England revisited
Easyjet is a budget airline (to say the least), but the journey went very well and very smoothly in both directions. I took the train from Stansted Airport to Cambridge, where thedimholt met me and guided me to their house. Their house turned out to be at least as warm and comfy as my own flat (which is bloody freezing in winter, by Swedish standards). But then the weather was still pretty warm there. We shopped for food, and quantumliquid skipped his choir practice in order to stay and eat with us in the evening. Wednesday was supposed to be Tourist In Cambridge Day, which got a bit subverted due to unforeseen job circumstances for thedimholt, but I managed to look at the market and find a nice fleece cardigan and waistcoat at The Edinborough Woollen Mill (I really wanted a Cashmere cardigan, but they were all ugly), and bought a postcard for my mother (who had insisted on being sent one), before we had a late lunch/early dinner, and then went to see A Christmas Carol in 3D. We also spent a lot of time with thedimholt's super cute cinnamon green-cheeked conure, called Felix (although he himself seemed to favour the name Pippi instead). I tried to teach him to say "EXTERMINATE" in his screechy bird voice, but he wasn't forthcoming.
Thursday I took the train back to Stansted Airport and then the coach down to London, where I was met by armillary, who (together with his flatmates) kindly allowed me to stay in their common room for the rest of my stay. It was very nice to meet emoni in real life!
Friday I went to Shepherd's Bush and walked up and down Goldhawk Road, which is Cheap Fabric Paradise, looking for a greyish purple cotton satin, which I found, and at a very reasonable price, too! They didn't have as much as I wanted, though, but I hope it will be enough to make something at least. I then walked along Shepherd's Bush Market, where I found a very nice little skeleton fob watch (very steampunky) at the terrific price of £10. I then went into town and spent about half an hour trying to find my way to Forbidden Planet. I eventually found it, and inside I found the New Who series 1 DVD box for £19.95 (reduced from £69.95), which is exactly the sort of thing I had been hoping for. I walked around in the shop for a long time with various books and graphic novels in my hands, and finally left it with the DVD box and book 1 and 2 of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Then I walked down to the Duke of York Theatre to pick up my ticket for Speaking in Tongues. The ticket clerk told me that the ticket had been posted to me. I told him no, it hadn't, and that I had specifically been told to come and pick it up in the ticket office since they wouldn't post it overseas, and he said that he was only stating what the booking system was telling him. When I started getting a bit upset, he told me to calm down and said that it wasn't a problem, they could print me the ticket if I produced the card I had paid with (which is what I had been told to do when I bought the ticket in the first place). I felt a bit sheepish about getting upset, but aftwerwards I thought, why did he make a fuss about it if it was so easy to solve? And I was right, too, the ticket hadn't been posted to me at all. I bought it several weeks ago, so it would have had plenty of time to arrive.
The play was interesting, with lots of layers and a rather convoluted plot. I found Teh Simm a bit wooden, though, but it was hard to know if it was because he had a bad day or because his character was supposed to be a bit wooden. I lean toward the latter opinion.
On Saturday, armillary and I took the Oxford Tube (which is a coach) to Oxford, where we saw the Steampunk Exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science, and afterward had dinner and met up with m_nivalis. The Museum of the History of Science was the perfect venue for the exhibition -- they had lots of gorgeous original instruments from the 17th century and onwards, so you got the perfect perspective. We had a quick look at the newly reopened Ashmolean too, but unfortunately got there just before closing time, so we just hung out with m_nivalis instead, and I had half pint of (IIRC) Mordue Newcastle Coffee Ale (?). It was nice, anyway.
Sunday armillary and I went to more museums. First the Wallace Collection and then the V&A, where we took in the fashion exhibition (which had lots of clothes, but naturally far too few from the periods I was interested in) and tried to see the Medieval/Renaissance ones, but they were either closed down or almost totally stripped due to a new exhibition opening next year. I also got another indication that I need a new digicam, because the one I have now is crap in bad lighting (like in museums). There were lots of droolworthy books in the museum shop but I was a good girl and only got one. We finished by having dinner at a Lebanese restaurant opposite Harrods, and had really strong spiced Lebanese coffee with complimentary baclavas afterward. I couldn't resist the baclavas, and they were so small, so I had two. Mmm, baclavas.
Monday was a really chilly day. I met up with London Girl in Camden, and we walked around the outdoor and indoor markets there, growing colder and colder all the time. I cunningly resisted all the salesman wiles, which was made slightly easier by having at least two of the salespeople referring to London Girl as my daughter, hrrmpf! I eventually got some striped kneehigh and overknee cotton socks (hard to find here) and a grey top hat. The top hat is really too large, but the shape is such that it's rather tight against my forehead and back of head, so it stays on anyway. I almost bought a brown bowler hat, but when I found the grey top hat I was lost. I also found a couple of purple ostrich feathers for it (and I have loads and loads of peacock feathers at home, which the Wood Nymph gave to me when they had peacocks in their yard). Then we went to a Nero café and had coffe until we thawed up again. London Girl drove me back to armillary's and emoni's place near Marble Arch in her car, which awed me no end (I'd be loath to drive in one of the bigger Swedish cities, so London? Colour me impressed).
