Whistling Gypsy

Today has been rather quietly spent by comparison- mostly as I contemplate how little money I have left, and how much I blew on the opera last night, and how these facts may somehow be mysteriously related... in a way upon which I haven't yet been able to put my finger.

Today, I lay in bed until 8am, hoping that someone else would stir, but no! And most of them were in by 11pm, too... I don't understand it. Why lie in bed when there is all of London to explore... LONDON! The greatest city of earth!

Today, I wandered around Hendon in a different direction from yeserday. There's a war memorial in the middle of the road up the way a little bit- Watford Way, it's called- and to get to it you have to use a concrete underground walkway called a "subway"- which refers then neither to the Tube service NOR to the sandwich-stores which are ubiquitous (there are more around the McDo's). It's an excellent idea, but I'm nor sure that I would have felt particularly safe using it had I not been surrounded by friendly street crew... I was about to say "street workers," but this is Hendon, not Piccardilly Circus!

The memorial was really quite moving- so many men died from just this little district- and I liked that it was displayed so prominently in the centre island, surrounded by a little fenced, lawn area... London shoves history in your face everywhere you go. Back in Christchurch, we do have that very big, rather ostentatious memorial at the top end of Cashel St... primarily to be viewed by drunken ravers stumbling down the Strip, I suppose. This small memorial seemed to bring home more the fact that it was ordinary people from ordinary places who were slaughtered. A few of the weatherproof poppy wreaths had fallen face downwards, and I righted them, which earned a cheery "God bless you, love!" and a big smile from two passing old ladies. I like Londoners.

There was nothing much to photograph, apart from a gorgeous lady in a red jacket.

After that, I then spent a happy couple of hours wandering around the threatre district (Covent Garden and Leicester Square) in town again. There's lots to see- street performers, markets, people everywhere. I haven't taken many photos at all- I'm too busy taking it all in. I'll try to take some soon. There are a couple of plays that I am keen to see- one in particular that stars Jeremy Irons, which has had rave reviews from everywhere- it runs for another five weeks though so there's no particular hurry. Later that evening, after eating back at the hostel, I went out to Waterloo Station, and spent 45 minutes strolling around. It was amazing to think that I could have jumped on a train to Paris then and there, as I had my credit card and passport with me... the hostel here was paid up until the following Wednesday however so I resisted that temptation. Londoners are always in a hurry! it's fun to watch them race from platform to platform.

Waterloo Station must have had over 100 shops in it- there were even two outlets of WH Smith's, the bookseller's! It was instructive to look at book prices- even with the exchange rate being as punishing as it is, it's still cheaper to buy brand new paperbacks over here than in, say, Whitcoull's at home.

One of the things I love about London is the stack of free magazines and papers available everywhere- you are never short of reading material. From the previous night's Evening Standard to the wonderful TNT magazine ("for the independent traveller"- geared towards Aussies, NZders and South Africans) to Loot (for jobs) and NZ News (which rehashes old NZ news with a definite anti-Government slant, it seems to me)- it's all free! Thank god, because they're not kidding when they say London is a drain on the funds... I need to hurry up and get me a job if I want to stay here!

Tschus!

Erm, who is that lady in red? :P

You know, it ought to be a sin to make me miss London like you do! Wicked woman! Hmmph!

Yo! Biyotch! It's time to post again! Drag your ass into an internet cafe for an hour, wouldya? We're dying out here!

You asked me to keep you posted on my trip to Portugal/Spain/England, so here's the latest:

29 June, I leave for Portugal, and arrive on June 30.

Currently, there are tentative plans to fly to England on July 4, with plans to go to Sheffield first to visit a friend there, then back to London on July 5 and 6, and back to Portugal on July 7. I don't know how that would work for you, since my trip and Liz's trip look like they overlap.

Any side trips to Spain will happen during the remainder of my stay in Portugal.

And, yes, it's time to post again. We want to know what's up, where you've been, what you've seen.

Hallo, m'dear Kiwi. :D

Just wanted to confirm with you when we'll be there. We will be flying over on the 4th. We will immediately be going to Sheffield to meet with Melinda, a friend from FictionAddiction. On the 5th, we'll be returning to London, and will be leaving for Portugal on the 7th.

So, if you're still in London at that time, we need to agree on a meeting place. Where would be most convenient for you?

Oh, just to prevent any confusion, I'm speaking of July 4th - July 7th.

Good news! Bill Hamilton, of the Don McLean crowd (in London) has recently heard from SJ, so she's NOT DEAD!!! HOORAY!!! Now, if she'd just fucking POST already!

Heh. ~shakes head~ No kiddin'!

Um, yo! SJ! Remember what I said to you before about crawling out of your skin with excitement as you got closer and closer to your trip? I'm crawling! Five more hours and it'll be down to 23 days until I'm off to Portugal! :D

Hullo, m'dear Kiwi. Two days, and I'll be in Portugal. One week, and I'll be in England. Again, I'll be there from July 4-7. I'll be out Sheffield way from July 4-5, and in London from July 5-7.

If you'd like to meet up somewhere while I'm in London, let me know where and when, and Sara and I will meet you there.

Bom dia, minha querida Kiwi. Eu estou em Portugal agora. Onde estás tu?

Hello, m'dear Kiwi. I am in Portugal now. Where are you?

And now I'm in London at an internet café round the corner from my hotel. Drop me a quick line, eh?

Eu estou em Portugal again. Ah well. Too bad we couldn't've met. I'm off to Spain later today.

And, hey! You need to update this thing! :P Like now!

And now I'm back in the US, and have been for about 4 days. Can you at least let us know you're okay?