I'm tired, but I'm very, very happy. My first holiday of 2013 was exactly what I needed, a good friend, lots of good food and a vast amount of interesting things to do and see. And many G&T's, sakes, coffees and belly laughs.
Sunday:
Got to London about 2pm after a long but relaxed train journey. I had some cartoonishly Glaswegian psychopaths sitting in front of me, which kept me entertained and slightly terrified the whole way. Best exchange between them went something like:
Psycho 1: "What did you get done for?"
Psycho 2: "Attempted murder"
P1: "So you tried to kill someone, but fucked it up?"
P2. "Pretty much, aye".
Fortunately, I survived to meet Jess at Oxford Circus, wipe my train ticket with my phone case and find the hostel by about 3pm.
When my dad said that the YHA St Paul's was near St Paul's Cathedral, I thought he meant a few streets away. I did not expect to be able to see the green triangle from the steps of the cathedral!
This is what you see from the steps, all painted plaster work and Latin phrases. Inside it's much like most YHA hostels, clean, smelling slightly of bacon and making ingenious use of space. The beds were triple-decker bunks, but the middle bunk was at right angles (orthogonal, if you will) to the top and bottom, and it was kind of like a ship's bunk, with handy little cubby-holes you could secure stuff in.
Neither of us had eaten, so after a brief walk round the cathedral, we made use of the first of many vouchers (thanks, Voucher Cloud!) to get a leisurely lunch/dinner combo (linner, obviously) at Pizza Express then popped back to the hostel for G&T (lemon slices were provided after ingenious use of a Starbucks card) before walking to Blackfriars pub, another of dad's recommendations.
It's a beautiful, if slightly OTT pub a stone's throw from the river. It's easily identifiable thanks to the big, fat friar above the door, wearing a black habit and looking jolly. Inside there are beaten copper (?) tableaux of the various monkly duties all around the walls, which mostly seem to revolve around food and drink. It's a lovely, lovely pub with a friendly barman from Edinburgh who was happy to recommend some nice rums and enjoy a bit of patter.
The only downside of the hostel is that earplugs are VERY necessary. The clock chimes every quarter-hour and it is both loud and close. BONG BONG BONG, indeed. Poor Jess didn't have any, and one of mine fell out part-way though the night, so I had to sleep on one side and one side only for the sound to be blocked out. The alcohol sloshing through our bloodstreams helped though, and meant that we were able to start early on....
Monday:
Monday isn't the best day to be a tourist in London. A lot of the madder museums are closed until Tuesday, so you have to do the main touristy things, which for us was no bad thing. The Hollywood Costumes at the V&A was something I'd seen and thought was quite exciting, mostly because of the Indiana Jones costume on the poster. Fortunately Jess was very up for going, so we spent an hour wandering the V&A before heading into the exhibition.
After the V&A, we headed to Old St. Pancras churchyard where proto-feminist and author Mary Wollstonecraft's grave used to be (it was moved in 1851 to Bournemouth) and where her daughter, also Mary, was wooed by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
A lot of the graves were moved to allow for the railways, and apparently this was organised by none other than Thomas Hardy. The stones remain, and are arranged round a tree in the yard.
We had another linner in Leon, and then headed to the hostel before going to Camden (only briefly in the wrong direction) to meet Hiren and his housemate for a few drinks and a rant about the state of teaching today.
Tuesday:
London, for all its vast size, is a very nice city to walk around. Especially along the river, where you can play Spot the Landmark with no trouble at all.
The weather was cloudy and overcast for much of it, but not rainy or cold and there were some lovely moments when the sun broke through and it all felt very spring-like.
This was the best taxi ever, the ENTIRE cab was covered in advertising for the greatest tea-time treat in the world.
We wandered along to Lincoln's Inn Fields to the Hunterian Museum. It was a mini-pilgrimage for Dr. Johnson, as it holds the history of modern surgery within the Royal College of Surgeons. I've been before, but I will never cease to be amazed by the sheer innovation and dedication that went into designing some of the equipment that used to be used, and is still used in life-saving surgery.