Tuesday I took the airport coach back to Stansted Airport and couldn't resist a gift box with three kinds of Bowmore single malt whisky at the airport shops. THEY HAD FREE TASTING OF THE WHISKIES. What is a poor girl to do?
Then I got home and Wednesday morning I woke up to frost and zero temperatures. Brr.
Thursday I took the train back to Stansted Airport and then the coach down to London, where I was met by armillary, who (together with his flatmates) kindly allowed me to stay in their common room for the rest of my stay. It was very nice to meet emoni in real life!
Friday I went to Shepherd's Bush and walked up and down Goldhawk Road, which is Cheap Fabric Paradise, looking for a greyish purple cotton satin, which I found, and at a very reasonable price, too! They didn't have as much as I wanted, though, but I hope it will be enough to make something at least. I then walked along Shepherd's Bush Market, where I found a very nice little skeleton fob watch (very steampunky) at the terrific price of £10. I then went into town and spent about half an hour trying to find my way to Forbidden Planet. I eventually found it, and inside I found the New Who series 1 DVD box for £19.95 (reduced from £69.95), which is exactly the sort of thing I had been hoping for. I walked around in the shop for a long time with various books and graphic novels in my hands, and finally left it with the DVD box and book 1 and 2 of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Then I walked down to the Duke of York Theatre to pick up my ticket for Speaking in Tongues. The ticket clerk told me that the ticket had been posted to me. I told him no, it hadn't, and that I had specifically been told to come and pick it up in the ticket office since they wouldn't post it overseas, and he said that he was only stating what the booking system was telling him. When I started getting a bit upset, he told me to calm down and said that it wasn't a problem, they could print me the ticket if I produced the card I had paid with (which is what I had been told to do when I bought the ticket in the first place). I felt a bit sheepish about getting upset, but aftwerwards I thought, why did he make a fuss about it if it was so easy to solve? And I was right, too, the ticket hadn't been posted to me at all. I bought it several weeks ago, so it would have had plenty of time to arrive.
The play was interesting, with lots of layers and a rather convoluted plot. I found Teh Simm a bit wooden, though, but it was hard to know if it was because he had a bad day or because his character was supposed to be a bit wooden. I lean toward the latter opinion.
On Saturday, armillary and I took the Oxford Tube (which is a coach) to Oxford, where we saw the Steampunk Exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science, and afterward had dinner and met up with m_nivalis. The Museum of the History of Science was the perfect venue for the exhibition -- they had lots of gorgeous original instruments from the 17th century and onwards, so you got the perfect perspective. We had a quick look at the newly reopened Ashmolean too, but unfortunately got there just before closing time, so we just hung out with m_nivalis instead, and I had half pint of (IIRC) Mordue Newcastle Coffee Ale (?). It was nice, anyway.
Sunday armillary and I went to more museums. First the Wallace Collection and then the V&A, where we took in the fashion exhibition (which had lots of clothes, but naturally far too few from the periods I was interested in) and tried to see the Medieval/Renaissance ones, but they were either closed down or almost totally stripped due to a new exhibition opening next year. I also got another indication that I need a new digicam, because the one I have now is crap in bad lighting (like in museums). There were lots of droolworthy books in the museum shop but I was a good girl and only got one. We finished by having dinner at a Lebanese restaurant opposite Harrods, and had really strong spiced Lebanese coffee with complimentary baclavas afterward. I couldn't resist the baclavas, and they were so small, so I had two. Mmm, baclavas.
Monday was a really chilly day. I met up with London Girl in Camden, and we walked around the outdoor and indoor markets there, growing colder and colder all the time. I cunningly resisted all the salesman wiles, which was made slightly easier by having at least two of the salespeople referring to London Girl as my daughter, hrrmpf! I eventually got some striped kneehigh and overknee cotton socks (hard to find here) and a grey top hat. The top hat is really too large, but the shape is such that it's rather tight against my forehead and back of head, so it stays on anyway. I almost bought a brown bowler hat, but when I found the grey top hat I was lost. I also found a couple of purple ostrich feathers for it (and I have loads and loads of peacock feathers at home, which the Wood Nymph gave to me when they had peacocks in their yard). Then we went to a Nero café and had coffe until we thawed up again. London Girl drove me back to armillary's and emoni's place near Marble Arch in her car, which awed me no end (I'd be loath to drive in one of the bigger Swedish cities, so London? Colour me impressed).
Tuesday I took the airport coach back to Stansted Airport and couldn't resist a gift box with three kinds of Bowmore single malt whisky at the airport shops. THEY HAD FREE TASTING OF THE WHISKIES. What is a poor girl to do?
Then I got home and Wednesday morning I woke up to frost and zero temperatures. Brr.