The Drink at the End of the Tunnel

Made it!  Took off at 5pm, and somehow snoozed my way through 8 hours of flying (except when the food came of course- at 630pm, and then 9am).  All together it was a 10 hour flight. Met some Kiwis on their way to a wedding in Germany, although their flight was rerouted a couple times because of the plane crash in San Fran. It was all interesting until the sleeping pill kicked in, and I passed out against the window.  

Got through customs fairly quickly before the rush, and as they saw I had a big trip planned they suggested/made sure that I did have a copy of my itinerary on me for the other countries if they wanted to check.  So, if you ever want to do the same- I'd have some sort of schedule ready! It's not the 60s anymore, and they demand an address of the sort on the customs sheet.  

Anyhow, after customs, I snagged my baggage and connected to the wifi (which only lasted 45 min free).  Mikey had gotten called into work (he works at a club called Village Underground) and wouldn't be off for another 3 hours.  So, I decided to meet him at his work and following his instructions was fairly easy- I jumped on the Heathrow Express just under the airport for £20 ($30 USD). 

My crap Hand writing (sorry dad)

Platform 2 catching the Heathrow Express

London Paddington Station

Getting onto the Hammersmith towards Liverpool (right)

Cool wall

On Great Eastern St

That took about 20ish minutes to get to London Paddington Station.  Then, I found my way just across to the UNDERGROUND, bought a single ticket for Hammersmith & City Line to get to Liverpool St Station for £4.50.  Then, sadly the wifi wouldn't connect, and I had no idea how Mikey would find me. At this point it was about 2pm. First, called my mum collect (I'm such a good daughter), then asked some girls how to get to the Village Underground.  They pointed me down Bishop St, and to turn left at the Drunken Monkey at Great Eastern.  That took about 15 minutes (with my ridiculous backpack).  Ran into another nice citizen who pointed me down Honeywell, and there it was, and there was Mikey! woooo! 10 points for me! and a free drink!  We hit up Boxcar, then Cottons for some drinks.  It was delicious. Like holy water.  Then walked back down along the street and ran into some more of his friends who were working at this sweet clothing shop called Hype- which reminds me a little bit of Grandeur... But, grabbed a couple beers from the nearest corner shop and headed towards Brick Ln.

somewhere down Bishop St

Nick messing with Mem's tables inside Hype

Art is Trash - Brick Lane

After frolicing down Brick Lane for a bit, (it's mostly coffee shops, some vinyl & clothing stores, and down the other direction is delicious-smelling Indian food)we took refuge upstairs in a cafe from the heat for a bit. Prime weather for me, but just not with a 40lb backpack.  Snuck some more beers in, and just relaxed and chatted.  Some of Mikey's other friends came and met us, and we then moved onto Vibe Bar.  Thomas, another friend who had lived in Cali came up after work which was awesome! And I left for not even 5 minutes to grab a chicken wrap from a Caribbean food stand (£5)- the guy's getting hypnotized.  It was bizarre.

Lucy & Chris

Tom getting hypnotized

Mikey making fun of Tom getting hypnotized

Thomas Ni

Chicken wrap w/ lettuce, corn & peas, tomato and red onion

Once we finished there, they accompanied me towards the station again to help find my friend Tina's flat, where I was staying.  In class all day, she was finally back and  waiting for me, at this point it was about 9pm.  So, staying in Islington, we took the Metropolitan Line and headed to King's Cross, got off there and walked about mmm 6 blocks? Grabbed her a birthday beer along the way, and ran into this random little eats/bar place called Drink, Eat & Dance.  It was small, and had these huge paper cranes and other things of that matter hanging from the ceiling... pretty neat-o, but still had to find Tina's place.  Then, ideally, as somewhat drunk as we were, we just started to yell her name into the windows we walked by.  And, lo and behold we were answered by the Birthday Girl herself! :D And sang like angels Happy Birthday to her.  Good first day, the weather is beautiful, and getting around is pretty easy.  Glad to get my feet wet here in London for the beginning of this trip.  1am now, and I'm feeling the crash about to kick in. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINA!

KL