uk trip 2012, part two, autumn edition --- seattle--> london

yes, i know, i know. it is unbelievable that we were back in the uk again in the same year. OR IS IT? look, it was leff's birthday month and we found a really good deal on flights so, why not? what is staying in washington state getting us anyway?

we all know that the answer is nothing.

so we packed on the day of our flight and headed to seatac. let me put that in italics we packed on the day of our flight.  i was still a bit drunk from the night before which, hahaha, might explain the sartorial choices laughing at me when i opened my suitcase in bloomsbury. (note to self:  don't pack while drunk again.)

thankfully, i was not so drunk that i packed the cat. she does not have a passport. it might have made things difficult.

we did our usual walk to ferry, take ferry to seattle, walk to light rail, light rail to airport thing. nothing worth mentioning  really except that some seattle loser yelled "go hawks!! wooo!" when he got off at his light rail stop.

seattle, it's the shit. also, is it really nfl season? who bloody knew. yawn.

seatac was blissfully unoccupied when we arrived. during check in the lady at the ba counter could not believe that leff and i only had 16.6 kg worth of checked luggage between the two of us. (we pack light. *shrug* it was still about 3 kg too much but i will blame the booze.)

also, there was some guy who looked like julian assange if julian assange had joined heaven's gate. sadly, i do not have a photo.

anyways, here's that picture of rainier from the n gates that you wanted.

we were so early that we got good seats at our gate. check out that bench as footstool action.

honestly, this was the best overseas flight that i had ever taken. this might possibly be due to the fact that the flight was not fully booked so LEFF AND I GOT AN ENTIRE AISLE TO OURSELVES. bliss. sheer bliss.

also, "brave" was on inflight entertainment so i finally got to see it. yay!

and they had the chicken curry option for dinner. best. ba meal. HANDS DOWN.

upon landing, heathrow connect to paddington to cab and OMG our cabbie was actually cockney! i thought that was an urban legend! he was awesome and told us about the anti-austerity demonstration that was organizing not far from our hotel.  how had this escaped my radar?! my internet is 95% british! (i blame the two week hell cold prior to the trip. see also, gin and beers.)

ANYWAY, we had a blissful few hours of sleep before heading to see "happy new year, grandma" at the renoir. the renoir which happens to be in lovely brutalist brunswick centre. (on this trip we inadvertently ended up spending quite a bit of time in the 1960's version of the future. it was rather depressing because OF COURSE IT WAS SO MUCH BRUTALISM ACK!)

but back to our first day, here is a shitty picture of the interior of the renoir.

fun fact! in the uk, you can buy a bottle of wine A BOTTLE OF WINE A WHOLE BOTTLE OF WINE at the movies. AND THEY WILL GIVE YOU GLASS GLASSES REAL GLASS almost as if they thought you were a capable, responsible adult.

that being said, we did not purchase any wine because OMG MY LIVER also, drinking on the first night of transatlantic travel is always difficult for me due to jet lag.

i was going to write about the irritating american girl who was at this screening but WHATEVER I DON'T CARE SHE GOT WITHERED AT BY THE SURROUNDING BRITS so fuck it. WE were well behaved americans, that is what counts, right?

the movie itself was super dark and funny and you should most definitely see it.  maybe not be a rude fucker like me and leave before the q&a with the director starts but SHIT I HAD BEEN AWAKE FOR SO LONG (the nap did not help THAT much) AND WAS STILL A BIT HUNGOVER. I STAYED THROUGH THE CREDITS AT LEAST OK I HAVE BEEN TO FILM FESTIVALS BEFORE GOD

also, i hadn't eaten since the plane. so leff and i hopped it to our favorite waitrose and got supplies. HELLO EGG AND CRESS AND WALKERS AND GINGER BEER IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG SO NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!

it was a lovely night, super crisp, cool and foggy and quiet. because, ha! london crowds are really quiet even on a friday night. i will never understand how they manage to do this. maybe it has to do with the lack of WOOOOOOO in the vocab. 

bt tower was pretty too. even though you can't really see it for the fog.

tomorrow!  the pace picks up as leff and i attend the bloomsbury festival! a kick ass cemetary walk! an egyptian museum! WE DID NOT GET KETTLED! i forget everything that happened because i have not started organizing those pictures yet but CHECK BACK ON (what day is it?) FRIDAY FOR THE NEXT UPDATE!