London Town (or I love Cadbury Spread on Toast)

July 7-12th, 2009

"I'm saving up my money

Gonna fly back to London Town

Don't think that I should

But I can't help myself right now

Cuz if I make it

Back to London

I may never

Make it out." --Chris Seefried, "London"

The two things I loved most about London: easily navigable public transit and Cadbury chocolate spread on toast.

I arrived in London on a Tuesday afternoon, tired from my flight from Athens but excited about being in London for the first time in a decade. I found my hostel easily (located a block from Hyde Park,) and thanks to advice from my friend Pete from high school bought an oyster card for the public transit. My hostel had free wireless as well as a common room, and since I was staying in a shared room with 7 others, it was a welcome amenity. I took it easy the first night, treating myself to an Italian dinner and a good glass of wine.

The next day I went for an early job in Hyde Park; it's not every day I get a chance to run past so many historic things, but I found myself wondering what it would be like to run past those each day. It was something, I thought, I could get used to.

After making plans to meet up with Pete the next day, I began navigating the buses and Tube. I passed by Big Ben and gave him a wave, and then took a ride in the London Eye, since that wasn't there the last time I was in London. Having nothing on my hands but time, I took in the Dali exhibit and made my way to Trafalgar Square, treated myself to coffee, and ducked into the National Gallery for a few minutes.

It was freeing to be able to make decisions on a whim, traveling alone. And I wasn't lonely due to the large amount of people around. I was loving London, and it seemed to be sharing the love right back.

My next decision: going to Lion King in the evening, which was fantastic and I had never seen it before. I ended up sitting next to a Canadian women in her early 20s who was nannying abroad, and hoping next to go to Spain.

View from/of the London Eye.

Hello London.

There's the Big Ben.

London Archy architecture.

Boy conquers lion in Tralfagar Square.

The following morning I headed out to the Campden Market and found some used Wellies to take back with me for the monsoon season in India. I spent most of the day wandering, taking photos, and eating fish n chips before busing it to the Hampstead Heath area and walking to the highest point in London. Finishing a book, I watched a handsome guy flying a kite before heading back down to meet Pete for crepes and a beer. It'd been years since I'd seen him, and it was great to catch up. Soon we were heading to the opposite side of town, to go to a party with some of Pete's friends who are professional symphony musicians. A few had played in the Mumbai Symphony, so it was especially fun for me to talk with them (though I couldn't help wonder how I happened to be crashing a party full of professional musicians, when I quit the clarinet in 10th grade and can't play a bar chord clearly on my guitar). I had to run to catch the tube back to the hostel before it stopped for the night, and as I reached I spilled my purse on the ground, the token/security man took pity on me and helped me gather extra change before the last train left.

Wellies from London, left in Mumbai. Such a pity I didn't bring them back.

Can you believe I held out and did not buy a wig? Loved this store though!

View from Hampstead Heath.

I continued my touristy trail of London the next day by strolling through the British Museum in the late morning, finding it odd to see art and sculpture from India and Greece when I had just been there. I did see a mummified hippo, the Rosetta Stone, and an outdoor garden exhibit on Indian plant life. I met Pete and two of his friends for lunch and we had, of all things, Indian Thali, which was delicious. I found a copy of High Fidelity in the afternoon in an old bookstore, and found a phone to call to change my flight back to the U.S. I wandered through the National Portrait Gallery (fantastic) and failed in my attempt to find a small photography museum.

Later, again in Tralfagar Square, there was a live art display taking place where each individual spent an hour on this raised pedestal in the square and could do anything they wanted, as long as it was legal, and they were alone. I saw a woman reading a book--not aloud--followed by a soccer mascot dancing to a boombox.

That is one OLD hippo.

My buddy.

Art display near Indian restaurant in London.

I soon made my way to the Aldwych Theatre where I upgraded my seat for Dirty Dancing (and yes, I had the time of my life). At the bus stop back, I was asked for directions from a young couple. Surprisingly, I was able o help them. I guess it only takes 3 days in London to seem at ease (and avid use of public transit).

LOVE that I got the random 80s girl in with the hot pink signs!

On Saturday I headed to the Portobello Market in Nottinghill where I was met by Pete and his friend Elizabeth, another delightful American. We wandered, ate churros, people watched, drank beer, basically, it was fabulous. In the afternoon I headed to see a Kate Nash show at a literature festival in Queen Elizabeth Hall that was a combined book release/signing for Laura Dockrill, a friend of Nash's releasing a book called "Ugly Shy Girls", and met Pete and Elizabeth again that night for a drink, though with the early closing of pubs in London it didn't end up being a late night. I did manage to get slightly lost finding the correct bus back to the hostel, but was able to sort it out, only getting slightly drenched in the rain.

Portobello Market view.

Please give me a key to your pastel house, where I will while away my days and water your plants.

Pete and I: Holla for SD!!!

Elizabeth is awesome!

