londontown.

my last european hoorah was spent in london with T, a friend from camp and true londoner. i left on thursday the 22nd and my trip got off to an eventful start. i arrived at the barcelona airport with adequate time before my flight. due to the rain(?) my flight was delayed approximately 45 minutes, then another 45, then at 4 pm (an hour and a half after my flight was supposed to leave) my flight got cancelled. i guess there's got to be a first time for everything. craziness ensued, including a mad rush of angry brits and spaniards, along with myself, racing behind an airline worker, backtracking through passport control, racing through baggage claim and to the easyjet ticketing desk to get on the next flight to london. i was one of the lucky ones who was able to get on the 6 o'clock flight. i had to trade in my ticket, then for the second time of the day-check in, go through security, back through passport control, and proceed to the terminal where i had spent the better part of my afternoon. i arrived about 30 minutes before boarding and finally was off to london. i arrived in gatwick about 4 hours later than planned.

passport control in london was also quite an experience. i had to fill out a detailed sheet explaining how long i was staying, where i was staying, etc. before getting my stamp i was involved in a game of twenty questions. how long are you staying? why are you here? where are you staying? what does your friend do? what do you do? why aren't you working right now? when are you going back to the states? what are your plans when you return to the states? where else have you visited in europe? where are you going after this? ok, so maybe not twenty, but i am not making up those questions. i mean why does it matter to passport security what my plans are for the rest of my life??? and thanks for bringing up that sensitive issue. the trip may have gotten off to a rough start, i have zero complaints about the rest of my stay. i then took the train to the victoria station where T met me and then we took the tube to his house in north london where a wonderful much needed warm meal awaited me.

the following morning i woke up to my first full english breakfast. (toast with baked beans, bacon, sausage, fried egg, mushrooms, and tea. ok i admit, quite strange, but it was better than it sounds.) we then took the tube and headed towards the thames. although too full to actually take advantage of all the wonderful foods, we wandered through the borough market anyways. after, we walked down the thames to the tate modern, where we experienced some good modern art. we walked back along the thames, caught the tube and ate yet another huge meal, this time the adopted national food of britain, curry. we headed down to south london for the night where i got to experience a british 30th birthday party at a rather smart (nice for you americans) place.

the first stop of the day.

tate modern.

saturday morning i took a solo outing to the tate britain. when i left, the cloudy weather had cleared and i walked up to the parliament building/big ben/westminster area. i continued to wander around the thames. after dinner, we headed back out to south london for another birthday party at a swanky bar.

big ben and the london eye.

parliament.

sunday morning, well early afternoon, i headed in search of brick lane. the sunday market is crazy. the street was packed with food vendors, vintage stores, and tons of people. again, i was quite full so i could not take full advantage of all the delicious looking foods. there was even a mexican stand. i did some serious withholding. once i escaped the crowds, i went to the whitechapel art gallery. there was a great sophie calle exhibit that was featured at the 2007 venice biennale based on a true life break-up email. afterwards, i tubed back to north london and had a typical british sunday roast.

the next day consisted of some architectural hunts. my first stop was the gherkin. from there i wandered to the tower of london, as did every other tourist in london. i walked across the tower bridge and along the southbank to the design museum. after grabbing some tea, i headed to city hall, and up the thames, across millennium bridge, to st. pauls and the surrounding area. i caught the tube up to notting hill and found some premium american shopping. whole foods, tk maxx (don't ask), urban outfitters, and american apparel all within an arm's reach from each other.

the london skyline.

tuesday morning i ventured around the highgate neighborhood. T and i grabbed breakfast at an english cafe and did some shopping for our curry cooking and cheesecake making for later in the day. i also had my first hobnobs and tea experience. (hobnobs are cookies, btw.) we then headed to the british museum, which was overrun by children. we saw some ok art and lots of ancient arch before calling it a day. when walking back to the tube i totally found some reeses in a news agent. you can imagine the excitement! that evening we made some fish curry and a massive cheesecake. we headed over to brick lane for the night to see a few bands and were also graced with the presence of the ever-intense london samba club.

the british museum.

my last full day in london involved baking some cookies before stopping by buckingham palace, the royal academy, and general city wanderings. that evening i had traditional british fish n chips and we went to a bar in north london with T and some uni(versity) friends.

thursday morning i packed my things and enjoyed a breakfast of champions...cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, and tea. then headed towards the airport and had a much smoother journey back.

in case you couldn't tell by the numerous food references and market visits, the food in britain was really good. a few strange combos, but nothing like the bad british food rep though. i was exposed to some good and not so good british tv. some of the humor just doesn't translate. also, all the british-isms kept me entertained. there are definitely too many to list. and besides, i'm rambling. all-in-all i was very impressed with london. i only have 3 more days in europe. it's hard to believe it's coming to a close!