Conveniently, Sir John Soane's house is directly opposite across the square, and it's also free. It is the maddest museum I've been into, and was a real insight into his mind. Parts of it were pretty standard for a well-to-do house of the time, the rest of it? Mad. Utter bonkers. It was like walking into a cross between an architects source-book and a museum store-room. He made a pretend monastery in his back yard, complete with a grave, that is actually a memorial to his wife's lap-dog, Fanny. He has a mini-altar in the basement and chunks of Greek, Egyptian and Roman statuary all over the shop. It's amazing, and I could happily go back and notice a whole shower of things I didn't spot this time.
After all of this drama, it was time for some fresh air, and then some lunch. We went to the Seven Stars Inn at Jess's sister's recommendation and it was wonderful. It comes complete with a cat in a ruff, who is happy to tolerate petting from adoring strangers, and they do wonderful food. It was very "Green Welly" as Jess put it, as she tucked into her pheasant stew (having been warned about bones and shot. Lawyers do go there for lunch, so you can't be too careful...).
We did a lot of wandering after lunch (my linguini was swimming in butter, so it was much-needed) and went to Fortnum and Mason and Harrods to look at £1000 kittens and the Egyptian Escalator.
After that, we were in dire need of an actual meal. We'd eaten lunch at a sensible time, so got the tube back to the hostel, wiped the dust of the street from our faces and walked all of 15 seconds to Yo! Sushi for my first ever experience of food on a conveyor belt.
Well.
Well, now.
It was FANTASTIC. Seriously, seriously fantastic. It was fun, it was social. The food was fresh and tasty, and if you see anything you wanted on the belt, you could ask the helpful chef who would make you something to order. The food comes on colour-coded plates and varies in price from £1.50 to £4, depending on the colour. There is rice, noodles, edamame beans, crispy tofu, sushi and all sorts of other tasty morsels. Even puddings go whirling round the room, waiting for you to snatch them up.
This stack of plates cost us £28 (between the two of us!) thanks to a voucher Jess had. We polished off 500ml of sake and 12 dishes and had a fantastically helpful, and dishy, Spanish waiter who was on hand to answer all sorts of silly questions.
I got home today feeling happier and more relaxed than I have in ages. I've still got a fair few days off to enjoy before I go back to work, and I'm already planning all sorts of fun things, from early-morning walks to curry tapas. I've also got a new workout to do on the ol' Zombies, Run! app and I'm looking forward to that tomorrow.
Phew!
Maybe next time I'll manage to get August's trip to Warsaw written up, stranger things have happened!
Sunday:
Got to London about 2pm after a long but relaxed train journey. I had some cartoonishly Glaswegian psychopaths sitting in front of me, which kept me entertained and slightly terrified the whole way. Best exchange between them went something like:
Psycho 1: "What did you get done for?"
Psycho 2: "Attempted murder"
P1: "So you tried to kill someone, but fucked it up?"
P2. "Pretty much, aye".
Fortunately, I survived to meet Jess at Oxford Circus, wipe my train ticket with my phone case and find the hostel by about 3pm.
When my dad said that the YHA St Paul's was near St Paul's Cathedral, I thought he meant a few streets away. I did not expect to be able to see the green triangle from the steps of the cathedral!
This is what you see from the steps, all painted plaster work and Latin phrases. Inside it's much like most YHA hostels, clean, smelling slightly of bacon and making ingenious use of space. The beds were triple-decker bunks, but the middle bunk was at right angles (orthogonal, if you will) to the top and bottom, and it was kind of like a ship's bunk, with handy little cubby-holes you could secure stuff in.
Neither of us had eaten, so after a brief walk round the cathedral, we made use of the first of many vouchers (thanks, Voucher Cloud!) to get a leisurely lunch/dinner combo (linner, obviously) at Pizza Express then popped back to the hostel for G&T (lemon slices were provided after ingenious use of a Starbucks card) before walking to Blackfriars pub, another of dad's recommendations.
It's a beautiful, if slightly OTT pub a stone's throw from the river. It's easily identifiable thanks to the big, fat friar above the door, wearing a black habit and looking jolly. Inside there are beaten copper (?) tableaux of the various monkly duties all around the walls, which mostly seem to revolve around food and drink. It's a lovely, lovely pub with a friendly barman from Edinburgh who was happy to recommend some nice rums and enjoy a bit of patter.
