the great uk adventure: part two.
SO! This is part two of the pictures post! I didn't have any idea it would be this massive, but you know that goes when you live your life behind the lens. Anyway! Continuing on!
10 January 2011 found us on a travel day from Edinburgh to Cardiff which meant that I took zero pictures this day. I mean, I did, but of Edinburgh train station, but honestly. They really aren't that interesting. And this leg was perhaps the longest train ride of them all so far. About 6 and a half hours or so. I spent some of that time editing pictures and reading John's new book among other things. There were some delays and we didn't get into Cardiff until 8 pm GMT (it was raining, but who is surprised?) so we had to trapse around in the rain to find something to eat. We ended up with chicken, which suits the chickenhawk in me rather well, actually.
Now with that said, we resume our picture tour on ...
11 January 2011.
I took a shitload this day because ... it was a rare sunny day in Cardiff and I took advantage. The last time we were there was in 2008 and we were only there for one day before the panto. The weather was overcast and rainy so when I found out it was going to be sunny, I took advantage with the camera and went a little crazy. There are too many to explain them all, so I will explain the obvious ones at the very least since most of you know where most of these are -- as far as fandom nerdery goes.
Most noteably, I will menton the shrine (pics 05 - 10) which is actually a little more interesting in person than it is in pictures. There are some really nice memorials for the whole cast, expressing their excitement for series 4 and those are the ones that stuck with me for the most part. Although, the John Hart one (pic 09) was really funny. I took the last one (pic 10) because I remembered that count_to_seven put it up and just had to for the sake of LOLs. Are we LOL'ing yet? Indeed.
The other noteable pic is Hippo and Leopard on the invisible lift (pic 14, I think) and I just thought it was incredibly funny. There is also my feet on the invisible lift which is absolutely necessary. As you can see, I took pics of the costumes of my fav DW chars that I lust after -- Eleven, Jack (oh my love affair with that coat -- you guys don't even know. I took 10 pics of that thing, no shit) and Amy -- as well as one very familiar face. Sarah Lloyd Gregory, who was Carys in Series One of Torchwood. She works at the Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff and for a second, I thought she looked familiar but we went up and told her how great she was.
To which her boss proceeded to embarrass the shit out of her by talking about the Ianto shrine and asked her if she "knew that Ianto fella." The look on her face; let me tell you, if looks could kill, he would have dropped dead. Her reply? "I know of him." Classic.
And last but not least. My 11th Doctor sonic screwdriver. Oh yes. Yes I did.
12 January 2011 saw us all (Emma1, me, L, B and J) getting up super early to head down to Brighton to get tattoos. Okay, granted, Emma1 didn't get one, but the rest of us did. I didn't take any pics in Brighton or on the bus and trains because really? Taking pics on the train even with the blur function just isn't even worth the effort. Here is mine and to explain it for those of you who don't know my nerddom -- it is a tribute to my favorite movie of all time "The Crow." It hurt like a bitch, took the longest 45 minutes of my life, but it was absolutely worth it. It's pretty badass though isn't it? Yes yes it is.
13 January 2011 also saw me taking very few pics as it was very rainy in Cardiff (surprise? Not really) and we did a little bit of shopping at the comic book store and St. David's arcade. It was a fairly lazy day in which we shopped, ate and called it a night.
Now we pick up on the picture tour where we left off which was on ...
14 January 2011.
This day saw us leaving Cardiff and heading off to London. This was also my brothers birthday (which I sent him a nice message on facebook lmfao -- I really am a loving sister). I took this pic (01) from the platform at Cardiff Central and it's Altolusso! The building that our beloved Captain Jack Harkness stood on in series one. Fabulous ... o. Or something. That was a lame joke. I'm sorry.
Our hotel was literally across the street from the famous Kings Cross station which was -- yes, made very famous by the Harry Potter series (pics 03, 04, 05). On the way out of the hotel, we ran into a young woman with her very cute dog who seemed to love J (I took pics, but didn't post them here. Just ask, I'll show you. *G*) and it was the sweetest dog ever. Maybe. I thought so anyway. And I'm not really a dog person. So from there, we headed off to Leicester Square, where we decided on what which musical that we wanted to see.
