London ♥ (warning, imageheavy x_x)
Our trip to London was wonderful ♥ ^___^ We had so much fun all the time, and even though it was only 8 days, we managed to see so much and embarrass ourselves so many times by taking so stupid pictures even other tourists laughed at us ^^;; Had amazing time, thank you turquoise_llama & ain0a ♥
I suppose I could say we owe it all to Gackt. In the middle of studying for the entrance exams kuroto told me Gackt was having a concert in London while she was there with her family. Then our mutual friend convinced me to go with her to see Gackt. I had only two days to make the decission since the concert tickets went on sale the day after the next. In the end it wasn't really a hard one to make though .D London + Gackt. Why the hell not since I had the money? Later this friend (who seems to have deleted her LJ account ._.) couldn't go herself and so I found myself going with ain0a and turquoise_llama instead. We even got a concert ticket for ain0a from shagarah , whose one friend had changed her mind about the concert..
Day 1: Flying to London & Kensington Gardens
Waking up before 5 am, to Helsinki airport, stopover at Arlanda (Sweden) and then to Heathrow. Took about 6 hours, stopovers are love x_x
We found the subway painlessly, bought Oystercadrs loaded with a 7-day travel-as-much-as-you-like ticket and took the Piccadilly line to Earl's court where we found the hotel just as painlessly. (Piccadilly line to Cockfosters, our very mature ain0a laughed every time :'D ♥)
After checking in we decided to walk to Hyde Park since our subway tickets wouldn't be valid until the next day. So we walked there and got only a little lost on the way. Spent time wandering around, and realised after some hours that we hadn't actually reached Hyde Park yet but were in Kensington Gardens instead. Oh well, reading the map is overrated anyway 8D
Tourists in Kensington Gardens
When tiredness finally got the better of us, we headed home. Went to buy something to eat for breakfast on the way and found that even in London, the food was cheaper than in Finland. Then we went to eat pizza and then back to hotel to sleep.
Day 2: The Brittish museum & Chinatown
The next day we headed straight to the Brittish museum to see all the national treasures the englishmen had stolen from other countries. It was horrible choosing what we wanted to see most since the place is huge. ;;____;; We ended up wandering through the Egyptian stuff (including mummies :s), Greek and Roman stuff, some of the Assyrian, Japan, the aztec, a bit of Europe and Britain and Korea. After that we weren't far from exhausted. x_x
Yes, it's exactly what it looks like.
Next we headed for Chinatown in search of food, intending to go ask for tickets for the Phantom of the Opera musical on the way. For musical tickets they told us that the best way to get a hold of the cheaper tickets is to come ask in the morning of the day we want to see it.
That piece of information acquired we went to eat in maybe the most expensive chinese in the whole Chinatown. But there was this person whose job is to get people in andand... T___T ...She didn't even have to say anything, we felt so pressured just for her being there ^^;; But I suppose it was worth it, our waiter was epic with his hair and man was he fast cleaning that table. I wonder... krhm ^^;; And there was this free starter, which ain0a happily tasted not realizing she didn't have anything to drink yet. Rhubarb with chili is not the thing you want to eat if you don't have water nearby :'D
After dinner we wandered aimlessly around Chinatown and bought some sweets. And then we got this amazing idea to eat japanese style crepes we had seen two women were selling earlier. It didn't go over well, not only were we already stuffed full, but the damn crepe didn't stay in shape and as a result, I had at least as much crepe inside me as on the outside T__T
Day 3: The Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert museum and the Thames at night ♥
First we went to ask for the musical tickets again, this time a bit earlier. They told us we should be there when the place opens, and even better idea is to go to the theatre itself when it opens at 10 am. Oh well, better luck next time...
