I realised that Bond Street no longer exists in central London and there was NO WAY I was trekking out to Chiswick (even if it is mentioned in new Dr Who) to find a Bond St in occasional rain at 6pm. So I snapped a picture of the New Bond Street and Bond Street Station signs and after an eclectic shopping trip at Selfridges (for a roll, a glass bottle of Norwegian spring water and a can of powdered mustard) I caught a bus down to Park Lane and walked through Mayfair to Mayfair Place, which was really the best the suburb could offer in the way of self-identification. I decided that after all this walking, I owed myself a pizza, so I Tube-d out to Golders' Green again and found a kosher bakery, where I finally got pizza! Then I returned, triumphant but rather late, to Bethnal Green (aka Josh's place) where we summoned the other Josh and after failing to find sitting room at the Camel, went instead to the Salmon and Ball pub, to which I'd been dying to go since I'd come up out of the Bethnal Green Tube station and seen it waiting across the street, all old and English-y. Ok, not really, but a pint of Belgian beer in Foster's glasses in an English sports pub with a black cat that reminded me of Panther was a pretty darn good end to the day!
A not so good end to the day (that came good in the end) was when I decided to check my email at the McDonald's down the road before going home, and discovered the people who had offered me a place to stay had had a sudden invasion of family, and couldn't host me anymore. You know, just over 12 hours before I was going to fly out. But fortunately, my friend Lale (who btw last week Sunday came second in the Netherlands in karate) was online and on hearing my woes, offered me a bed. In fact, she's given me hers and is now sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I feel guilty, touched and honoured all at the same time, albeit in varying amounts. You can guess how much of each.
And then the next day I forwent an awesome museum on antiquities with frustrating opening hours in favour of getting to the station and airport with plenty of time to spare, and flew out for the Netherlands.
TO BE CONTINUED!
I left you guys in suspense on Monday, having not quite decided what to do. Well, I ended up faffing around a little longer and eventually ending up at The National Portrait Gallery after a bit of a wander down Oxford St into Selfridges. The NPG was actually quite interesting, and I think I left with a bit of a better understanding of English Royal history, especially around the time of Elizabeth I. Also, unless it was just the artist doing his thing, Dickens was pretty cute. I then had to hurry back to Josh's place because I had his keys (I'd had a new one cut in Oxford St for my personal spare set). I stopped in at Tescos to buy food, and waited. And waited. And Josh rocked up some time after that. We went and played pool and I felt a bit odd, being the only woman in a room full of dingy lights and dingy men, but it was fun. And I won by 'de fault'!
On Tuesday, I decided I'd spend the morning wandering around the City (by the way, did you know the City of London is actually run by a corporation, and is theoretically independent of the Crown? They have to pledge allegiance every year to the monarch and government!). The City couldn't possibly take that long, right? Ah...no. I got off the tube around the London Exchange, and decided to follow the path laid out in a guidebook I'd borrowed from Sarah, whose house I stayed at over Shabbat. But you know how it is...you start off one way, you get distracted by the gigantic Monument which is the world's tallest free-standing column so you decide to climb it, you wander off into a little church where, just as you're about to leave you meet a woman who's actually a guide who tells you all about the best places to go in the city and how there was a church where Agatha Christie used to pray... Anyway. So I wandered through the city, ducking into little churches and bigger churches (I climbed up the the Whispering Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral and had a chat with a guard about the organ and Masonic symbols and how her son was getting married in the cathedral/crypt chapel) and I also had a nice chat with a woman who was sitting in the Royal College of Arms who let me subtly take a photo of the King of Arms' chair, even though you're not supposed to. This all took me until some time after 6, at which point I figured it was probably a bit too late to try and walk over Tower Bridge do Southwark as well. Also, I was about to die from having been carrying my laptop around all day. I wandered back to Josh's place and we walked to The Star of Bethnal Green Pub for a Pub Quiz, in which we came third last! But not last, that's the important thing!