The only downside of the hostel is that earplugs are VERY necessary. The clock chimes every quarter-hour and it is both loud and close. BONG BONG BONG, indeed. Poor Jess didn't have any, and one of mine fell out part-way though the night, so I had to sleep on one side and one side only for the sound to be blocked out. The alcohol sloshing through our bloodstreams helped though, and meant that we were able to start early on....
Monday:
Monday isn't the best day to be a tourist in London. A lot of the madder museums are closed until Tuesday, so you have to do the main touristy things, which for us was no bad thing. The Hollywood Costumes at the V&A was something I'd seen and thought was quite exciting, mostly because of the Indiana Jones costume on the poster. Fortunately Jess was very up for going, so we spent an hour wandering the V&A before heading into the exhibition.
The V&A is a fabulous museum. It's kind of a catch-all for the things that don't really go into the British, Science or Natural History museums. It's beautiful, and the building is worth looking at in its own right. However, the things on display are really quite wonderful, and include things like medieval shop fronts.
Stair cases...
Horse rings (with bonus monster faces)...
Doors featuring the giants of science and engineering...
Ponds that you can paddle in (though LUUCC would probably struggle, given the rules on clothing...)
Scones which are crumbly and delicious...
Gorgeous tea-trays...
And the Cast Courts, possibly the most incredibly varied gallery I have ever been in. It is literally a collection of copies of some of the most beautiful building fronts, monuments and ancient stonework that couldn't be shipped into the museum. Trajan's Column (the original I've seen in Rome) is in two bits in the middle, there's the entrance to the Church of Santiago di Compostela, Celtic knotwork and beautiful medieval tombs featuring brave knights and pious queens. It's glorious, and well worth a quiet half and hour spent in there.
The Hollywood Costume exhibit was fabulous, apart from the most disorganised fire drill about 10 minutes after we went in (Seriously, V&A, sort it out. You need loud sirens, lights that turn on and more emphatic staff. This was a shambles, with tourists not leaving, not knowing they needed to leave and staff who had no clue what was happening.) Now, I'm going to write about the exhibition, so if you intend to go and don't want spoilers, don't read between the Indiana Joneses.
Anyway, as you enter the exhibition you're greeted with a giant screen with some of the moments from the iconic films you're about to see the costumes from. There's sweeping music and the walls are all painted black like a darkened cinema screen. At the back of the screen there's a quick introduction to the costumes, with some classic old costumes (Gone with the Wind) next to newer ones (Dreamgirls). There are clever moving displays with the scenes associated with the costumes and some information about the films. The costumes are lit in turn and your focus moves without you really realising it.
There are a few different sections throughout the room with information about the art of the costume designer, from the concepts to the character to the realisation of the costume. It's also got some funny little asides about how they manage to make the costumes look right for the actors. For example, Indy's hat was made with a taller crown and raised brim to both accommodate Ford's long face and allow the camera to capture his face. It was also sat on to make it look a bit worn and battered.
There's a whole section devoted to huge dresses too, from Cate Blanchette's sumptuous orange gown from Elizabeth I: The Golden Age to Kirsten Dunst's flouncy blue dress (complete with a boat in the wig!) from Marie Antoinette.
As you carry on through, there are some lovely interviews with the actors, costume designers and directors all filmed and on show next to the costumes, like Sweeney Todd. The displays are fantastically multi-media and use projectors to create "books" on the tables that show the story of the designs themselves.
There are yet more costumes, which show the attention to detail that went into some of the costumes for films dating right from the 20's to the age of digital and computer graphics. Both Jess and I were particularly taken with one gloriously red sequinned number that was only ever seen in black and white!
The grouping is brilliant, there are costumes that were all worn by the same actress and actor, but in different films, so we have Meryl Streep's jumpsuit from Mamma Mia! and her cape and dress from the French Lieutenant's Woman. There's also De Niro's costume (shorts and a dressing gown) from Raging Bull and beautifully battered-looking coachman's coat from Frankenstein. Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless also show off the design skills of the sci-fi costume designer, apparently Darth's cloak came from a monk's costume that was kicking about in the medieval costumes section!
The third room is essentially just packed full of iconic costumes. Han Solo rubs shoulders with Bond (men with guns), Rose (Titanic) and Satine (Moulin Rouge) show off their finery and erm, Borat and Elle Woods (Legally Blond) wear suits.