Piccadilly circus. After you have been to Shibya, it's not rerally that remarkable ^^;;
By actig just a little martyr, I got my two companions bullied into going to the natural history museum with me ^^ It was huge too, so I didn't have time to see even half of what I would have liked, but oh well, at least there is something to see next time as well ^^ (and of course I couldn't have dragged an architect and a student of global politics through the whole museum, I'm not suicidal .D (and no, I wasn't a lawstudent myself then yet so don't be cheeky there 8D))
At the entrance:
Do you have anything dangerous in you bag?
*holds up Bo* Does this count?
Hmm, not sure... *looks thoughtfull*
I'm pretty sure I can control him though...
Oh well okay, if you can control him, I suppose it's okay.
But we saw the dinosaurs, a polar bear, laapakka, the huge blue whale, some gemstones and went into the earthquake stimulator, which was quite cool.
The Natural History museum
We also learned about the possible reason's for the extinction of the dinosaur .D (the dino says: "it's called cricket!")
After that we realised it was already quite late and so we ran into he Victoria and Albert museum eating only small candybars on the way. It was, for a change, huge. There we only went to see the sculpture, the reneissance, the fashion and the jewellery. Half running since there really wasn't too much time left ^^;;
After that I suppose we went to eat something, I really hope we did because we hadn't eaten since breakfast again ^^;; Oh yes right, we went into Earl's court again, into this little indian restaurant since that is something you really are supposed to eat in Britain 8D The waiter told us it'd cost £10 for each if we wanted to sit by the windeow. Brittish people ♥
Ruokahuolto oli kyllä aika onnetonta, ensin nähtiin nälkää vaikka kuinka kauan ja kun ruokaa viimein sai, oli niin nälkä että ahdettiin itsemme niin täyteen ettei päästy liikkumaan kun kierimällä ^^;; Nojaa... .D
Then I think we went to Harrods for a while and did some shopping at Topshop. and then we headed to westminster, to walk a bit by the river. It was beautiful and great even though we didn't have that champagne and strawberries we had palnned to take with us .D Santa Katriina was born and we got our first weird looks when we took pictures in a phone booth.
Great ideas...
...and not so great ones 8D
Day 4: Portobello road and Gackt
I woke up with my voice almost gone, no idea why x_x The morning was very hard for some reason; you know, the kind when applying makeup is just so damn hard and things are not where you left them two seconds ago. We still managed to get going and headed for Portobello road. As you can probably guess that means shopping. We ate in a nice small cafe, sausages and smashed potatoes, wanting to taste as many traditional foods as possible ^^ When I ordered exactly the same as ain0a , the owner of the place asked if I was unable to think for myself or was there another reason for this. Brittish people ♥
We were supposed to meet kuroto at 5pm at the Angel underground station, but of course we were late x_x Though in our defence I claim that we had no way of knowing that the circle line is not a circle x_x
After finding kuroto , we still needed to find the O2 Academy Islington. Easier said than done, especially since for some reason we decided that the local jrockfans didn't know where they were going .D Oh well, we still found the place relatively easy, the long queue of strangelooking people is not so different in different countries after all, and not very hard to spot either 8D
We went to the nearby Starbucks to eat something and into the queue when they started to let people in.
Gackt was... good 8D Very good. Even though I haven't really been a diehard fan in a long time, he will always have a place in my heart, for nostalgy if nothing else. I have always counted myself his fan and probably continue to do so, because he is a legend, and my idol from many years ago. Even though he is half a joke nowadays, he is still Gackt, and Gackt is a god .D
And really, only half a joke though, as even turquoise_llama had to admit after seeing the live. Because he looked good and god did he know how to make a show. He is an incredible performer, the kind you don't see too often. He has the kind of ability to hold the audience in his grip that is only born out of years of experience and steel hard professionalism.
We were somewhere in the fifth row or somehing with kuroto and turquoise_llama , and we saw almost perfectly all the time since the stage was quite high and on top of that Gackt had his own platform.
