Monday, once we all woke up around noon, Mom and I had a day together. We walked up Borough high street and mom took some pictures of all the cool stuff in my neighborhood that I don't notice because I'm not observant and see it all the time so it just blends in. So we got pictures of the George, which is one of (if not the oldest remaining) pubs in London
And a World War I memorial.
Then since we were right there we finally had the chance to visit the Southwark Cathedral. I've never actually been inside before and you can't take pictures, but it's very pretty and they have a tribute to Shakespeare and they have some very funny obituaries/epitaphs on the walls also. We got kicked out because I was carrying a cup of coffee right as we finished up our visit and right as the organ concert started. Then we hopped on the Tube and stopped off at Kings Cross to see the 9 and 3/4 platform. This was the only thing we saw but it was still super cute
Then we (unnecessarily it turns out) turned around got right back on the Tube to go one more stop for the British Library (which we later found out is located on the same block as Kings Cross. Once in the British Library we visited the exhibit (where you also can't take pictures) that included the Magna Carta, multiple copies actually, the Guttenberg bible, some beautifully decorated Haggadot, letters from Mary Queen of Scots, drawings and notes by da Vinci and coolest of all, lyrics handwritten by the Beatles. Then we bundled ourselves back up for the cold and asked a passing stranger to take a picture of us together.
We left the library walking in the opposite direction we came in to see what exactly was the giant building next door. Turns out it was the largest hotel either of us had ever seen. Ever. Gigantic. You can only see the tiniest part of it in this picture.
The hotel was also sitting directly across from Kings Cross which is how we figured out we were had wasted a bit of time earlier on the way to the Library. We still had time to spare, so we got back on the Tube aiming for the Temple of Midas. I had stumbled across the Temple, literally stumbled across it, at 3 am, after a long night of drinking, when my friend Anna came to visit. So I remembered vaguely where it was, and that it was literally inside of a construction site, surrounded on three sides by construction walls, and that all that was left of it was some foundations in the shape of a rectangle. But we had been talking about going to see if forever and it was on the way home. We got out of the Tube station and tried to google map it. But we were walking and walking and not seeing it and circling the construction site and google maps was getting us no where. That's when I noticed the sign that said they had applied for a permit to restore the Temple. So we were SOL and the construction site had truly swallowed the Temple whole.
Slightly disappointed, and with our need for historical monuments not sated we walked down the street to the Monument. The Monument is a tall tower that commemorates the Fire of London. It is hollow inside and you can climb a stair case up to the top to a viewing point. We got there minutes before it closed. And then spent those minutes dithering about whether or not we wanted to climb it. At the very last minute we decided YES! We are going to climb this thing! And we did, all 311 steps. And we get to the top and realize that we are both terrified of heights. The Monument is much taller from the top than it seems, and it's only a couple of feet wide at the top and surrounded by a wire cage to keep people from falling off. We were really really scared. To the point where even though there was a gorgeous sunset happening on the other side neither of us cared enough to go look. Instead we posed, took a picture, and got the hell out of there.
At the bottom of the stairs they each gave us a commemorative certificate for completing the climb. We took the bus home and met up with Dad and Aliza who had spent the day shopping. Dinner was nutella and crackers in Mom and Dad's kitchen after which Mom was full of energy and just wanted to GO SEE LONDON! I was exhausted still from the trip and just could not get up the energy to make it happen. Instead, we promised to see Soho the next night and Mom came up to my room so she could help me by sewing all my buttons back on my various clothes and fixing my duvet cover and watching TV with me and Aliza.
Tuesday I was back to having class. I walked out the door with Aliza so she could meet up with our parents.
I went off to school and they went to go visit Buckingham Palace. Then we met for lunch on Oxford Street at the Center for Jewish Life. It was a nice, quiet, cheap lunch. We ate our wrapped sandwiches and Aliza got soup and everyone agreed that venue-wise it was probably the nicest place we had visited for a meal in London. Then they went off to visit the Museum of London and I went back to my second class. After class ended I met mom at Holborn and dragged her on a tour of Covent Garden. We listened to a live band play fun music in the Covent Garden plaza and explored the shops, then walked through Soho and the Seven Dials and the theatres.
We also finally hunted down some black thread in the very back dusty corner of an off-license so the rest of my buttons could be sewed later that night! When we finished our tour we got back home just in time for a yummy kosher Chinese dinner that Dad and Aliza had gone all the way to Golders Green to pick up for us. We ate all together in my kitchen and then I unpacked from Israel and we packed up Aliza.
Mom stayed and hung out in my room and sewed my stuff with the black thread we had found and then went off to pack. Aliza and I made one last trip to costcutters where we ran into my dad, also stocking up for the trip home. And I took the time to pick up a couple of cards so I could write my parents each a thank you card.
Wednesday everyone left! Just packed up there stuff, got on the Tube, rode out to Heathrow, and left me! It was devastating! I had just settled into having everyone around and they had all just become self-sufficient and able to get around London without any help from me, and then they were gone! It was ROUGH. I don't think I did anything that day. Nothing. Just went home, crawled back into bed, and read and watched TV and napped. I don't have anything to report about the next few days either. I was sad I was alone again and I had all this work I had been putting off so I worked on a paper and tried to catch up on my reading.