Wednesday I woke up, and it was cold. And snowing. So I hid in bed and the kitchen until late in the morning. I'd spent the night before talking with Ellie (Josh's girlfriend, by whose auspices it was that we didn't totally FAIL at the quiz) and she'd recommended the Albert & Victoria museum (or the A & V as it's fondly known to the English) as well as the nearby Natural History and Science Museums, so I decided to go and do that. I thought I'd only be a an hour and a half or so MAXIMUM at the A & V, but it ended up taking about three hours, and that was even skipping out parts of the collection! I then wandered off to Highgate, where there's a famous, beautiful cemetery in which is interred the likes of Karl Marx...and other people...but the important thing is that it's beautiful, close to where I was meeting a friend for coffee and slightly morbid, as I'm kinda theme-ing my trip - what with the trip to the catacombs in Paris, etc. I was there by about 3, and then spent a good 40 minutes trying to find my way from the Tube station. By the time I got there, it was 10 minutes to 4, when the cemetery closes in winter, and they only let people in until half an hour before it closes. So yeah, I took some photos through the bars, but otherwise it was a waste. Oh, and I took a photo of a cat, because it's near where Dick Whittington apparently stopped with his cat. And it was a friendly cat. I then raced back to where I was supposed to be meeting my friend, ending up being half an hour or so late. We got coffee and wandered through the Campden Markets, which apparently is a meeting place for Goths and Punks, but the snow must have kept them all indoors. I did buy mittens, thinking that 5 pounds was a great deal...but they're coming apart less than a week later. I'm glad I decided not to buy the bright red bowler hat with a feather in the band for 20 pounds (I argued him down from 45). We ate delicious Indian food from a kosher restaurant in Golders' Green and the I went back and joined the Joshes for a drink at The Camel, a nearby pub which reportedly has boardgames, but I NEVER SAW THEM.
After another late start, I decided to spend Thursday mainly wandering around an area called Convent Gardens. It's mainly a quaint little shopping area with a couple of random markets/malls and tiny little shops that have been there for years and once again I was following the recommended walk in the guidebook. But, once again, the best moments came when I went off the beaten path and discovered an amazing little alley full of bookshops called Cecil Court. I also met a literary agent there who ran a store stocking only first editions (mostly autographed, and all expensive) who told me to have more confidence in my writing and gave me a card/bookmark-with-his-name-on-it. Now all I have to do is finish something. After some time in a coffee shop, I decided to stick with the shopping theme, and went to a couple of famous shopping districts. I wandered into the Burlington Arcade, full of insanely luxurious shops and guards whose duty it is to eject people behaving inappropriately and take photos with tourists such as myself. I also went to Fortnum and Mason's, the fanciest department store I've ever been in. The men working there were wearing tail-coats! Then it was home for a quick meal and back to Soho for Avenue Q, to which I had bought tickets earlier that day at the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square. Lotsa fun was had, that's all I'm saying. Oh, and my Bad Decision Bears had their fun by suggesting that I walk through dark and almost-deserted areas of Soho to a different Tube station so I didn't have to change trains. I guess it was revenge for resisting the decision to take advantage of the multitudinous half-price/2-for-1 cocktail offers around the theatre.
Another late start of Friday meant that all I had time for was trip to Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (totally worth it) and a bit of internet-in-a-bar before running off to Hendon where I was staying for Shabbat with a family by the name of Berke. The wife was an ED paediatrician, and it was really interesting to talk to her - it gave me a lot to think about regarding future career options. And her kids were cute and drew me pictures when I left. That night, I went to a bowling alley with the Joshes which was combined with a club/cocktail bar, karaoke rooms and cinema. It was also very crowded and we had to wait until 11 to get our hour on the lane, but it was lots of fun anyway! I also sorta got them to make me a cuba libre by getting extra lemon slices in a rum and coke and mashing them up to get the lemon juice which they didn't have.