He theatrically ripped of his shirt somewhere in the beginning, not that we minded expect for the tie he threw into the audience x_x Please beloved rockstrars, don't throw into the audience anything that doesn't break easily and is big enough for many people to get a grip of x_x His dancing is still hilarious to watch :'D I suppose there can be many opinions as to wether he just can't dance or he can dance but his moves are just very... unique .D
And god did he love to make us shout :'D He really seemed to absorb the enegy of the audience, like he lived on that rather than air like normal people. I can now see where Kamijo gets it... Gack was almost as ridicilous as Kamijo with his MC's, and like Kamijo he was able to make it work as well. ...Well as much as things like "Us meeting here today is destiny" can work for anyone 8D Also his infamous ego didn't disappoint: "show me how much you love me" was maybe the best example of that, I have never seen anyone say it and really mean it before 8D We did as told of course, no use trying to bring down an ego so carefully constructed into perfection :'D He also promised to be back, and made us make the same promise, might be I'll have to travel to London because of him again one day .D Wouldn't that close the circle nicely...
Props for matching earplugs and eyemakeup ♥ :'D
After the show we left a message for him to come to Finland next time, looking very presentable I'm sure x_x I bought the new cd and the photobook, of which half is used for demostrating more or less impossible sex positions. Gackt ♥
Day 5: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament
I woke up, surprise, surprise, my voice totally gone. Chilrden, that's what you get for shouthing your love (.D)to a half naked god when your voice is already half gone for some mysterious reason :/ Luckily it got a bit better during the morning and by the time we were leaving the hotel I was already able to communicate. As a result I sounded like a life-long chain-smoker the rest of the trip but of well... ain0a was sick, poor thing, she always is. :( And since she had already visited Tower on an earlier trip to London with her family, she stayed in that day. ...Well a couple of hours anyway, until she got bored 8D
The Tower was nice, absolutely one of my favourite places in London ^_^ The place itself was beautiful and interesting, full of history and stories and you really got your money's worth with many museums, the free tours quided by Beefeaters (Yeomen warders) and all other kinds of stuff. We went to see the firing of the siege weapons, it reminded me of the times I'd drag my dad into middle-age markets and jousts with me .D
After that one of the guided tours was conviently just starting, so we joined in. The beefeater told interesting stories about the Tower's history, mainly who had been held there as a prisoner and when and how they had been executed. But that's what the tower is best known for afterall .D Our quide was fun and a good storyteller, so we enjoyed the tour very much. He told us how it is believed that if the ravens, which have lived in the tower for hundreds of years, leave Tower, the tower and the kingdom will fall. To prevent such missfortune, there is a ravenmaster who takes care of the six ravens, and the three emergency ravens if something happens to the six .D
Bo couldn't get a picture with him alone since he had an uniform ^^;;
After the tour we went to queue to see the crown jewels. The queue looked long, but moved surprisingly fast. Bo had a hard time getting in, since the female guard at the door that led to the room where the crown jewels were held found him so irresistibly cute 8D The jewels... *-* I know I'm an ultimate magpie with endless love for glittering thigs but oh my god *___* If you ever go to London and to Tower, go see them, the queue is very much worth it. The star of Africa alone is woth it *-* ♥
Well guarded, that place :s
After crown jewels we headed for the "fit for a king" armour exhibition, with a very imressive knight armours that belonged to kings, a very large armour and an extremely small one, and one very disturbing one... x_x There was also two extremely tall guards (who were clearly visiting the exhibition as well), turquoise_llama took a picture with them, the top of her head barely reaches the shoulder of the shorther one .D
On our way out we remembered we had to take a picture of Bo visiting Tower. As we had Bo balanced on the railing and turquoise_llama taking a picture one Beefeater came at us shouthing "hey you! What are you doing there on my railing!?" scaring poor turquoise_llama .D Brittish people ♥ We chatted with him for a while, he told that he had given his friend a teddy who wore the Yeoman warder uniform, and that teddy, called Cedric, also travelled the world and had a blog about it too. 8D
Bo at Tower ^^
When we came out ain0a was already waiting for us, gotten bored with being sick already 8D We ate sandwitches at the nearby Starbucks and started making our way towards thre underground station. On the way there were these big memorials for men lost at sea during the I and II world wars. The II world war one had more than 24 000 names on it, and those were only the ones lost a sea. ._.
