All I had was one night in London, so I had to make it worthwhile. Told some mates I was in town, didn't really have time to broadcast it but at the same time it was an interesting test to see who gave a shit or not!
I started drinking at lunchtime. 2 thirds of my DC girls made sure of it. Then there was another friend's house. More drinks. And a quick hi to a stressed friend taking time out from work. More drinks. Then meeting up with a lovely lil geezer I missed out on seeing last trip to London for dinner. Although we never ended up eating anything.
A pre-drink at the pub turned into an all-night booze session, highly expected from said geezer plus the other rogues that turned up to join the party. All as bad an influence on each other. Not that I needed much to tip over the edge. Of the spotty memory towards the end of the night, I'm pretty sure I confessed my undying love for a particular someone (to their face) and made a complete, utter fool out of my emo self. Sigh.
Luckily, the person in question had the decency to be a downright sweetheart back and make me feel like less of a douche. But fuck me, someone needs to remind me to pack some gaffer tape in my bag before I go out drinking.
Showing posts with label london. Show all posts
Showing posts with label london. Show all posts
Friday, 8 October 2010
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Another night, another barrel of beer
Last night I got to catch up with my souf Lundun mate and one of his high school friends, both funny guys so it was assured I was pissing myself all night. This drinking session had followed on from a day of catching up with my own high school buddy and walking around Shoreditch with one of B's doggies, Rabbit. So cute!! I miss having a dog! The weather was quite decent so I stayed outside as much as possible. Gotta soak this up while it lasts!!
Oh, and I washed my hair. Another epic mission that required pre-planning to ensure ample drying conditions - good weather, right time of the day, right schedule... Blah!
The longer I stay in London, the more comfortable I get - it's feeling more like 'home' in the sense that I am familiar with everything and nothing really surprises or challenges me. I don't like this feeling. I had gotten used to these random cities where no one speaks your language, I have no idea where I am or indeed where I'm going. That in itself had become a bit of a comfort. Strange, yes, but I have now gotten used to my 'wandering gypsy' mindset and this is all part of it.
So would I move back to London had I the choice? Not right now. What I need to be doing is challenging myself. Learning more about the world and letting it learn about me :) When I look at the world map, I still stagger to think how much of it I HAVEN'T seen. It's crazy!! And hopefully I will be able to see much more before I head back to Oz for my sister's wedding in August. I've already downloaded Excel calendars for 2010/11 to colour-code all the things I want to do and from here until mid-2011 that will hopefully include Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Wales, Cyprus, Turkey and South Africa. Double smiley face.
Oh, and I washed my hair. Another epic mission that required pre-planning to ensure ample drying conditions - good weather, right time of the day, right schedule... Blah!
The longer I stay in London, the more comfortable I get - it's feeling more like 'home' in the sense that I am familiar with everything and nothing really surprises or challenges me. I don't like this feeling. I had gotten used to these random cities where no one speaks your language, I have no idea where I am or indeed where I'm going. That in itself had become a bit of a comfort. Strange, yes, but I have now gotten used to my 'wandering gypsy' mindset and this is all part of it.
So would I move back to London had I the choice? Not right now. What I need to be doing is challenging myself. Learning more about the world and letting it learn about me :) When I look at the world map, I still stagger to think how much of it I HAVEN'T seen. It's crazy!! And hopefully I will be able to see much more before I head back to Oz for my sister's wedding in August. I've already downloaded Excel calendars for 2010/11 to colour-code all the things I want to do and from here until mid-2011 that will hopefully include Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Wales, Cyprus, Turkey and South Africa. Double smiley face.
Sunday, 19 September 2010
First 24 hours in London... hectic!
It's been an interesting first 24 hours back in my old stomping ground of London. First, it was a mad rush trying to get ready and into town to meet people, without a UK number, and with the combined organisational intelligence of a pea with my other usually organised friend Z1... needless to say, it was hectic times.
Finally made it into a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, had dinner and drinks, warbled over to the tube and headed south. Now south is not somewhere I usually frequent but this time, on a friend's suggestion, I thought I'd give it a go. Though, in hindsight, I'm not sure why I'd throw myself to the black lions having recently been so dismayed at them. But I like to make things complicated innit.
So I take my girls (Z1 and Z2) to Hootanany and have a boogie to the Latina band playing, before getting that old familiar 'I've had a few beers, time to pick up' feeling. Cue Pink Panther music in background and I stalked my prey. This morning woke up, fully clothed mind you, on a fold-out futon next to a cute Mexican skater who was a tattoo artist back home. Shazam. Pretty sure I did my old trick of passing out as soon as my head hit the pillow though. Gotta keep up the class.
You taking notes yet??
Finally made it into a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, had dinner and drinks, warbled over to the tube and headed south. Now south is not somewhere I usually frequent but this time, on a friend's suggestion, I thought I'd give it a go. Though, in hindsight, I'm not sure why I'd throw myself to the black lions having recently been so dismayed at them. But I like to make things complicated innit.
