So, last week I went to London, and I promised you a write up, not that any of you actually asked, and here it is.
It was my Birthday in May and my godmother decided to get me tickets to the BBC proms, the concert happening on Wednesday. It was great. I had some difficulty with the trains, I always do, but it was empty enough and I managed to find one wi-fi point at Paddington that was free, no idea which, so I could check my emails.
London last week was hot. It’s always meant to be about 3 degrees warmer in the city than the countryside but good god, people in London must be boiling in their skins! I was lucky I was going during the week because the traffic that week was fairly light, as light as it gets in London, so I didn’t have to spend too long in a taxi, and I didn’t go on the underground on wednesday either. The reason was that the Bakerloo line appears to be run by monkeys, and all the trains were late and crowded, but it would have been punishingly humid down there.
It’s times like this I wish I had a camera. This blog is going to be a little dry without them, but I don’t have one, although I am saving for one.
I had dinner at the restaurant at the Royal Albert Hall, with champagne no less, which was great, there is a great atmosphere down there. The concert itself was two pieces of Mendelson and one of Brahms, the former was at one point banned by the Nazi party, so it couldn’t be all bad. Indeed, the second movement of the second piece was utterly fantastic, although the Brahms was, well, like Brahms, slow, meandering and never reaching any suitable climax. Also, during the Brahms there was a pianist who, it was quite clear, gained orgasmic pleasure from playing. Seriously, I half expected him to suddenly moan, and stop playing, and everyone look at him “Er… Peter, we’ve got two movements left to do…” and he reply “Oh, I’m sorry honey, wasn’t it good for you?” It was disturbing watching him play.
Seriously.
I stayed the night at my godmothers in Laytonstone where, over some drinks, I explained my plans to simply go home the next day to my godfather. He said this was far too boring and thrust £40 into my hand to go do something fun. This I did.
I headed down to Southwalk, near the Houses of Parlaiment, with the intention of going on the London Eye. It is recomended that you book in advance for this, but if you get there early enough you can get tickets before it gets too full. Sadly, it seems 10:20AM is not early enough, as the crowds there were suffocating, so instead I went to the London Aquarium, an attraction I have been going to since I was about 6. Great fun as usual, I will never get bored of watching fish swim. After this I went to the Salvidor Dali exhibition next door, which really fired up my artistic vigour, it was a great experience. I have never been a fan of modern art, but Salvidor Dali is something else entirely. With him you know that if it looks like it was drawn by a 5 year old, its because he wants it to look that way, every brush stroke is original, every idea concentrated to its purist form. One thing that kept springing out to me, and getting its hooks in my brain was the idea that Reality, while a great place to live, was optional, and whenever you like you can jump into the surreal, the non-existant, the bizarre.
I like that idea.
I journeyed down the Thames in search of something to eat and found some delightful entertainers including a rather impressive Cpt. Jack Sparrow impersonator. He couldn’t quite get the voice right, but everything else was there, it was pretty impressive. There was a vast open air bookshop, which I looked through, although there was nothing much interesting to buy, many buskers were down that boulevarde as well. There was however a stage and live music sponsered by the theatre there, which was quite entertaining, although a bit bland by my standards, having been spoilt by many indie rock bands.
And that was pretty much it, I wondered over to St. Pauls, just to check it’s still there, wondered over to the houses of Parliament, and then back to Waterloo station, taking me back to Paddington and from there, home.
And that’s the tale of what happened when Crusader went to London. I intend to go to London again at least once more this summer, so you might get another update.
Although I intend that one to have pictures.
Speaking of pictures….
My birthday, as I said ealier, was in May, and my Dad completely surprised me by making a Jayden and Crusader cake. Yes, you heard me. A Jayden and Crusader cake.
Needless to say, it was awesome, and I have some pictures of it for you here. Well, a picture really, I have two, but they’re the same thing
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