London for the New Year
Natalie and I took a verrry early taxi to the station on New Year's Eve. Got into Paris and took the opportunity to see some things, including Notre Dame and this nifty little bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. It was a Sunday, so Notre Dame was in the midst of a service while we were there. It was PACKED. Kinda bizarre, really. It's one thing to see a cathedral in the middle of a service, and it's a whole new thing to see a cathedral in the middle of a service, with hundreds of tourists snapping photos of it all. I was one of those tourists, I admit, but it still felt like we were all kind of invading.
The Eurostar got into London with no hitches, and we made our way--in the rain--to the hostel. Found Alan, found our room, found some food at a little Indian restaurant down the road. We hung out in the room talking and playing cards with our hostel-mates...three French girls and two Australians. We all headed out to talk down the Thames toward Trafalgar Square to see fireworks, which were set off from the London Eye. Super cool.
Monday, we spent a good portion of the day in the Tate Modern, where they had--get this--slides. As in playground slides. We were a bit late on the draw and therefore didn't get to go down--you have to get tickets that tell you a time to show up at your particular slide. After the Tate, we headed back to the hostel for some dinner, then headed back out to Leicester Square, where we wandered around until we found a movie theater...saw "Stranger Than Fiction," which I really enjoyed. It plays with the relationship between the characters in fiction, their creators...and what makes good fiction.
We spent Tuesday almost entirely in the British Museum. I love the early British stuff...reminds me of good times in Oldrieve classes. It still pops into my mind when I see this stuff: "What connections can we made from this? So what?" We took a lunch break at a snazzy little Thai restaurant, Busaba Eathai. Had this amazing chicken--marinated in garlic, coriander root, and ginger for a full 24 hours, then cooked in pandan leaves. Back to the museum, saw some sketches by Seurat of parts that would become the Grande Jatte. There was also a piece that seemed more in place with the Tate, but was cool: a huge table containing two curtains of prescription medicines: contained something like 14,000 pills, the average number of pills taken by one British person in a lifetime. Around the curtains were pictures of events from everyday life, birth certificates, a glass of wine, etc. After, we headed back for dinner, then hung out at the hostel, packing up, going down to their bar to play some cards, and generally relax before travelling the next day.
Wednesday was smooth travelling, again. I walked to Waterloo from the hostel, about a 30-minute hike, but it was worth it. Amazing view of the river, plus I refused to pay four pounds for a one-way trip on the tube. Got a quick sandwich at Waterloo, then boarded. Off in Paris, caught the metro to Gare d'Austerlitz, and immmmmediately jumped on the train for Blois. I had all of two minutes to buy my ticket and run onto the train. Got back into Blois and walked the home stretch, thankful that I packed light.
The Eurostar got into London with no hitches, and we made our way--in the rain--to the hostel. Found Alan, found our room, found some food at a little Indian restaurant down the road. We hung out in the room talking and playing cards with our hostel-mates...three French girls and two Australians. We all headed out to talk down the Thames toward Trafalgar Square to see fireworks, which were set off from the London Eye. Super cool.
Monday, we spent a good portion of the day in the Tate Modern, where they had--get this--slides. As in playground slides. We were a bit late on the draw and therefore didn't get to go down--you have to get tickets that tell you a time to show up at your particular slide. After the Tate, we headed back to the hostel for some dinner, then headed back out to Leicester Square, where we wandered around until we found a movie theater...saw "Stranger Than Fiction," which I really enjoyed. It plays with the relationship between the characters in fiction, their creators...and what makes good fiction.
We spent Tuesday almost entirely in the British Museum. I love the early British stuff...reminds me of good times in Oldrieve classes. It still pops into my mind when I see this stuff: "What connections can we made from this? So what?" We took a lunch break at a snazzy little Thai restaurant, Busaba Eathai. Had this amazing chicken--marinated in garlic, coriander root, and ginger for a full 24 hours, then cooked in pandan leaves. Back to the museum, saw some sketches by Seurat of parts that would become the Grande Jatte. There was also a piece that seemed more in place with the Tate, but was cool: a huge table containing two curtains of prescription medicines: contained something like 14,000 pills, the average number of pills taken by one British person in a lifetime. Around the curtains were pictures of events from everyday life, birth certificates, a glass of wine, etc. After, we headed back for dinner, then hung out at the hostel, packing up, going down to their bar to play some cards, and generally relax before travelling the next day.
Wednesday was smooth travelling, again. I walked to Waterloo from the hostel, about a 30-minute hike, but it was worth it. Amazing view of the river, plus I refused to pay four pounds for a one-way trip on the tube. Got a quick sandwich at Waterloo, then boarded. Off in Paris, caught the metro to Gare d'Austerlitz, and immmmmediately jumped on the train for Blois. I had all of two minutes to buy my ticket and run onto the train. Got back into Blois and walked the home stretch, thankful that I packed light.
posted by madameb1789 | 2:07 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home