so that we could meander around the city. our original intention was to get up early enough to watch bankers commute but, well, sleeping is somewhat important. occasionally.
the other reason for north banking it was st. paul's.
we stopped for coffee at a place next to st andrew's by the wardrobe? is that the name of this place? i don't know??
what i do know is that it's got fan vaulting and there are people buried right in front of the church which means that there are bones near the coffee!!! AAAAAAH HAUUUNTED COOOFEEEE!!!
there's a nice little park near st. paul's where you can sit and watch pigeons trying to cage crumbs from investment bankers. you can also drink coffee and listen to the cathedral's bells.
have i mentioned the foggy smog? it greatly reduced visibility. we could barely see the tate modern.
two of the galleries were closed at st paul's at the time of our visit, so leff and i spent quite a while outside of the building.
leff has audio of the bells but, for now, this video will have to suffice for atmosphere.
after feeling the fury of the gift shop (where i bought a postcard of st paul's during the blitz. WHAT?! I LOVE THAT IMAGE!!) we did a bit more wandering around the city. sadly, i didn't take many pictures of the roman streets because i was too busy, you know, being there so this crappy picture will have to suffice. deal with it.
leff and i grabbed pret (pret! preeet! PRET! ) and headed to the south bank for lunch. were you aware? ALL OF LONDON JOGS ON ITS LUNCH BREAK! here is one of them thar londoners doing that thar thing i just mentioned.
after lunch it was art time! we crossed the millenium bridge (which is something i've been trying to do for two years. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!)
and accidentally ended up in a german movie of some sort.
i have no idea why my camera went all
leff and i had planned on catching the kusama exhibit but we were worn to nubbins. we did a small bit of looking,
and skeedadled back to the strata to regroup/take a nap. on the way we were stalked by a man in red trousers!
I CAN SEE YOU RED TROUSER MAN! YOU WILL NOT KNIFECRIME ME SO EASILY WHEN YOU ARE WEARING SUCH CONSPICUOUS PANTS! (ed note: "conspicuous pants" will be the name of my next band.)
after sleeping away the better part of an afternoon, leff and i went to a greek restaurant in the elephant and castle. GIANT BEEEEEANS!! I LOOOVE GIANT BEEEEANS!!!
also, this salad was HUGE! i could not eat it all. (but i tried. THE FETA WAS SO GOOD!!)
it was a REALLY good meal even though i think we weirded out the staff a bit because we were americans. (people are not really used to americans being in the e&c. * shoulder shrug * we tried to not be ugly ones so, YOU ARE WELCOME, FELLOW COUNTRYMEN! NOW STOP WEARING SHORTS, SANDALS AND BASEBALL CAPS WHEN YOU ARE ABROAD AS A FAVOR TO ME!!)
bullets for the day:
* i really do not like the elevators to get to the platforms at the elephant and castle tube stop. they're a little too close to the entryway? there is always a bottleneck? i do not know how this could be fixed without redoing the entire station?
* standing under the millenium bridge is fun because the sound of feet crossing is fantastic. leff has audio. i'll post a link as soon as he uploads it.
* the thames was at super low tide while we were in the city. i thought about climbing down the ladder onto the banks of the river but i had a feeling that most pubs would have frowned upon a muddy american chick on the prowl for cask ale. i might've had some roman coins but beer is better.
tomorrow on the rakka and leff show, european edition: we hop on the eurostar to paris! will i remember enough french to keep us from starving? did we take the batobus? ARE ALL OF THE AMERICANS ALWAYS THERE?! check back soon, same bat time, same bat channel!
No comments:
Post a Comment