So I take my girls (Z1 and Z2) to Hootanany and have a boogie to the Latina band playing, before getting that old familiar 'I've had a few beers, time to pick up' feeling. Cue Pink Panther music in background and I stalked my prey. This morning woke up, fully clothed mind you, on a fold-out futon next to a cute Mexican skater who was a tattoo artist back home. Shazam. Pretty sure I did my old trick of passing out as soon as my head hit the pillow though. Gotta keep up the class.
You taking notes yet??
Nighttime swimming and ridin' with the silver surfers
Feeling well chuffed with my choice of hostel - great location, cheap price, clean and well run - I set my sights on putting together some options for the Swedish girls once they arrived in Budapest. After getting a good night's sleep - and fuck knows I needed it after the multiple disruptions from the night before - I was up and ready to meet them at Keleti station next morning.
It had started to rain but the walk there was quick and painless. Finally collecting the girls from their late-arriving train, I attempted to make the walk back to the hostel as uneventful but managed to wander too far down the street and get the poor girls soaked while I turned my map in all manner of directions.
Once safely delivered to the hostel, we headed for breakfast and decided then that we'd check out the House of Terror and try for some monuments in the big park. The rain persisting, quite appropriately, as we checked out the place of torture and interrogation during fascist and soviet rule, and by the time we finished we were more concerned with food than seeing monuments. I'd already seen them and they could always go after I left the next day.
At the hostel, I arranged to meet the American guy and his Slovakian girlfriend I met last time that owned an English school for a drink and talk about potential job opportunities. At this point, I left the Swedes to their own devices and pushed them in the direction of Buda. A few beers and one confirmation of work later, I'm scrambling around the city in the general direction of Buda and after arriving late, we scouted the uber-expensive restaurant district of Buda for some semi-reasonable food and drink.
Our meal, while tasty and not tooooo expensive, was most interesting because for the most part we spoke in the broken Romanian we'd learnt in the past 2 months. And it was pretty funny! Much easier to talk about the people around you when you're speaking a language virtually no one else would know. And we did alright!
We then headed off, at my suggestion, to the baths nearby for some night swimming. It took forever to find the damned things but when we did, we paid about £10 and went inside to the modern-day version of a Turkish bathhouse. Mostly young people, quite a few couples, gross Hungarian men staring at the women and even a woman with what I can only assume was Elephantisis on her legs. Mixed crowd.
We messed around wrestling and jumping in the different temperature pools before my alcohol-soaked brain started to melt in the water and we called it a night. Not too cheap but a good and unusual way to spend a Friday night, particularly with people who don't tend to drink much.
Now I'm on the plane to London with the silver surfers on BA (none of this low budget airline business!!), so very excited to see everyone! I need to get my cowboy boots fixed too. Pronto. Lots more use for them to come!!
Oh, and another Help X host contacted me from Wales asking for help in January at a cob stud. The website is quite good and the horses just beautiful, I'm seriously considering it but awaiting more info on what kind of training I'm needing to do. Cos I am OUT if it's dressage!!
It had started to rain but the walk there was quick and painless. Finally collecting the girls from their late-arriving train, I attempted to make the walk back to the hostel as uneventful but managed to wander too far down the street and get the poor girls soaked while I turned my map in all manner of directions.
Once safely delivered to the hostel, we headed for breakfast and decided then that we'd check out the House of Terror and try for some monuments in the big park. The rain persisting, quite appropriately, as we checked out the place of torture and interrogation during fascist and soviet rule, and by the time we finished we were more concerned with food than seeing monuments. I'd already seen them and they could always go after I left the next day.
At the hostel, I arranged to meet the American guy and his Slovakian girlfriend I met last time that owned an English school for a drink and talk about potential job opportunities. At this point, I left the Swedes to their own devices and pushed them in the direction of Buda. A few beers and one confirmation of work later, I'm scrambling around the city in the general direction of Buda and after arriving late, we scouted the uber-expensive restaurant district of Buda for some semi-reasonable food and drink.
Our meal, while tasty and not tooooo expensive, was most interesting because for the most part we spoke in the broken Romanian we'd learnt in the past 2 months. And it was pretty funny! Much easier to talk about the people around you when you're speaking a language virtually no one else would know. And we did alright!
We then headed off, at my suggestion, to the baths nearby for some night swimming. It took forever to find the damned things but when we did, we paid about £10 and went inside to the modern-day version of a Turkish bathhouse. Mostly young people, quite a few couples, gross Hungarian men staring at the women and even a woman with what I can only assume was Elephantisis on her legs. Mixed crowd.
We messed around wrestling and jumping in the different temperature pools before my alcohol-soaked brain started to melt in the water and we called it a night. Not too cheap but a good and unusual way to spend a Friday night, particularly with people who don't tend to drink much.
Now I'm on the plane to London with the silver surfers on BA (none of this low budget airline business!!), so very excited to see everyone! I need to get my cowboy boots fixed too. Pronto. Lots more use for them to come!!
Oh, and another Help X host contacted me from Wales asking for help in January at a cob stud. The website is quite good and the horses just beautiful, I'm seriously considering it but awaiting more info on what kind of training I'm needing to do. Cos I am OUT if it's dressage!!
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