Thanks to Tamara and Jelena for commenting on my previous post!
Day 14: Thursday 14/02/2008. Happy Valentine's Day! I had a very lazy day at Hayley & Shane's apartment, followed by a relaxing dinner with them and their friends Julia and Simon.
Day 15: Friday 15/02/2008. This was my first day of London weather that lived up to its reputation. Sullen, grey, cold, unwelcoming.
The day started with a scheduled detour to Hammersmith for Hayley. Apparently, you register yourself to one doctor's surgery over here and you can't use any other. Hammersmith, a 40+ minute drive from Earlsfield, is near to where Hayley & Shane used to live. It's also close to Notting Hill but, with the day focused on Madame Tussauds, we were never going to make it that far.
After freezing my face off in the bitter cold wind, Hayley & I stumbled upon a Starbucks, where I firmly planted myself to await her return. Smooth jazz and hot chocolate in a warm cafe. Perfection.
What I noticed, sitting in that cafe, is that people stare. It's not like Central London where everyone is head down, all frown. The people here are inquisitive but it's searching, leech-like.
On Hayley's return, we caught the tube to Baker Street Station and I was almost immediately greeted by the bronzed figure of Sherlock Holmes. Hayley condescended to take a picture of me with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character; I couldn't quite convince her to journey to 221b.
A paparazzi attack on the red carpet marked the start of our visit to Madame Tussauds. Further down the red carpet, we were greeted by big name stars. Many of them were recognisable but didn't look quite right. Some of the more realistic likenesses included Nicole Kidman [I made Hayley take my picture with Nic], Samuel L. Jackson, Humphrey Bogart, Alfred Hitchcock and Kylie. I was going to try to pass of my pictures with Richard Branson and Nelson Mandela as the real deal...
We looked only at the serial killer section of the Chamber of Horrors - the screams put me off the live show. The whirlwind cab drive through London's history was good; the 'Wonderful World of Stars' IMAX-styled theatre show was not.
Over all, and I know I've said this a number of times before, I am glad I have seen but I wasn't dazzled by the display. I think I had built it up too high in my expectations over the years.
Hayley & I lunched at Souk, a Moroccan restaurant in Covent Garden that was incredibly delicious and authentic. At £20 each, it was worth every penny. If you happen to make it to Souk, please try the pita & hommous, the fresh mint tea (which isn't what you expect) and baklava.
Within the Seven Dials of Covent Garden, there is a fabulous little courtyard called 'Neal's Yard'. Hayley and I really enjoyed it there, with our £10 manicure, £9.75 10-minute massage and natural remedies store [I highly recommend the lip balm - at £5, it's pricy, but it's darn good].
We ate an ok dinner at Fuel. Our amazing lunch would have been hard to follow at any venue, however the onion soup was ordinary and beef-stocky; the pizza was too salty and lacking in other flavour. The garlic pizza was yummy but dry. On the bright side, alcoholic beverages seem to be reasonably priced. Shame I couldn't drink...
I finally fitted in my London cab ride - between Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush, when we picked up Hayley's car at the end of the night. Then we headed home and to sleep. Yay :)
Day 16: Saturday 16/02/2008. Of course, I left it until absolute last minute to post clothes home so that's how I started my day [well, after breakfast, cleaning, washing]. I was super-shocked when the guy in Post Office told me that 2.5kg of fabric would cost me nearly £50 (+ packaging) - to send via surface mail. Apparently there is a 2kg limit for cheap postage of surface mail (6 weeks to delivery).
When I reached the overland, I was greeted by a group of giggling teenagers - who were celebrating a hen's day. That freaked me out a bit.
My big adventure for the day was finding Dr Samuel Johnson's house, which is not nearly as simple as the guidebooks would have you believe. Dr Johnson wrote the first universally-accepted English dictionary (Johnson's Dictionary) that went further than lists of synonyms. In fact, he included quotes as well as etymologies and some very amusing words and definitions. Examples: fopdoodle (meaning "idiot") and fribbler ("one who professes rapture for the woman, and dreads her consent"). I will try to use fopdoodle in a sentence each day this week.
Dr Johnson was a distinguished man of letters before he commenced the dictionary. I was also intrigued to find out that his best friend had a thing for prostitutes and constantly battled VD, while he may have had a touch of OCD.
In my explorations, I also discovered the meaning of 'amenuenses' - in reference to Dr Johnson's six helpers over the nine years it took to compile the dictionary [guessably, it means clerks or assistants]. I am still at a loss as to why a guidebook, designed for foreign visitors, would include such a broad and obscure vocabulary.
On leaving the house, and suffering from hunger and the biting chill in the air, I was tempted to eat in the inviting warmth of the nearby McDonald's - then I noticed the portliness of its patrons and talked myself out of it. I don't need to look nine months pregnant prematurely.
So I caught the train to Oxford Circus, where I came across a manic street preacher (literally) and sandwiched @ EAT (at the bottom of Top Shop, followed by a snail-shaped danish and a hot chocolate at the Apostrophe boulangerie & patisserie. The hot choc was more like a rich chocolate yogo than a drink; I had to eat it with a spoon! [Donald, I did find Abeno Too near Leicester Square - too late for lunch. I will make sure that Hayley & Shane have the details so that I can dine vicariously through them.]
I ended my day with a last look at the shops [when is Marks & Spencer coming to Perth?] and commenced the three-train journey home. This trip was mildly eventful, with mice playing together on the train tracks at Covent Garden Station, a twentysomething prat reunion next to the train at Leicester Square Station, and an impromptu choral performance (in harmony) on the escalators leading up to Waterloo. Seriously. And they were good!
Hayley took me out to dinner at a Fulham pub (in)aptly named The Temperance. The meal was hearty, seemed very English to me, and cost us less than £15 each. [Thanks for taking me out, Hayley!]
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It's now 17/02, Day 17 of my trip, hours away from my next long-haul flight. Icky la la.
I will miss Hayley & Shane, who have looked after me so well over the last two-and-a-bit weeks. Though I am looking forward to my next big adventure in Chile, I'm getting increasingly homesick...
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