While I waited for L and B to decide what we were doing, I took a few pictures (pic 06 and 07, which is of some cute gay couple that I just couldn't resist taking a snapshot of). We decided on Love Never Dies. Oi vey, I just ... have no words. None. Or I do, I just will refrain for now. Just. Oh lawd gurl. Hahaha.
On our way to the theatre, we stopped to eat at TGI Fridays then made our way around to have a walkthrough Trafalgar Square and while most of my pics didn't turn out, here are a few of the favorites that turned out moderately alright (pics 08, 09, 10). I couldn't resist the lions or Big Ben. Those are the two staples.
After the show, we headed back to the room to wind down and call it a day. The view was at least very nice from our room although I think L can agree with me that hauling 100 lbs of luggage up four flights of stairs with no lift was no picnic. No matter how nice the hotel was.
15 January 2011.
HELLO STONEHENGE. I was waiting for this one the most because obviously -- that speech in Doctor Who was epic and just the place itself is massively epic. There really isn't much to say about Stonehenge that people don't already know, but I will say this. I did make the mistake of going there without a jacket. It was so epically windy that it would have knocked over a two ton truck. And it was an unbelievably cold wind too.
I took a shitload of pictures, but I am posting only the best ones here. I will show you the rest if you would like, but ... honestly. Although, any Doctor Who fan knows why I took the one with Leopard (pic 02). Again, I'm a nerd and that's just an opportunity that I couldn't waste no matter what. It took a few gos because of the wind, but I think it worked out in the end. I posted the one of myself at the end to show you just exactly how windy it really was. Self portraits in the wind for the win.
This day also saw us going on the Jack the Ripper Mystery Walk and that was fairly interesting. He was a sick, sick, sick bastard. :D
16 January 2011.
This was our last day in the UK and we were going to make the most of it. We decided to start the day in Covent Garden to do a little wandering around. This was also the day that I was walking around in a t-shirt with no jacket -- because I took the word of J and L that it wasn't that cold. It really wasn't. But it started to rain and ... that just made me look like a jackass, didn't it? Yes it did my friends. But anyway! Covent Garden.
We ran into a few guys dressed up for our amusement and the most obvious one was the Captain Jack Sparrow (pic 02) that made us all do a double take. Me and L both got our pictures taken with him and it was an amusing as hell experience. I can't even begin to tell you. He even had the mannerisms down, it was just that amazing really. I can't even wrap my head around how amazing this guy was. I can't even properly express it in words. Anyway! We walked around Covent Garden, didn't do any real shopping, hit the Disney store and Build-A-Bear before getting some breakfast. We met up with one of J's friends, had lunch and then headed off toward the Tower of London.
Now the greatest thing about the Tower of London (to me and all my geekdom) are the Guard Ravens of the White Tower (pic 12). Oh my God, they're massive. Ravens are so huge, I can't even express it. They're amazing though. They've apparently been on the property for thousands of years, guarding the tower and they've got their own little space. They never leave the property and can actually imitate a human voice, as well as the calls of other birds. SEE. I did learn something from "Animals at Work." There you go, Jeebs, educating even the old. Har har.
After this, we went to the History of London Museum and had a look around. Then it we took the stuffed animals to the "temporary" Platform 9 3/4ths at Kings Cross. It was a sad, sad replication. It was plastic with flourescent lights. It was really kind of funny. But you can see that Leopard has his bowtie and his Stetson because -- man, Stetsons are cool.
17 January 2011 was our travel day to New York City. And I really want to say this that I was so worried both going to the UK and coming from the Uk that I would get the X-Ray scan and the Pat Down. I would like to report, that I didn't have either, so you can cheer now. The plane ride this time wasn't so bad because we had our own individual entertainment so that we didn't all have to do the same thing. I played the shit out of the Tetris (yay for reliving your youth, homes) and we were all so happy to land in NYC.
Although, it took them ten thousand forevers to get our luggage out to us and by then I really wanted to dropkick my carry on from there to New Jersey. But I digress. Getting back into the country this time was less of a hassle than it was in 2008. However, getting from the airport to the hotel was more of a hassle and there were certain times in the cab that I saw my life flash before my eyes.