I spent my last morning in London doing laundry and eating my last breakfast in a long time of toast with Cadbury chocolate spread (DELICIOUS!) I headed to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park which featured art from American Jeff Koons and his work about Popeye and also inflatables (it was cool, trust me). I headed to the Natural History museum to see some dinosaurs, but since it was Sunday it was packed and being prone to claustrophobia, I split to see the Victoria & Albert Museum (or V&A) nearby and eat lunch by a pond outside. I highly recommend going if you are in London!

My last stop before the airport was to meet my friend Becca who I volunteered with at One! International in Mumbai. We had a beer and it was great to see her before I headed back to Mumbai. I told her I would be moving into the volunteer housing--where she had stayed--and she laughed, hoping I would be prepared, as it would be much more bare bones than Sunitha's house...so we would see!

Turns out, British dinosaurs RARRR just as loud as American ones.

Outside the V&A Museum pond before returning to Mumbai.

Runnin Runnin

Mansfield, England June 24-29, 2009

The next stop on my European tour took me far up north, to the London Luton airport. As with many instances during travel, things didn't go as smoothly as planned.

I had booked one night at a Travel Lodge "near" the hotel, and after taking the cab from the airport to the hotel, I knew I wasn't in the cheap confines of India anymore (as it was, the progression from Turkey to Greece than the UK had steadily prepared me for increasing costs of goods and services). After wincing and handing over my cab fare, I tried to enter the hotel, but with no luck. A young couple was also trying to get in, and soon another guest came out and said the hotel was closed because of water damage. Being 11 p.m., in a new country after a four hour flight, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. Eventually though, an employee came and opened the door and informed us we would be moved to a new Travel Lodge. Fair enough, and after some more waiting around, and our cabbie getting lost on the way, I finally found my way to a bed around 1 a.m.

The next day I took a taxi to the train station (which was right near the airport) and was ridiculously early. Being so early, one would think I would have enough time to figure out how to board the train.

However, I learned a valuable lesson: the train comes and the doors only open for about 30 seconds, and close, and don't open again. I was trying to be a "good passenger" and go to the carriage where my seat was labeled. Needless to say, I was too slow, and the doors closed despite my banging on them. Defeated, I stepped back and the train sped of.

How I managed to navigate around India, Nepal, and Turkey and then mess up in the UK was beyond me, and at the same time, hilarious.

After talking to a very helpful train station employee, I waited two more hours (because the next train was cancelled) and finally boarded (quickly this time) my train to Nottingham. I met a man on the train, in his late 50s, who told me both his daughters had traveled a lot like I was doing, and that really taking this kind of time out to explore is an investment in one's self. I couldn't agree with him more, though it made me think perhaps it was easier to justify the money I spent on fun in Turkey and Greece...

In Nottingham I hooked up with my friends Anne and Ed that I met in Southern India. Friday morning after a short run, we headed to Sherwood Forest to see Robin Hood's tree and, naturally, have a picnic near it.

Stylin' in Robin's hood

Seriously I was there.

Ed's mom was gracious enough to put us up for a few days, and it was really nice to be in a house again, watch TV, and have home cooked meals. The next day we headed off for a big "surprise" as Ed had told us. It turned out that a new museum was being dedicated near Mansfield and Sir David Attenborough, who is the famous host of the BBC Natural History documentaires the Life Collections, was speaking. I had only been privvy to Sir David's excellence the day before, but Ed and Anne were long time fans. After the dedication we also got to see Robin Hood's Cave (the man was all OVER this area) and I had my first ever English scones with jam and cream, and loved them.

Sir David holla-ing.

Mansfield countryside.

Later, we did a driving tour of Mansfield which culminated (for me) in the successful find of the last Twilight book. We also stopped for more tea, which Senor definitely enjoyed.

All four of us are in this pic.

The next day was the defining moment for the weekend though; our half-marathon. At the end of our Southern India tour, Ed had suggested that we go up to Mansfield and run a half marathon with him, as he wanted to get in shape before he moved to Argentina to be with his girlfriend. At the time I had been eating my way through Southern India and I was open to the idea, and once I realized it fit perfectly into my European Adventure, agreed, and we got Anne to go along with it.

We woke to a perfect morning for a race; cloudy, cool (around 55 Farenheit) and little wind. Stretched out, we made it over the start, and despite my lack of regular training, we all went for it, and I surprisingly did better than my 2006 half marathon time (though by only 5 minutes, and my 2006 half marathon was at altitude, and this one was at sea level). Regardless, we all did awesome, and had some afternoon beers to celebrate.

Me, Anne, Ed's Friend and Ed pre-race.

This guy totally beat me.

Showing off the high-five.

Ed and I in post-race glory.

After the race Anne had to head back to Northern Ireland and go do dentist-ly things and the next day I again boarded a plane, but this time to a place I had been looking forward to going to for a very long time, a land of dark beer, great accents, and men with red beards: Dublin.