Well, folks, we made it back alive! But not before we made our final, lasting (we hope) impression upon swinging London! With an actual home to stay in and an exceptional group of friends, we managed to have one of the best legs of our trip right at the end. You know what that means- we are already dying to go back!
We arrived on Friday in London and made our way to K-Town where the boys live. If you are thinking Frat House, then you are thinking right about this one! We quickly moved in and took over Paul’s room, and I discarded my 60 lb backpack at the top of the stairs and never moved it for the five days we were there. Our stuff was just a little heavy at this point!
That night, we cleaned up and met Paul at a pub near his office- Colleen was quick to notice the hot security guard at Paul’s ad agency as we walked by and promptly accosted Paul about his details upon entry. Never found the guy for her though… sorry lady! This pub was actually kind of funny- it had these booths that you could lock the door on and they were flush with the bar. So essentially, it was your own little mini pod with immediate bar service. Paul had some explanation about what these were used for back in the day and I believe we caught it on camera- maybe not though, and that would be for the better. After the pub, we took Colleen to her first Indian meal and had some wonderful King Fisher beers and curry. Good stuff and she liked it!
We then sorted ourselves out with some fine English comedy at the Comedy Store and it was really good. I’ve been before and in keeping with tradition, I found myself a little on the “buzzed” side and fell asleep. Oops! Did this stop the comics on stage from harassing the obvious Americans hiding in the corner? Of course not- we became the focus of many of their jokes and even were told to be quiet by the security guards, which is odd because I had been sleeping when he tapped me on the shoulder and I don't think Colleen was talking to herself. Perhaps I was talking in my sleep!
The next day brought about a soccer game- Charlton Athletic vs. Birmingham City. We damn near missed the train to the game and literally jumped on the thing as the doors were closing after a mild sprint through the tube station and the train station as well. It was a major close call, a dog almost bit me when I got on, I found myself in the opposite end of the car to Colleen and Paul, but in the end, all was well and we made the game. We actually had great seats, saw 4 goals and captured a yellow card on the video camera. It was definitely worth the trip and Charlton Athletic prevailed 3-1… hooray!
That night, we assembled the entire crew for an evening out in Camden after we cooked everyone dinner. It was such a fun place and the music was awesome- we danced into the wee hours of the morning and then made our way home to prepare for a day of sightseeing the next day. Colleen and I just cruised around and saw the usual sites that day: Westminster Abbey, the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye and some other stuff I can’t remember at this time. That night, we decided to surprise the boys with a homemade dinner (they had a soccer game Sun afternoon and weren’t with us) and when they FINALLY got home around 8, they had the exact same dinner we had cooked in plastic grocery bags. It was quite a coincidence and really funny. But they did make us some really wonderful Apple Crumbly…yum!
Monday was another day reserved for sightseeing, but the night would provide an aerobically amazing activity- a Michael Jackson dance class, complete with a look-alike instructor!!!! It was honestly one of the best things we did the entire trip and of course, we caught the final sequence of the dance on camera- you, too, can see it for a nominal fee!
Tuesday, we took a field trip to the doldrums of London but all in the name of a good bargain. Luckily, I tend to rise early and that provided the perfect amount of time for me to locate the Burberry outlet. So we illegally hopped a train out to the Compton of the UK and found ourselves the factory store. We were pretty pumped, so upon finishing shopping, we carted our treasures into a pub to celebrate over a pint of Carlsberg!
With treasures in hand, it was time for Colleen to see Buckingham Palace. The only trouble was that it had started to rain, a bitterly freezing rain, and the sky went immeasurably dark. It slightly resembled the end of the world because it happened so quickly but we weren’t about to let this little slip in the weather stop us. She snapped a few pictures and we took refuge in the Queen’s gift shop- that lady didn’t get one cent of our money though!
That night, we met Paul for dinner at a proper English restaurant and had a great meal. We finished the evening at a blues bar and this band was really quite good! It was fun to see a different genre of music being played over a typical pint of beer. Good fun! Melancholy, tired and a bit drunk, it was time to turn in- our last night in London has suddenly drawn to a close. Luckily, we had the presence of mind to pack our bags before we went out- we both spent about 15 minutes trying to zip up one compartment b/c we had so much shit!
Our flight left Wed morning at 11:20am. Perfect- just enough time to hop the tube, piss off a load of the English workforce and get to Heathrow in time to A) shop at the Duty Free stores and B) settle in with our last pint of the trip in the airport pub. And for those of you that are currently thinking to yourself, “gosh, don’t you think 10am is a little early for a pint?” well, think again! The place was jam packed, standing room only, and we were hardly a spectacle at all. Ahhhh, we love England and can’t wait to get back on her fair shores!
That’s it- thanks to everyone who read about our incessant shenanigans the entire time. We hope they provided the same kinds of laughter for you that they have to us as we’ve re-read them! If anyone needs any suggestions on places that we’ve visited, don’t bother asking us- chances are, we don’t remember anyway! Just kidding… we’d love to offer suggestions to anyone who needs/wants them.
Cheers!!!!
Kyle & Colleen
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