Once in a while we remember the good old days… Not the days during my lifetime, but rather those that saw the competitive rise to colonial power… Featuring such wondrous nations as: Portugal! Spain! Great Britain! And of course the Netherlands! In remembering our rich histories of brutality, murder, and the always enjoyable ‘rape & plunder’ – we sometimes generate urgent needs to visit the powers that colonized us. I was given the opportunity to enjoy some British sunshine just last week!
Yuval was planning a trip to London-town. This meant of course that it was a perfect
opportunity to enjoy his company far from home. As it happens, fortune was smiling upon me, cause I have a number of friends hiding from us in London. Perfect! Preparations began, and before I knew it… I was embarking on my first ever Ryan air flight from Treviso to London (Stansted airport). (The whole trip there and back cost around Euro. 60… can you say Buono Prezzo? Hell Yeah!) Aaaaanyway.
I was met by Yuval at his old haunnt ‘Ye Olde Globe Pub’. (So many cute ladies in London this time of year, by the way) And we embarked on our 5 minute trek to our GORGEOUS 1st floor apartment overlooking Marleybone High street. A rather posh area, with rather posh people, and stores that sell VERY posh Yoga mats! A gorgeous apartment! Stylish beyond words… And can you say “Floor to ceiling windows in the lounge!”. Nice one Yuval!
Moving along:
Arrived Thursday – met Yuval and we immediately went shopping! First a quick Burger Kind whopper meal, followed by a beautiful pair of Merrel’s… (I know… I’ve decided to offer another brand an opportunity to impress me. Timber Land will always have a special place in my heart though.) We rushed back to meet two of Yuval’s friends for after work drinks. (Laura and Melissa) It was a good time. Followed by another drink at the local pub before EVERYTHING CLOSED AT 11PM. WTF???
Friday: Went to visit my Great Uncle Eddie. He’s looking good considering he’s in the latter part of his 80’s. And it was good to find out a little about the History of the Hirschmann clan. (Most likely going to post my findings at a later date.) Finally after this, I met up with Aliyah! WOOPEEE! (She didnt like my new shoes though :-) It was lekker to see her… and we were joined later by Yuval’s friend Lauren, one Tyson Cross, and of course Katie Jaye and her soon-to-be-hubby Tim! This all continued quite nicely until we were booted out by the 11PM CEASE AND DESIST DRINKING LAW I put Yuval to bed and went to have a cuppa tea at Katie & Tim’s awesome new place around the corner from Bake Street station.
Saturday = IRIS day! (Thats right ladies and gents… Daniel’s old school friend who is currently involved in her PHD in neuroscience… woah.) We three went off to the Science Museum. They have so many super cool little interactive displays dotting the museum. I wonder just how effective they are as educational devices – but regardless, there were kids running amok trying to outdo each other in maximum throughput of the puzzles. There were also these incredibly cool LED display pieces in the museum. A W E S O M E. Just when we were about to lose Iris, we were joined by David Broido. And off to see Hitchikers Guide! (And of course ensure that Tyson’s name was in the credits at the end of the movie!)
So: A full day on saturday, one might say… WELL: what comes after saturday? Well saturNIGHT! The night to enjoy the glory of London’s club scene! We attempted to head off to Fabric. But were totally freaked about another of London’s frikkin stoopid unwritten laws: “No Trainers or T-shirts into serious clubs / bars”. ARRRGH! So we were forced to return home for a quick shoe change and then venture forth towards our goal: FABRIC. (Turns out everyone was wearing trainers. Stoopid stoopid unwritten laws.) We partied extremely well. Our night was full of dancing and gorgeous women (whom neither of us spoke to) and very few trips to the bar. We were such good boys… So much for the ‘dirty weekend’ hehehehehe.
Sunday was Aliyah day again. And we hung out on Brick lane (super close to Liverpool St. Station.) Really cool neighborhood. Loads of interesting stores and markets. And of course the home of the ultimate in Salt Beef on Bagels! I finally got to meet and chat to Lucien (Al’s hubby) and see their MASSIVE apartment. I’m so glad all my friends have huge apartments with ensuite guest bedrooms! We met up with Tys and Lauren for an interesting Physical Theatre piece called Verissimilitude. Interesting. A little unnecessary nudity – weird. And they spoke german! WOAH. So that was the end of our eve. It was another full day in London town.
Monday was the final opportunity to see both Eddie and Katie. Which I did EXTREMELY successfully. Saw them both, drank too much coffee, packed my bags and RUSHED to Luton airport. It was a good little trip to London. Awesome to hang out with Yuval and of course wonderful to be with the London contingent of my address book! (And they have such cute accents!)
