Love in London

I spent Friday through Monday in London and LOVED IT! What a change from Spain. There is so much diversity in food and in culture! About 56 thousand Australians live in London, amazing! I wish I had met more...anyways

I met up with my friend Katey from high school who I haven't seen since and stayed with her Friday night. We caught up at her little flat in Kensington then went out to Notting Hill (where all the famous people apparently live- we saw a blond Victoria Secret model I think!) and to Portobello Road with cute shops and cafes and a market outside. It was so cute how a lot of the buildings are the same but different colors. It really reminded me of Haight Street, the market and stores I mean.

So then later we went out with her friends in the program from California to a pub. There is really such a difference between Americans and Europeans, in the way they dress and their manners! I saw these friends of Kateys wearing baseball hats, baggy jeans and sneakers and I was like oh they’re from California. Style is much more a priority here I would say! For the women too, everyone in Spain wears high heels and nice cloths out, similar to London.

So I woke up on Saturday and had quite an adventure getting to the hotel where my friend Maile was staying. A lot of the tube lines close on weekends so the main one I wanted, the circle line which took me directly to her wasn’t working…oh I had to take three lines to get to her but finally did. We went straight out for the day and must have walked 9 miles around London and definitely got great use out of our metro day passes. (mean while the whole weekend trying not to think about how everything is double the cost of the dollar, how depressing!) We went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, beautiful and huge! Then crossed the river to the Tate Modern Gallery, with great artwork and we learned a little about British artists. Then we headed over to Covent Gardens to do a little shopping and hit up this market near to walk around. We had amazing sugar waffles, warm and sweet! Deciding to explore some more we walked around into the Soho area and stopped for a beer, mmm Hosgarden (or however you spell it, it was refreshing and light!) We kept going, at this time we had been out for about six hours and it was maybe 5pm. We walked over along the park to Buckingham Palace, which Maile had to see! I have been to London about three times before but never for more than a weekend. She was taking pictures of the policemen and making them smile and we took pictures by the fountain like typical tourists! We just could not walk anymore so we taxied it back to the hotel.

*FYI Maile is studying at the beauty school of Paul Mitchell in San Francisco and came to London for a week to study hair stuff, so I stayed at her hotel saturday and Sunday, so that was the base camp!

At the hotel Maile cut my hair, since she is a pro by now and will be famous someday in the movie industry for hair and make up. So we took the tube, like always to East London to Fifteen. This is the restaurant where I met all the British boys in Italy working for the non profit event a few weeks ago. So I saw Dean a chef, and Paul the head wine guy, I forget the word but it is French like “Somelier” or something. I thought I would not need a reservation so I just showed up thinking they would have a table for us, but since it was their fifth anniversary it was a little crowded. However, Paul (the Australian) sent up a huge plate of appetizers and yummy bread, and we made friends with the chefs in the kitchen near us so they gave us great desserts- like crème brulee, canoli, and brownies. (Oh I am headed to Australia in Decmeber with John, I cannot wait!) Of course Maile is allergic to nuts which could possibly be in anything so I ate almost everything! Then we said our goodbyes and headed for some pubs on Portobello Road. Oddly enough on a Saturday night everything closes at 12:30 so we ended up taking a nice walk around then back along Hyde Park to the hotel.

Sunday, I went to the park and walked around observing and taking in the fall. All the leaves on the grass were orange and red. I sat down to write watching this center road in the park, more of a circle focal point where walking paths connect, and there was so much activity. It was so nice to see dogs, (I am missing mine so much, poor Bailey without me!) bikes, joggers, kids in strollers with adorable accents, and a soccer game with a bunch of yelling Brits- I debated several times whether or not to jump in, I miss playing soccer so much! It was great not to have any time limits, I had no watch or cell phone and I just enjoyed my time there. Then I walked around some more near Spring Street and Paddington Station and actually had dinner with Luke, another one of the guys who used to work at Fifteen. He is about 26 and works at a very prestigious restaurant in London and can now basically work at any restaurant in the world. He has traveled a lot, and makes me want to travel more. I am not satisfied! I want to see more…although I have had some great experiences!

I flew back home through Barcelona, and surprisingly all the airports so far I have been to in Spain have Wifi. I have not had my computer but that is awesome! So high tech! This weekend my friend Stephanie from USF, studying in Copenhagen, Denmark is coming to stay with me for a week. She has a lot of energy and is excited about life so it will be great to see her!