Attend the tale

Back it up about five weeks.

Travel break - London edition!

So I was in London for about a week, split into two nights and the four nights, with a weekend in between.

London is fantastic. I say this as a homesick American traveling to a very Americanized city. One of my friends who also visited got into a debate with someone about who stole which culture from whom, and we both agree that essentially, America took global stuff and bastardized it...then London took it back and essentially let it be. So it's this interesting fusion of historical British-ness and contemporary British culture that smells strongly of Americana, which was kind of exactly what I needed at this point. Also, all the signage all over the UK (and Dublin) is, for the first time all semester, in English, which is also lovely, and the British are NOT on the metric system, so I had an easier time with distance.

My hostel was absolutely fantastic. I stayed at the Astor Hyde Park (Astor has a group of hostels distributed throughout London and potentially beyond), and it was a little pricier than other London hostels I saw online, but it was absolutely worth it (I think. being my first hostel experience I may have been fooled) - it was clean, the free breakfast was filling, there was omnipresent tea and hot chocolate, and they had free wireless internet. The staff was extremely happy and helpful, and while I was there there were two hostel sponsored events - a party and a pub crawl. I thought the first was actually pretty funny, 'cause it was a pretty loud party, and at some point during the craziness, a family of four or five checked in. Best part about the hostel was the location: a two minute walk from Queen's Gate at Hyde Park, and a five or ten minute walk from two different Underground stations. SMACK DAB in central London. I walked ALL OVER and it was soooo good.

I was alone in London (except for one day when I met up with N and his friend L, which was fantastic!!), and it was entirely new to me to get to explore a city that I didn't know without the aid of a guide or a parent. I figured that being London it was huge and expensive, and I'm one person who is also a college student, and so there was NO WAY that I'd be able to do and see everything that I wanted to. So I picked a destination and promised myself that before dark, I'd get there, and then just wandered in its general direction. I picked the Tate Modern, which was a good 5 miles away or so, and spent a fantastic time meandering through Picadilly, Soho, and the West End on my way there. Given that I was staying at the hostel I was, I made it a point to never pay more than 5 pounds (give or take 7-9 dollars, depending on the day), on a meal. Most restaurant meals cost at least 10 pounds for a sit down dinner, so it was fun finding cafes and such that let you make the most of it. I sampled a fair amount of London style fast food (but NEVER an American chain or the ubiquitous 'Pret' that is literally everywhere), but also found some really cool local worker and student centered places. 'Hot Gossip' is a nifty cafe with lovely coffee and soups that is situated near the London School of Economics.

I also stumbled, entirely by accident, upon the Freemason's Museum. This seems apropo. They had a really cool exhibit up about the history of women in Freemason organizations, as well as their permanent collection of vestments, documents, and assorted jewelry, chalices, and artwork from Freemason lodges and personal stashes on loan/gifted to the museum. The building itself, I believe, doubles as the Freemason's HQ, or at least a major administrative office for the London (UK?) lodges, and it's appropriately impressive and intimidating. I imagined men in jeweled aprons lurking about waiting for secret signals from their compatriots.

Also, St. Paul's Cathedral is, I feel, a MUST even if you've been churched out. It's stunning and spectacular and mind blowingly monumental. Every evening they perform the Evensong service. Note that services are free to the public, so if you are so minded, you can attend, be spiritual, and bask in the church all free of charge. Which is, of course, what I did. I got to sit under the big center dome and listen to the St. Paul's choir sing. It was absolutely surreal, and looking at the massive scale and intricate work done along with the music really drove home how some people are willing to put so much energy into a faith, and also helped me understand a little more of the why.

I also found both Drury Lane and Fleet Street, as well as my personal favorite, Goodge Street.

Also: if you're into tea and ever had Twinings, I went to the original Twinings tea shop, from 1706! It was really neat. Got some delicious tea, and just had fun browsing tea where people have browsed tea for 300 years.

I didn't go out as much as I would have liked due to an unfortunate mix up with airplane tickets and thus my bank account, but that just means I have to go back. It also means that I was very well rested by the time I returned, and was able to get up early to explore the city and meander.

Also saw the National Gallery and National Portait Gallery as well as Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and another museum, the name of which escapes me. Also, the Royal Court of Justice is, for me at least, terrifying. It's probably about the size of a city block, and it's built like a palace fortress. Imagine being a guilty criminal back in the day, being escorted in by constables, knowing that you will probably be hanged (hung?). GAH. Fun story: the National Portrait Gallery had a special Annie Liebowitz exhibit, which I saw this summer in San Francisco! It made sense to go to London, given a) she's fantastic and brilliant and b) she did several photographs of the Queen, and the theme of the Portrait Gallery, at least when I was there, was 'iconic faces of Britain.'

The Tate Modern is impressive and gigantic. I probably spent a total of seven hours in there, split over two days, and I only saw the free exhibits. They had two floors I didn't go to. TWO FLOORS. They have a lot of older 'modern' art, but very little contemporary modern art. For me, who is totally unfamiliar with art in general, it was a great overview of artists, movements, and styles, but for someone more in tune with the art scene, I can imagine being disappointed to a degree. I REALLY liked some of it, and was thrilled by the room on Viennese Actionism. Thrilled in the manner of the Hungarian performance art I saw in Budapest, not necessarily thrilled in a totally pleased way.

OH OH OH exciting:
So I met up with my friend N and we walked around and enjoyed the Underground, ate omelettes with chips (fries, y'all), and he mentioned that he was staying with his friend L and invited me to go out with them. Sure! We ended up at L's flat (coincidentally not five minutes from my hostel), and hung out for a while, during which time it was explained to me how it was that we knew where to go. L had been accosted by a young British man at the Underground stop, and he told her he was a party promoter and encouraged her to go to the party he was promoting. It was apparently at a swanky lounge and we would probably get free drinks. He said the people throwing the party really wanted women to go (L is a very sweet person who looks like the kind of cool person you'd want at your party, so it makes sense that he'd pick her out of the crowd). So she got his cell number.

That evening, through extensive text messaging and phone calling, we found out that it was a HARPER'S BAZAAR party and so there was a good chance of celebrity sightings. I was thrilled. I know it's not actually real and doesn't mean anything to meet a celebrity, but I get a big kick out of being connected to famous people even if it's through four degrees of separation, like my friend dated someone who dated the sibling of a famous person. So the prospect of actually meeting famous people for realz had me pretty much drooling in my seat. I ran back (with N for moral support, and to help me get back to L's place) to change into something more appropriate (read: dressy), and we all spent a substantial amount of time making ourselves pretty for the celebrities, and around 11, went out. We arrived, and were met at the door by our contact (who turned out to be remarkably good looking and was rocking a bomber hat), who seemed pretty upset. The reason, it turned out, was that the people in charge were only admitting women...so needless to say, N and I were not eligible, and L, understandably, didn't want to leave us/go it alone.

Our apologetic friend directed N and me to the Shadow Lounge, a gay club he said was pretty nice. L bowed out, so N and I went. I was offered illegal things for the first time when we were trying to find the place...and when we got there it quickly became apparent that British men (or at least these British men) are not perhaps the most graceful movers. Although there was one gentleman who looked astonishlingly similar to George Clooney who was WASTED and dancing around in a fedora, getting tangled up in the dangly silver streamers that sat near the DJ's station. He was great to watch. Overall it was a fun night, even though I didn't meet any fashionistas or celebrities.