We then headed for Westminster, it was already late but it didn't matter since we had decided not to pay an outrageous £15 for a church x_x So we just looked at Westminster Abbey from outside, impressive that way as well. And so beautiful ♥ Although out architect does not approve the lack of scandinavian desing in gothic Cathedrals .D We also went to peek at the houses of parliament behind the fence, quite waste of time but at least that was done then 8D We also saw the peace camp, just days before it was broken up.
Bo at Westminster Abbey
...and how the picture was taken .D Imagine the looks other tourists gave us 8D
Back to Earl's court where we ordered a huge amount of Chinese takeaway which we ate on our hotel floor in 1,5mx2m space .D
Day 6: The changing of the guard, Tate modern, millenium bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral & The tower bridge
Yes, we were very productive 8D The changing of the guard was at 11.30 and the surroundings of the Buckingham palace were packed. Seriously, I don't know when was the last time I have seen that many people in one place. We saw enough, not perfectly but few did so have to be happy 8D They played Michael Jackson's Earth song during the change, dunno if it's some kind of old brittish tradition or something... .D
Bo at Buckinham palace ^^
After that we hanged around a bit longer taking pictures and then headed towards Tate modern. ain0a andturquoise_llama lapsed into shopping on the way, but finally we found ourselves in the museum of modern art. Our architect was fascinated about the old factory building. I wasn't. 8D There was one wonderful Salvador Dali (Narcissus), and the rest of it, I endured. Acting only a little martyr, I hope ^^;; We left with a headache, and I with the irritation modern art always stirs in me. I hate not understanding and therefore feeling stupid, and even more I hate Fred and James, the artsyfartsy idiots who pretend to find deep meaning in a red dot on a huge white canvas and say it reminds them of their own childhood traumas. -shot-
Okay, after Tate Modern we walked over the millenium bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral, didn't go in there either, because we thought it ridicilous to charge so much for a church. Those two obligatory sights out of the way, we headed to Tower to buy ice cream and see the opening of the Tower bridge. After the bridge had closed again we walked it from end to end and then ate fish&chips by the Tower. It was okay but not going to miss it, if I'm completely honest 8D
Day 7: The obligatory visit to King's Cross, Camden town, Vivienne Westwood & The Phantom of the Opera
Early wake up to try once more to get the tickets for the Phantom of the Opera musical. We were at Her Majesty's theatre before 10am and went to ask for the tickets right after it opened. We got them, and they were only £25 each ^_^ ♥ Happy about our success, we shopped a little in tourist stores (cool brittania ♥ .D) and popped at Starbucks since we needed to check some things on Johan (juhan? o.o;;), ain0a 's minilaptop.
Then we headed to King's Cross, and wandered around for quite a while before coming to the conclusion that we would have to ask for help. As we were standing on front of the information desk too embarrassed to go and ask, an employee came and asked if he could help us.
Ain0a: Umm, yeah, umm... *embarrassed*
Employee: The Harry Potter Platform?