They weren't kidding about that whole NYC drivers are fucking insane thing. I mean, considering he dropped us off at the curb and when the cabby opened his door, someone HIT HIM. It started some kind of fight in which we paid him then ran off to our hotel. Literally. We didn't want to be witnesses in anything. Welcome to New York. Ha. We decided to chill this night and just get some takeaway. We ate and were in bed by 7:30 pm. And I'll be damned if jetlag didn't kick my ass and I slept until 7:30 am. Oh jetlag, you silly bitch.
We now join our regularly scheduled picture tour on ...
18 January 2011.
So this was our last day together as a group and we were going to make the most of it by being complete tourists of NYC. We were going to start our day in Times Square and go from there. The walk from the hotel to the subway (yes, it had snowed and it was dreary with rain. It's a curse) got us all soaked from socks to pantlegs. But it was the beginning of the day so we were pretty optimistic. Okay, maybe I was. It was damn cold though. I will say that I might be lying through my teeth right now about the optimistic thing. Ha ha.
Anyway, we stopped off for food at the Hard Rock Cafe. And they now take your pics before you go in so we all looked like drowned rats, but that's okay. I guess. The pic did turn out fairly good, I must say. Again, I don't look like much of a cow. Moo. We were sat right underneath an autographed photo of Eric Clapton so I had J take a pic of it for my dad. I didn't post it here, but it's on my facebook and it's rather epic. He did enjoy it. After lunch and some touristy shopping in the Hard Rock store, we went down to the Disney store which ... let me just say, is EPIC.
Although, they only had like a keychain of Marie and one plushy. So I went with the keychain and a plushy of Eeyore. I didn't want to get inundated with Marie -- I did have a talking one that walks & meows that I got from B. It was a big hit with Chrissy when I got home, but that's a story that's neither here nor there for right this second. ha. After Disney we went to FAO Schwarz. If you're not an 80s brat, you don't understand the significance of this place. And if not -- I suggest you go to youtube and search for the movie BIG and the Giant Piano. Then you will get it. The piano was amazing, but no one normal has $255,000 to spend on it. Thanks but no thanks. I bought a little striped kitty that reminded me of my BFF's cat and called it a day. I did play a game of sock'em with a few other people & some FAO employees.
BEST. JOB. EVER.
From FAO we decide that instead of trying to go on the Ferry, we are just going to do the Central Park thing. This is where things get hairy. Remember me talking about ice before in Edinburgh? Yes, yes. This is where that comes into play. There was snow everywhere and while it's beautiful to look it, it's not so nice to walk through. I swear to God, I just get it out of my mouth to B to watch for the ice and ... down I go. Ankle turns, on my ass, in this major ass puddle. So A] my ankle hurts, B] I am wet from my socks to my asshole, C] and ... there is no C. I just don't know. It was funny in retrospect. It's no fun if there are no war stories.
I am danger Daphne. I was bound to get hurt on this trip at some point. Who knew that it would be the last day of it? Go figure.
Anyway, I took some nice pictures in Central Park -- a whole lot of them, but these are the most noteable. I took one of the Alice In Wonderland monument (pic 06) since that was J's thing and she looked right at home. It was a memorial for the writers wife, who "loved all children." It was lovely in person. It was hard to enjoy when you were cold, wet and your feet hurt. Alas, I was not the only one whinging.
Everytime L stepped into a puddle that was a foot deep, you heard, "Aww man!" or "Aww fuck man!" and I would just about die laughing. Oh, yes, moving on. I also got pics of Strawberry Fields, but as it was getting dark, the pics didn't really turn out all that great. So I posted the ones that did turn out moderately great (pic 08 and 09) and left it at that.
Now the last picture -- all of my John fans will get a kick out of. I don't think I really have to do much explaining there. ;D
And this concludes the picture tour because on 19 January 2011, I made the seemingly endless plane journey back home to mundane and boring. Voila. I hope you enjoyed the journey. It was quite the ride. :D