The last two outfits are both the most understated, and arguably some of the most recognisable to everyone. Dorothy Gale and The Girl (The Seven Year Itch) stand together by the exit. The very simple, almost dowdy gingham contrasts nicely with the surprisingly complicated white dress that stood over that subway grate.
You come out of the exhibition feeling like you've seen old friends, and being able to take in the details of the costume makes you look at the differently and you really do appreciate the amount of effort that goes into something that may only be seen on screen for a few seconds, if at all. It's a brilliant way to spend a couple of hours and I would very much recommend it.
So here's Indy, and we'll get back to our regularly scheduled programming of waffling about touristy things...
A lot of the graves were moved to allow for the railways, and apparently this was organised by none other than Thomas Hardy. The stones remain, and are arranged round a tree in the yard.
We had another linner in Leon, and then headed to the hostel before going to Camden (only briefly in the wrong direction) to meet Hiren and his housemate for a few drinks and a rant about the state of teaching today.
Tuesday:
London, for all its vast size, is a very nice city to walk around. Especially along the river, where you can play Spot the Landmark with no trouble at all.
The weather was cloudy and overcast for much of it, but not rainy or cold and there were some lovely moments when the sun broke through and it all felt very spring-like.
This was the best taxi ever, the ENTIRE cab was covered in advertising for the greatest tea-time treat in the world.
We wandered along to Lincoln's Inn Fields to the Hunterian Museum. It was a mini-pilgrimage for Dr. Johnson, as it holds the history of modern surgery within the Royal College of Surgeons. I've been before, but I will never cease to be amazed by the sheer innovation and dedication that went into designing some of the equipment that used to be used, and is still used in life-saving surgery.
Conveniently, Sir John Soane's house is directly opposite across the square, and it's also free. It is the maddest museum I've been into, and was a real insight into his mind. Parts of it were pretty standard for a well-to-do house of the time, the rest of it? Mad. Utter bonkers. It was like walking into a cross between an architects source-book and a museum store-room. He made a pretend monastery in his back yard, complete with a grave, that is actually a memorial to his wife's lap-dog, Fanny. He has a mini-altar in the basement and chunks of Greek, Egyptian and Roman statuary all over the shop. It's amazing, and I could happily go back and notice a whole shower of things I didn't spot this time.
After all of this drama, it was time for some fresh air, and then some lunch. We went to the Seven Stars Inn at Jess's sister's recommendation and it was wonderful. It comes complete with a cat in a ruff, who is happy to tolerate petting from adoring strangers, and they do wonderful food. It was very "Green Welly" as Jess put it, as she tucked into her pheasant stew (having been warned about bones and shot. Lawyers do go there for lunch, so you can't be too careful...).
We did a lot of wandering after lunch (my linguini was swimming in butter, so it was much-needed) and went to Fortnum and Mason and Harrods to look at £1000 kittens and the Egyptian Escalator.
After that, we were in dire need of an actual meal. We'd eaten lunch at a sensible time, so got the tube back to the hostel, wiped the dust of the street from our faces and walked all of 15 seconds to Yo! Sushi for my first ever experience of food on a conveyor belt.
Well.
Well, now.
It was FANTASTIC. Seriously, seriously fantastic. It was fun, it was social. The food was fresh and tasty, and if you see anything you wanted on the belt, you could ask the helpful chef who would make you something to order. The food comes on colour-coded plates and varies in price from £1.50 to £4, depending on the colour. There is rice, noodles, edamame beans, crispy tofu, sushi and all sorts of other tasty morsels. Even puddings go whirling round the room, waiting for you to snatch them up.
This stack of plates cost us £28 (between the two of us!) thanks to a voucher Jess had. We polished off 500ml of sake and 12 dishes and had a fantastically helpful, and dishy, Spanish waiter who was on hand to answer all sorts of silly questions.
I got home today feeling happier and more relaxed than I have in ages. I've still got a fair few days off to enjoy before I go back to work, and I'm already planning all sorts of fun things, from early-morning walks to curry tapas. I've also got a new workout to do on the ol' Zombies, Run! app and I'm looking forward to that tomorrow.
Phew!
Maybe next time I'll manage to get August's trip to Warsaw written up, stranger things have happened!
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