I'm In Love With...

Tonight is farewell to London for now. I became very, very fond of London in this short space of time. We stayed in the same general area the whole time we were here and walked around the same streets every day. Granted those are streets that are getting in the papers for the ridiculous amounts of money that apartments on them are going for. Sigh. It was good while it lasted. I'm glad we're coming back though. We did so much stuff while we were here, but not nearly everything we had planned. These were my favourite things though. (Spoiler: My favourite things basically consist of parks and theatres. Not necessarily in that order.)

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens:

Every city in the world should have a park this big in the middle of it. As soon as you retreat a few hundred metres into it you hardly notice you're in the city any more. Cute dogs roam everywhere, picnics are a picnic (sorry...) and walking through a lovely park to get from A to B is a definite improvement on walking the streets. You might even say it's a walk in the park (SORRY!) Plus there are squirrels.

Kew Gardens:

On our third last day Courtney and I went on a jaunt to the lovely Kew Gardens. They're pretty much just London's botanic gardens and Courtney just informed me that the grounds are 121 hectares. Big. We strolled through greenhouses full of palms and lilies, we strolled across bridges and talked to geese (they didn't talk back) we strolled in the tree tops on a cool walkway and we sat by ponds. There was much sitting and strolling. I met a Robin in a gorgeous rose garden that smelt so good, and I met a bumble bee!!!!! A BUMBLE BEE!!! So cute. This was also the day that we both woke up with colds. We couldn't figure out if we were sniffing from pollen or from being ill. It was the best way to spend a lazy afternoon though, and only 20 minutes tube ride from our hostel! I love the tube.

THE GLOBE!!!!!

Possibly my favourite place in the world. It's just as well we were only in London for two weeks during The Globes active season otherwise we probably would have ended up seeing all 6 productions and spending a fortune on the gorgeous programs. Either that or we just would have seen Henry IV part 1 and 2 several more times... Everything about the place is enjoyable, it just made me so happy. You get your wee £5 groundling tickets, you wait in line for an hour or so for a good spot, you get it, you lean on the stage (and smell it) and then you get to see a performance up close. There's an astonishing sword fight in part one where we thought there was a chance we'd get stabbed, or that Jamie Parker would roll into the crowd. We got splashed with cups of what I hope was water, though were luckier than a few people in the crowd who got splashed with prostitute vomit during one scene. Ew. In the intermission we sat on the beams under the stage to eat our sandwiches, and surprisingly it's even fun when it rains on you. To top it all off, these guys just get Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare's Globe.


And we met Jamie Parker there.

The Astor Kensington:

We're in Paris now, and we haven't stayed in that many hostels yet, but we've already learnt to appreciate a good one. You'd think fully equipped kitchens and working showers would be the norm, but apparently not. The Astor Kensington is the first so far to have both and friendly staff to boot. It wasn't that expensive (Paris is outrageous) and it was very simple, but you could cook more than just pasta and rice. Yay for the Astor Kensington.

The Thames:

It's kind of hideous. The only word I can think of to describe it is 'brown'. One day Courtney and I were walking past The Globe where there is a stairway that takes you down to the brown, dirty, rocky shore, when we heard a small child say 'Daddy, can we go down to the beach?' We both burst out laughing. I love it though. The side with The Globe and the London Eye is really touristy and not that pleasant, or it would be if not for the tourists. The other side is less pretty and lined by offices, yet quieter and nicer to walk across. We walked there a lot, which may be the reason why I like it so much. The bridges and buildings surrounding the Thames are the shit too. I love the Millennium Bridge and, odd and out of place as it is in some respects, I really like the Tate Modern. I think they must have been huffing paint to think that it was a good idea to build it, but I think it works. It's kind of grimy, and for all the St Pauls', Houses of Parliments' and Westminster's, London is basically grimy. I'm pretty sure Peregrine Falcons nest up on the big chimney thing too. Rad.

We found a wee TARDIS too, but I forgot my camera cord and can't be arsed walking back to the hostel, so I'll see if we can get on the net in Bruges and upload them there.

Ta ta for now! Love,

Bron xox

P.S. I think most French people may be mad...