Another excuse to move to London, for starters, (and islington to be specific), is because I know two and a half people. The two being Alex and Xan (who will be looking for a new apartment around the time I plan on moving here!! How convenient if I can convince her to live with me!) and the half being the Irish-London guy who I may or may not have ended up spending too many hours with while I was in England, despite the fact that yes, it was a bad idea.
SO, London. I stayed at Alex's in Acton with Tiana. He has SUCH an amazing house with a wonderful garden which made me realize that my standard of living includes a window in my bedroom, and a back garden. Am I asking for too much?
(The back garden!)While Tiana was here we ate fabulous food, went to Hempstead Heath park (near where I want to live because it is the prettiest park everrrrr with un-mowed grass that gives it that non-urban feel), and went to the Notting Hill Carnival.
It is London's answer to the West Indian parade only about a thousand times better. Lots of good food and good music and people dressed up in costume...and lots of drinking in the streets. What is a good parade, exactly, without lots of legal drinking in the streets? It makes for some seriously entertaining people-watching.
Here I am doing cartwheels in the grass at Hempstead Heath. Yay!After Tiana left I ended up staying with Alex for the rest of the time, which was fun. Alex had to work though, so I spent a lot of time sight-seeing on my own and doing typical London things. I spent most of Monday and part of Tuesday with Eamonn, and we had a total blast, which is a shame considering he sucks, remember? ha. But anyway, we went to the British Museum (Cleopatra is there, and so is the Rosetta Stone...so cool, though really it's just a museum of stolen stuff that doesn't actually belong to the British) and to the Tate Modern. We also walked around pretty much the whole city, which has it's redeeming qualities (cobble stone streets, picturesque architecture) to be sure. I also got my dance on that night, and I can tell you that London definitely knows how to party, in a way that Dublin certainly does not.
(Look. Big Ben!)Tuesday I went to a meeting/interview (they can't OFFICIALLY interview me because I don't have a visa yet) with a teacher recruitment agency and they answered all of my 1 billion questions about teaching in England. It made me feel much more secure and actually excited about the prospect of being in England for a while. I hadn't actually slept before the meeting, so I completely missed a day of sight-seeing because I was too tired. Alex and I did watch "When Harry Met Sally" because I was the only American on Earth who had never seen it before. It's one of those always quoted movies that I just had to smile and nod about and pretend I knew what everyone was talking about.
Yesterday was my final day of sightseeing and I went to the London Eye and got great (cloudy!) views of the city.
(London Eye)I also went into Westminster Abbey. I love cathedrals and churches and stained glass and history. Lots of awesome people are buried there, too. (Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth!!)
Anyway, I'm back in Malahide now ready to begin my last month as a jobless foreigner. I've got to head up the apples and pears because I'm feeling a bit pony after my lack of sleep holiday.
Love, Sarah
PS: I just had to throw that last line in there. I learned some cockney rhyming slang when I was in London and it is the best secret/not so secret language I have ever encountered. (Apples and Pears=Stairs, Pony and Trap=Crap, Trouble and Strife=Wife, and so on.)
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