really almost double
I had a great time during my brief time in London. Manning and I arrived around 11pm or midnight this past Wednesday, hung out with Gigi for a few hours, and then crashed. Gigi lives in this great apartment with a few girls from France, US, and Italy, and they were all super friendly and welcoming. She taught us how to eat scones with jam and cream and we caught up on the past 6 months or so.
Gigi had to work all day Thursday, so Manning and I spent the day walking around. We started with breakfast at the Camden Market which was amazing (so many coffee options! heaven!), and then shopping. Gigi was correct in her explanation of the Camden Market - kinda corny, but you can't help but still really like it. I drooled over every single pair of shoes I saw but only got one pair of sneakers. Manning is the best guy to shop with, and it was a really nice feeling to just wander around, holding hands, looking at clothes and wishing that Paris had more "alternative" (for lack of a better word) choices when it comes to fashion. We walked all the way down to the river, saw a bunch of the Big Sights, failed to find a store that sold socks, and then had dinner at Wagamama (so so so so so so SO GOOD).
I don't know if I wasn't being very observant the last time I was in London, but it seemed like everywhere we went there was signs saying "Vegetarian! Organic! No additives! All Natural!" It was great, but Gigi pointed out that she thinks the standards for organic food are just dropping, therefore it's easier to find. Even the snack place we went to used organic milk in the coffee. Like I said, great, but weird. In a good way, I think.
After resting a bit, we headed out to the Dead Sexy Inc show, which was the reason we went to London in the first place. It was great to walk into the pub and see Lada and Alexis (our Paris friends - Alexis is the drummer in the band) and hang out with them all night. Lada was wearing a dress that was really a teeshirt and looked incredible - I am always stunned by how beautiful that girl is, and how she can pull off anything. Manning drank a pint (his first beer!) because we were in London and I danced around while the band played (and drank several pints). After the show was over we all hung out and talked about traveling to Serbia this August, maybe even driving across Europe in Alexis' van, which I'm really excited about. Lada is even trying to set up a Hospitality Club meeting in Sarajevo in early August! It was such a good time - Alexis and Lada are such purely good people and I'm really lucky to count them as friends. Overall, London doesn't really seem to be that different than any big US city, but it's a world apart from Paris.
Gigi, Manning and I walked for hours before finding a nightbus home from the show, and that was that. On Friday morning we took the tube (for 1 hour and 4 minutes) to the airport, took the plane to Paris, and took the metro to our apartment. I kinda feel like I haven't had a good night of sleep since I've been back in Europe, but at least it's for good reasons - too much fun to be had!
Speaking of fun, the most fun thing about today was the fact that no one showed up for my 2pm tour. It has been steadily raining (and at some points, pouring) since very early this morning, but I still had 12 lunatics show up for my 10am tour this morning. In the pouring rain. On a Sunday. I'll never get that. So I was shocked when no one came to the 2pm tour, even though it was pouring rain and had been for 10 hours and I was wearing a jacket in late June. I happily walked home and have since enjoyed the rainy day the way god intended: from safely inside my apartment. I got some work done, watched some TV (new Deadwood and old Daily show) with Manning on the couch, and just relaxed. Despite drinking wine for 7 straight hours yesterday, I felt fine this morning and all day. I'm going to end the day with my French history book in bed, listening to the sound of the rain hit the rooftops outside.
This is a very strange picture of me from NYC a few weeks ago. Arpita is in the background. My hair is in the foreground. My nose is... odd.
Here's something a bit more normal. Me and Susannah, also in NYC. Isn't she pretty?
Gigi had to work all day Thursday, so Manning and I spent the day walking around. We started with breakfast at the Camden Market which was amazing (so many coffee options! heaven!), and then shopping. Gigi was correct in her explanation of the Camden Market - kinda corny, but you can't help but still really like it. I drooled over every single pair of shoes I saw but only got one pair of sneakers. Manning is the best guy to shop with, and it was a really nice feeling to just wander around, holding hands, looking at clothes and wishing that Paris had more "alternative" (for lack of a better word) choices when it comes to fashion. We walked all the way down to the river, saw a bunch of the Big Sights, failed to find a store that sold socks, and then had dinner at Wagamama (so so so so so so SO GOOD).
I don't know if I wasn't being very observant the last time I was in London, but it seemed like everywhere we went there was signs saying "Vegetarian! Organic! No additives! All Natural!" It was great, but Gigi pointed out that she thinks the standards for organic food are just dropping, therefore it's easier to find. Even the snack place we went to used organic milk in the coffee. Like I said, great, but weird. In a good way, I think.
After resting a bit, we headed out to the Dead Sexy Inc show, which was the reason we went to London in the first place. It was great to walk into the pub and see Lada and Alexis (our Paris friends - Alexis is the drummer in the band) and hang out with them all night. Lada was wearing a dress that was really a teeshirt and looked incredible - I am always stunned by how beautiful that girl is, and how she can pull off anything. Manning drank a pint (his first beer!) because we were in London and I danced around while the band played (and drank several pints). After the show was over we all hung out and talked about traveling to Serbia this August, maybe even driving across Europe in Alexis' van, which I'm really excited about. Lada is even trying to set up a Hospitality Club meeting in Sarajevo in early August! It was such a good time - Alexis and Lada are such purely good people and I'm really lucky to count them as friends. Overall, London doesn't really seem to be that different than any big US city, but it's a world apart from Paris.
Gigi, Manning and I walked for hours before finding a nightbus home from the show, and that was that. On Friday morning we took the tube (for 1 hour and 4 minutes) to the airport, took the plane to Paris, and took the metro to our apartment. I kinda feel like I haven't had a good night of sleep since I've been back in Europe, but at least it's for good reasons - too much fun to be had!
Speaking of fun, the most fun thing about today was the fact that no one showed up for my 2pm tour. It has been steadily raining (and at some points, pouring) since very early this morning, but I still had 12 lunatics show up for my 10am tour this morning. In the pouring rain. On a Sunday. I'll never get that. So I was shocked when no one came to the 2pm tour, even though it was pouring rain and had been for 10 hours and I was wearing a jacket in late June. I happily walked home and have since enjoyed the rainy day the way god intended: from safely inside my apartment. I got some work done, watched some TV (new Deadwood and old Daily show) with Manning on the couch, and just relaxed. Despite drinking wine for 7 straight hours yesterday, I felt fine this morning and all day. I'm going to end the day with my French history book in bed, listening to the sound of the rain hit the rooftops outside.
This is a very strange picture of me from NYC a few weeks ago. Arpita is in the background. My hair is in the foreground. My nose is... odd.
Here's something a bit more normal. Me and Susannah, also in NYC. Isn't she pretty?