Sunday, July 13, 2008

London calling!

"No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

I think Samuel Johnson has got to be right about that. We spent a fantastic day in my favorite city yesterday, and I don't think I could ever be tired of that place. I've been there quite a few times now, and there is always something new (or old, for that matter) and exciting to see. We made it to a few museums I've always wanted to visit- Victoria & Albert (my favorite was the display of fashion and trends throughout the ages!), the Museum of Natural History (dinosaurs!), and the Science Museum (space!). Then, after I drooled for awhile at the Radley handbag shop, we ate at a place in Chinatown called the Tokyo Diner (no, that's not a typo). We always seem to eat in Chinatown when we're in London, because the food tends to be more reasonably priced and have more normal (aka American-sized) portions. Tokyo Diner was no different, so definitely worth a second trip.

After dinner, we had a nice walk along the South Bank, taking in the sights and trying not to look suspicious as we walked by MI6. My inner historian is always a little overwhelmed when I think about all the Kings, Queens, prisoners, and poets who have traveled along the Thames (for very different reasons!) throughout history. I could go on, but at the risk of sounding even dorkier I will spare you. Does it sound like we have covered a lot of ground in one day? That's because Jon is a real expert at navigating London, which works out well for me because I have no sense of direction. He has the tube all figured out, which is no small feat.

The real highlight of the evening was going to Camden Town (where Amy Winehouse hangs) to see Heypenny, which happens to be the band of Jon's fellow Chattanoogan Kevin Bevil. They put on a great show- very cool, original music and all high-energy performers. I wish they had been able to play longer! I think Kevin was pretty surprised to see some fellow Americans in the crowd! We were really impressed by how they won over their British audience- it was a good sized crowd, and everyone was dancing and singing along. It was a late night, as we had to take a bus from Camden to Notting Hill (because apparently the tube stops running at 12:20 am) to catch our bus back to Oxford. We finally made it back home at about 3:30, having had to walk from the Headington bus stop home since the Oxford city buses were not running at that hour. It was a fun day/night, but we are paying for it this morning! At least we have all day today to recover. It's safe to say we are tired from London (but not of it).

Another important development in our lives is that we have a new bed! It's "King" sized (which translates to Queen sized in American) and it is fabulous. We found it on the DailyInfo, which is Oxford's version of Craigslist, and Jon went to pick it up on Friday. We've been wanting a new bed for awhile, since we're used to having the extra space (it is hard to downsize to a double bed, let me tell you) and we kept waking up in the middle of the night with elbows in our faces. We also got a new loveseat this week, replacing the horrible futon, so life is good!

Robin

1 comment:

Dean said...

Hesselfessel!
Updates?

I know, I don't update my blog enough either.