We were supposed to meet with Josh L for breakfast/brunch on Sunday, but we slept in and Josh B had important Valentine's Day stuff to do. So I wandered off to London Bridge and Southbank area, which was actually quite nice, with a bit of sun even! I started at the shule in Bevis Marks which I almost missed again, taking my time to find it (which is totally different to getting lost) and then spending a whole minute inside because the people wanted to go home. I walked across Tower Bridge, sat in a bar for an hour or so after having paid an exorbitant amount for a tiny coffee because I figured I may as well get internet access out of it, then wandered along to find an old operating theatre that was originally part of a 19th century hospital but was only rediscovered in 1956. I had to wait a while to get in because they were having a talk that had completely filled up the museum, so I wandered to Southwark Cathedral (where I believe Dickens and maybe also Shakespeare would have prayed) and a nearby market (which was mostly shut) and an old (16th century or so) carriage inn, which was very old-world indeed! Back to the operating theatre, I found it quite interesting, seeing all the herbs and things hanging in the garret, but the operating table was a bit...disturbing. Especially the box of sawdust for soaking up blood. I then set off again, passing a replica of The Globe to the Tate Modern, where despite myself, I stayed until it closed. There was one particularly interesting exhibit, which was basically a large pitch-black box that you simply walked into, then out again. It was a lot freakier than it sounds. It was raining by the time I left, so instead of walking across the Millennium Bridge, I set out to find the nearest Tube Station, catching a bus as well. The bus driver let us off at Blackfriars' station though, which was a bit stupid because it was closed! I then caught the tube to Whitechapel and walked across the bridge to take photos of Big Ben and Parliament House while also checking out the London Eye. I didn't bother getting tickets, though, it was packed with courting couples. Instead, I caught a train to Hendon, where I fulfilled one of my life's ambitions by having kosher Thai food (not a curry, unfortunately) before (getting lost on the way to and) meeting up with my friend Dana, who I'd really only met again just over a week before. Totally different music tastes aside, I liked hanging out with her a lot. Then it was back on the second last Tube of the night (I was so scared I'd have to work out how to take a Nightbus from Tottenham Court Road) to Josh's place!
So, my last full day in London. I had to do something Monopoly themed. But since I knew coffee at at least 21 different stops would be a bad idea, albeit not as bad as booze, and souvenirs would totally blow my budget, I decided simply to get to each street and take photos of street signs. And that took damn well long enough! I left at 9ish, and it took me a whole hour to make it to Old Kent Road, which is closest to one of the most confusing Tube Stations I've ever been in, Elephant and Castle. I also got stuck around Euston because I was desperately trying to find a kosher restaurant/cafe that reportedly was in the area. I gave up, but found kosher sandwiches in a shop attached to King's Cross Station (which is right next to St. Pancras Station from which I would be leaving the next day for a flight which didn't provide food) which was, as they say here in the Netherlands, good luck in bad luck. Which I seem to have a lot of. So, I was >4 hours in and had only done one leg of the board. But things started to speed up then, what with all the purple set streets being fairly close together...but then I had to trek all the way out to the City for Vine St, which was also near Fenchurch Station. It was then I decided that I wasn't going to do the stations in order (I'd already done the other two) if I wanted to finish at any reasonable time. I'd also already ruled out revisiting Highgate Cemetary that day. And it was just as well I decided that, because as I was waiting for a bus to take me back down Fleet Street and the Strand to Trafalgar Square, it started raining. It didn't last long, but the sun then set, and I realised that Bond Street no longer exists in central London and there was NO WAY I was trekking out to Chiswick (even if it is mentioned in new Dr Who) to find a Bond St in occasional rain at 6pm. So I snapped a picture of the New Bond Street and Bond Street Station signs and after an eclectic shopping trip at Selfridges (for a roll, a glass bottle of Norwegian spring water and a can of powdered mustard) I caught a bus down to Park Lane and walked through Mayfair to Mayfair Place, which was really the best the suburb could offer in the way of self-identification. I decided that after all this walking, I owed myself a pizza, so I Tube-d out to Golders' Green again and found a kosher bakery, where I finally got pizza! Then I returned, triumphant but rather late, to Bethnal Green (aka Josh's place) where we summoned the other Josh and after failing to find sitting room at the Camel, went instead to the Salmon and Ball pub, to which I'd been dying to go since I'd come up out of the Bethnal Green Tube station and seen it waiting across the street, all old and English-y. Ok, not really, but a pint of Belgian beer in Foster's glasses in an English sports pub with a black cat that reminded me of Panther was a pretty darn good end to the day!
A not so good end to the day (that came good in the end) was when I decided to check my email at the McDonald's down the road before going home, and discovered the people who had offered me a place to stay had had a sudden invasion of family, and couldn't host me anymore. You know, just over 12 hours before I was going to fly out. But fortunately, my friend Lale (who btw last week Sunday came second in the Netherlands in karate) was online and on hearing my woes, offered me a bed. In fact, she's given me hers and is now sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I feel guilty, touched and honoured all at the same time, albeit in varying amounts. You can guess how much of each.
And then the next day I forwent an awesome museum on antiquities with frustrating opening hours in favour of getting to the station and airport with plenty of time to spare, and flew out for the Netherlands.
TO BE CONTINUED!