Ain0a: *slumps in defeat* ...Yeah ^^;;
But we found our way there, and that embarrassing thing taken care off we decided to take care of yet another obligatory thing. So we went an ate the cornish pasties. It tasted okay, reminds you of the good homemade food your granma could have made, just wrapped in paste. Won't horribly miss that one either .D
Then turquoise_llama left to find the craftstores her mom wanted her to buy something from. Me and ain0a headed for Camden town. It was... an experience .D and fun too, I bought this hilarious book called Now Panic and Freak Out (you know, the opposite of the famous keep calm and carry on, it even had the crown on it; upside down .D) It's full of such great maxims as: We experience moments absolutely free from worry. These brief respites are called panic. -Cullen Hightower ♥
After wandering around Camden Town we decided to go check out the Vivienne Westwood flagship store. ain0a bought a T-shirt .D After that I was getting close to the ultimate peak of tiredness, hunger, thirst, weakness and being pissed of (because of all the aforementioned) I felt like I'd never make it back to hotel x_x Somehow we did anyway, and bought food and drink on the way so after a while I was feeling human again. Btw, the tab water in London is... dry x_x I don't know how else to describe it, it takes away the thirst, but it leaves your mouth dry x_x
After an outstading 45 minutes of resting and collecting ourselves, we had to leave for the theatre. Her Majesty's Theatre was beautiful. It had just the perfect decoration and feeling for the Phantom of the Opera, and it wasn't very big so even from our seats high up, we could see everything pretty well. The show was... magnificent. Simply awesome *-* If you have seen the movie, where the actual story begins with the overture when they pull up the chandelier. Imagine that so that you are sitting in that theatre you see on the screen. *shivers* I think that performance was Bo's absolutely favourite thing on the trip, he wouldn't stop bouncing and flailing after it 8D Well since it was a really impressing expereince for us, it must have been 100 times that for someone so small. I cried at the end T__T
Bo in the theatre before the show ^^
For some reason taking this picture made the surrounding crowd of tourists laugh out loud at us .D
After the show we got to amuse other tourists a bit more, and then we decided now was the perfect time for champagne and strawberries by the Thames 8D Well, we didn't find strawberries and sparkly rose-wine had to do for champagne but of well, that wouldn't deter us. Had great time celebrating our wonderful trip watching that amazing landscape nighttime Thames and the London eye on the other side of the river make. ♥ ^^
Day 8: Shopping at Portobello road Harrods and someplace else and then finally, Hyde park.
Couldn't get up very early, and one again, we had nothing to eat in our hotel room .D We bought some bread and other stuff on our way towards the Portobello road intending to eat once we got there. While ain0a and turquoise_llama were buying some necessities, I chatted a bit with a redcross street fundraiser or something similiar about people in Britain. The thing is, the people in Britain are extremely polite. He claimed we just needed to give it another month, but I don't quite believe him. At least I now have a nice brittish accent when I apaologise 8D Otherwise I sound just as finnish as before but small victories and so on T___T We quickly found that Portobello road has no benches anywhere and so we had our breakfast at 3.20pm after shopping for hours. Then of course we had to try the Mars milkshakes. Wasn't a good idea x_x Kids, don't try this at home 8D
More shopping around London until mine and ain0a 's stamina wore out and we crawled into Hyde Park to die. turquoise_llama joined us later, and she got to play this nice game called "find deadshiroi , Bo and ain0a in hyde park" Not the easiest game there is, but she did fine .D After grieving for a while that our journey was at it's end, we headed homewards and went to eat in that italian restaurant we ate the first night.
Bo at our home station ♥
Then to hotel to pack and sleep for a couple of hours before we had to leave for the airport.
Day 9: Back home.
The Taxi driver picked us up at 5.30am. I tried to go into the wrong side of the car and he joked that I could drive if I wanted to. Meh stupid Brits and their leftsided traffic x_x The driver was nice, we spoke with him through the journey, he was originally from Pakistan and had a bit trouble understanding the graveness of the situation if there was still +30°C in Finland when we got home, since it could be 50-55°C in Pakistan during summer 8D
At the airport final candyshopping, final Starbucks drinks and final facebook updates, and the Johan finally died after fighting bravely through our 9 day journey on his battery that we had no way of loading.
Under three hours flight and we were back home ♥ ...in 30°C weather x_x;;
It was great, thank you ain0a and turquoise_llama ♥ ^____^