That Saturday night I had an excuse to be social. A friend in Sidney Webb, Gunperi, invited a bunch of people over for Turkish/Cypriot dinner in her flat. We made mojitos and she made a delicious dinner and then after some of us went out to a Cuban bar near Waterloo to go dancing. In the parking lot there was a shirtless man doing push-ups. That was never explained. Inside it was fun, but super hot and sweaty in an unpleasant way, and a bit too crowded for enthusiastic dancing. But the drinks were tasty - I loooove strawberry daquiris and the chance to drink one kind of always makes my night, and the company was fun
The place was so crowded that we left around midnight after a rousing rendition of La Bamba.
So that brings me up to Sunday of the week after my parents left, January 22. I don't remember anything particularly about that Sunday, I was just starting to get over everyone leaving me and finally getting my mind back to doing work. I had SUCH a fantastic time seeing my family and I know that missing them is the price for getting to see them, so, totally worth it. Thank you again to everyone for taking the time and spending the money to come out and visit me here. I love you guys!
And a World War I memorial.
Then since we were right there we finally had the chance to visit the Southwark Cathedral. I've never actually been inside before and you can't take pictures, but it's very pretty and they have a tribute to Shakespeare and they have some very funny obituaries/epitaphs on the walls also. We got kicked out because I was carrying a cup of coffee right as we finished up our visit and right as the organ concert started. Then we hopped on the Tube and stopped off at Kings Cross to see the 9 and 3/4 platform. This was the only thing we saw but it was still super cute
We left the library walking in the opposite direction we came in to see what exactly was the giant building next door. Turns out it was the largest hotel either of us had ever seen. Ever. Gigantic. You can only see the tiniest part of it in this picture.
The hotel was also sitting directly across from Kings Cross which is how we figured out we were had wasted a bit of time earlier on the way to the Library. We still had time to spare, so we got back on the Tube aiming for the Temple of Midas. I had stumbled across the Temple, literally stumbled across it, at 3 am, after a long night of drinking, when my friend Anna came to visit. So I remembered vaguely where it was, and that it was literally inside of a construction site, surrounded on three sides by construction walls, and that all that was left of it was some foundations in the shape of a rectangle. But we had been talking about going to see if forever and it was on the way home. We got out of the Tube station and tried to google map it. But we were walking and walking and not seeing it and circling the construction site and google maps was getting us no where. That's when I noticed the sign that said they had applied for a permit to restore the Temple. So we were SOL and the construction site had truly swallowed the Temple whole.
Slightly disappointed, and with our need for historical monuments not sated we walked down the street to the Monument. The Monument is a tall tower that commemorates the Fire of London. It is hollow inside and you can climb a stair case up to the top to a viewing point. We got there minutes before it closed. And then spent those minutes dithering about whether or not we wanted to climb it. At the very last minute we decided YES! We are going to climb this thing! And we did, all 311 steps. And we get to the top and realize that we are both terrified of heights. The Monument is much taller from the top than it seems, and it's only a couple of feet wide at the top and surrounded by a wire cage to keep people from falling off. We were really really scared. To the point where even though there was a gorgeous sunset happening on the other side neither of us cared enough to go look. Instead we posed, took a picture, and got the hell out of there.
At the bottom of the stairs they each gave us a commemorative certificate for completing the climb. We took the bus home and met up with Dad and Aliza who had spent the day shopping. Dinner was nutella and crackers in Mom and Dad's kitchen after which Mom was full of energy and just wanted to GO SEE LONDON! I was exhausted still from the trip and just could not get up the energy to make it happen. Instead, we promised to see Soho the next night and Mom came up to my room so she could help me by sewing all my buttons back on my various clothes and fixing my duvet cover and watching TV with me and Aliza.
Tuesday I was back to having class. I walked out the door with Aliza so she could meet up with our parents.
Wednesday everyone left! Just packed up there stuff, got on the Tube, rode out to Heathrow, and left me! It was devastating! I had just settled into having everyone around and they had all just become self-sufficient and able to get around London without any help from me, and then they were gone! It was ROUGH. I don't think I did anything that day. Nothing. Just went home, crawled back into bed, and read and watched TV and napped. I don't have anything to report about the next few days either. I was sad I was alone again and I had all this work I had been putting off so I worked on a paper and tried to catch up on my reading.
That Saturday night I had an excuse to be social. A friend in Sidney Webb, Gunperi, invited a bunch of people over for Turkish/Cypriot dinner in her flat. We made mojitos and she made a delicious dinner and then after some of us went out to a Cuban bar near Waterloo to go dancing. In the parking lot there was a shirtless man doing push-ups. That was never explained. Inside it was fun, but super hot and sweaty in an unpleasant way, and a bit too crowded for enthusiastic dancing. But the drinks were tasty - I loooove strawberry daquiris and the chance to drink one kind of always makes my night, and the company was fun
The place was so crowded that we left around midnight after a rousing rendition of La Bamba.
So that brings me up to Sunday of the week after my parents left, January 22. I don't remember anything particularly about that Sunday, I was just starting to get over everyone leaving me and finally getting my mind back to doing work. I had SUCH a fantastic time seeing my family and I know that missing them is the price for getting to see them, so, totally worth it. Thank you again to everyone for taking the time and spending the money to come out and visit me here. I love you guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment