London - a whirlwind tour

Wow, the past few days have been intense but fun. It's been about eight years since I was last in London (summer of 2006). This time I had someone waiting for me, someone to see the sites with a local's eye, and with colourful stories not mentioned on placards around the museums. 

My friend Gavin and I have been pen pals for the past few years. We "met" on a knitting forum for folks looking for pen pals. I know that knitting and letter-writing sounds terribly old fashioned in this day and age of wireless technology, but there's something inherently satisfying and enjoyable about these two crafts. Receiving a letter in the mail from a friend brings me great joy. I assume that Gavin (and likely my two other pen pals) feel the same way. To have someone to take the time to pen you a letter rather than a soulless email, well...the two simply don't compare. I had never met Gavin in the flesh and I was wondering if we would get on in real life. I needn't have been nervous though, we got along like a house on fire. I think that our established rapport through writing and similar interests/lifestyles made the transition into face-to-face friends so smooth. 

Day one in London mostly consisted of finding my feet and settling into the hostel. I unfortunately had terrible insomnia the night before my transatlantic flight, and I only had about two hours sleep on the plane (I had three seats to myself!) Thus, I was a walking zombie that first day. Gavin took me to an adorable bohemian cafe near King's Cross that also sold yarn. I can't remember the name of the place, but it had been a sauna, a sex shop, and now a cute cafe. London spaces are constantly being reinvented (unlike Vancouver, where old buildings are torn down for new ones).  I went to his flat in Bloomsbury and just hung out with him and his two dogs, Buddy and Coco. Unfortunately, Buddy bit me (a cantankerous old pup who gets nervous if his owner is not visible). My hand is still healing but I don't begrudge Buddy. We took the pups out for a walk when suddenly the heavens opened and poured huge, fat raindrops. Within minutes our jeans were soaked through up to our knees. We gave up on our walk. I checked into the excellent YHA St Pancras hostel before heading out for dinner. Honestly, I don't remember anything else from that day. The fatigue took over and I crashed into my bunk at 11pm.

Day two I woke up no longer jet lagged, and we started our day at King's Cross so that I could get my geek on at Platform 9 3/4 (from Harry Potter of course). I refused to pay the £9.50 to have my photo taken with a partial trolley & Hedwig (see google image search to get an idea of what was on offer), but I did go to the gift shop where I got to hold the Elder Wand, and I bought a fridge magnet depicting a ticket for the Hogwart's Express. I was in nerd heaven.

Our next stop was the Victoria & Albert museum (or the V & A as most Londoners call it). For those of you who've never been to this museum, it is a gem both in terms of Victorian architecture and in its cultural collections. We focused on an exhibit called "Disobient Objects" and also the British collections from 1500 CE onwards. Disobient Objects was all about political protest art in a variety of media. There were lifesized paper mâché puppets, clever political placards, a truck covered entirely in tile mosaics (the Tiki Love Truck), rice sacks with slogans, and probably the most moving/sad - an embroidered handkerchief of a mother's grief over the disappearance of her 18 year old son by the Mexican authorities/cartels/gangs (it was unclear). The British collections are extensive - there is furniture, clothing, art, machinery, and replications of entire rooms.  At one spot, you can try on a hoop skirt and a corset to get a feel for the fashion of the 1800's. As a lover of costumes, I had to try them on. The other highlight for me of the V & A was the famous statue of the Three Graces. Beautiful.

After the V & A we made our way over Millenum Bridge to the south bank of the Thames River to the Tate Modern where we took in Matisse's Cut-Outs. Towards the end of his life, Matisse experimented with painting paper and cutting it into geometric and organic shapes. Originally he used the technique to plan out still life paintings, but the form took on a life of its own. My favourite pieces were Blue Nude II which is well known, and the Christmas stained glass piece. Being a member of most of London's museums, Gavin took me up to the members lounge to take in the view of St Paul's Cathedral.

Day three we went to Greenwich by boat. We were blessed with a sunny, if windy, day. Greenwich is beautiful and has a completely different feel to the rest of London. It has huge green spaces, a more relaxed vibe, and also some fascinating historical and geographical sites. I stood on the Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude) and both Gavin & I synchronized the watches we had just bought to the Sheppard Gate 24 hour clock, by which Greenwich mean time is set. We both laughed at having bought watches in Greenwich but it seemed only fitting :)  

We walked over the hill and sat for awhile on the Black Heath and cloud/kite watched for awhile. The Black Heath is reportatedly where the bodies of those Londoners who died of the bubonic plague are buried. There are no buildings, just grass as far as the eye can see. Rumour has it that if the Heath is dug up for development purposes that the plague will come out and cause it's terrible havoc again. Given that these bodies have been dead for over 400+ years, I'm skeptical of this claim. Fascinating nonetheless. We popped in briefly to the National Maritime museum where I got absorbed in an exhibition concerning the quest for the Northwest Passage (another sad story there).  

 

After Greenwich, we took the Thames skipper back to the London Eye (which I didn't bother going on) and explored the gayiety of London's South Bank. Had some very tasty tacos before heading up into the Royal Festival Hall's member only lounge to enjoy a bottle of Shiraz while watching the sunset over London. This hall has an elevator that sings. If you are going up, the voices go up in pitch and vice versa for going down. We took a silly video of it, but it's too hard to post here. We stumbled into a Tunnel of Love interactive art exhibit that we had fun in. We played twister, wrote a "confession" and got to have our picture taken in a silly photo booth. It was fun. 

I had told Gavin previously that I wanted to walk around Soho, partially for the gay culture but also for the trendiness of the area. Unfortunately, it was in Soho that I had an accident. I was walking along, trying to keep up with Gavin's quick pace when I missed a short curb and went straight down on my face, banging my head against my glasses and the pavement. Blood was pouring down the right side of my face and my glasses were broken. Great, not two weeks into my trip and my brand new prescription glasses broken. Head wounds bleed a lot. There was blood on my dress, my coat, and all over my glasses. I did have a bit of a breakdown at that point. But Gavin was great and talked me down from my panic and lead me back to the hostel to get cleaned up and to ice the cut. I managed to glue my glasses back together but I'm nervous about their structural integrity. I've asked my subletee to send my backup glasses to me in Ireland. Fingers crossed that my glued pair hold up for now...

Day four was my last in London. I had great intentions to go to the Tower Bridge to do the tour inside as a fellow hostel roommate had given me a ticket. However, after banging my head, I decided to give it a miss. I checked out of the hostel and had a relaxing morning with Gavin in a cafe before heading out to visit the Foundling Museum. This museum was very close to my heart as I'm adopted. A lovely little museum detailing the first Foundling Hospital for impoverished women to leave their children to be fostered or adopted out. The cafe and the Handel artifacts and listening salon are not to be missed.

 

After the museum, I retrieved my luggage from the hostel and Gavin took me to Liverpool St station to catch the train to the airport. I'll miss you my friend, but we'll always have Paris ;)