Weekend in London
Went to London this past weekend to visit Alex. <3 He has been there for about 3 weeks working at the Churchill Fuller’s in Kensington while their manager is on holiday. Apparently it is one of the most photographed pubs in London because of the abundance of flowers that cover the outside of the pub, and when they are in bloom, it looks stunning. Even more amazing is inside the pub, it has a Thai Restaurant and that section is like a jungle with loads of plants and flowers. Alex was more worried about making sure all the plants were okay rather than the pub, lol.
Took the train on Saturday afternoon to Paddington, got to my hotel, then cruised down Portobello Road and checked out the market going on. Lots of stands and shops with things new and old. Found this one guy selling all sorts of spices and wanted to get something super spicy for Alex. I asked the guy, “ I need something that would kill a man,” and without even thinking twice he pulls out this little plastic bag and says “Then you want this.” It even says on the label: World’s Spiciest Powder. He said to be careful and use it in small doses, and I explained it was for my boyfriend who is always looking to make his food as hot as possible. The vendor said he has sold this stuff to other people exactly like that and they come back to him saying the stuff made them cry. Granted they probably used too much, so we’ll see how my little spice monster handles the heat. Muahahaha.
Later in the afternoon Alex got a break and we met up for drinks and dinner. It’s funny he happened to be working in this area because when I was in London in January with Kris and Will, we came to Notting Hill on a Sunday night in search of dinner but came too late and had a hard time finding anything open. So I recognized a few places as Alex and I walked around. Sunday I woke up super early, the guys staying across the hall from me were chatting up a storm at 6:30am! Got up, found a place to access Internet, then slowly made my way over to Camden Town to meet my friend Ana who lives in London.
Camden Town is another one of those places I missed out on when I was here in January, but Kris and Will had gone and said it was the highlight of the trip for them. As soon as I got there I could see why, it was like a massive Haight/Ashbury/Telegraph Avenue neighbourhood. Ana and I walked through so many stalls and shops, and everytime I thought it would end, we turned a corner and there was more! Eventually you saw the same stuff, but also new things. We did a little shopping, got Chinese from one of the food stands, and continued walking around. We were there for about 4 hours and probably didn’t even see everything, but we had our fill.
Met up with Alex in the evening and we were going to try and see what was around Paddington, but as we were on the tube, he got a call from the pub that a fuse had gone out, so we hopped off the train and raced back to the pub. Luckily the electrician who normally works for the pub was eating dinner there and sorted things out. Back out we went, had a few drinks at different pubs, got to see where Jaume and Ben used to work, then we had dinner and headed back to my hotel just in time to catch the last bit of Rome (this TV series that Alex is hooked on, and is rather good).
Monday morning I had a later start, checked out of the hotel (luckily they let me leave my bag there since I wasn’t leaving London for a while), and headed over to South Kensington to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Got there at about 10:30am and didn’t finish until 3pm. There was so much to see, and all very interesting stuff. Sculptures, figures, replicas of famous pieces of work, a fashion exhibition, Asian rooms, British History halls, etc. 80% of the pictures I took from the whole weekend were in this place. After I exhausted my eyes and mind with the museum, I went back to the hotel, grabbed my bag and walked to Churchill. Left my bag there then Alex and I headed out. We had a few hours before I had to catch my train, but we can’t really go far since he has to stay near the pub in case of an emergency, and there isn’t much to do in Notting Hill on a late Sunday afternoon. So we had a few drinks, and ended up at this place called the Hilltop (I think) and ran into one of his regulars and had a few drinks with him.
Now you would think that after having about 2 “bad” experiences with drinking Stella that I would have learned my lesson. But no. I had about 4-5 pints of it and that is usually the amount that screws me over, which it did again. :oP Not the best thing to be travelling home pissed but such is life. Luckily I made it home safe, and with a solemn vow to never drink Stella again. Evil stuff. Aside from the rocky ride home I had an awesome weekend. Got to check out more of London and see Alex. <3
Took the train on Saturday afternoon to Paddington, got to my hotel, then cruised down Portobello Road and checked out the market going on. Lots of stands and shops with things new and old. Found this one guy selling all sorts of spices and wanted to get something super spicy for Alex. I asked the guy, “ I need something that would kill a man,” and without even thinking twice he pulls out this little plastic bag and says “Then you want this.” It even says on the label: World’s Spiciest Powder. He said to be careful and use it in small doses, and I explained it was for my boyfriend who is always looking to make his food as hot as possible. The vendor said he has sold this stuff to other people exactly like that and they come back to him saying the stuff made them cry. Granted they probably used too much, so we’ll see how my little spice monster handles the heat. Muahahaha.
Later in the afternoon Alex got a break and we met up for drinks and dinner. It’s funny he happened to be working in this area because when I was in London in January with Kris and Will, we came to Notting Hill on a Sunday night in search of dinner but came too late and had a hard time finding anything open. So I recognized a few places as Alex and I walked around. Sunday I woke up super early, the guys staying across the hall from me were chatting up a storm at 6:30am! Got up, found a place to access Internet, then slowly made my way over to Camden Town to meet my friend Ana who lives in London.
Camden Town is another one of those places I missed out on when I was here in January, but Kris and Will had gone and said it was the highlight of the trip for them. As soon as I got there I could see why, it was like a massive Haight/Ashbury/Telegraph Avenue neighbourhood. Ana and I walked through so many stalls and shops, and everytime I thought it would end, we turned a corner and there was more! Eventually you saw the same stuff, but also new things. We did a little shopping, got Chinese from one of the food stands, and continued walking around. We were there for about 4 hours and probably didn’t even see everything, but we had our fill.
Met up with Alex in the evening and we were going to try and see what was around Paddington, but as we were on the tube, he got a call from the pub that a fuse had gone out, so we hopped off the train and raced back to the pub. Luckily the electrician who normally works for the pub was eating dinner there and sorted things out. Back out we went, had a few drinks at different pubs, got to see where Jaume and Ben used to work, then we had dinner and headed back to my hotel just in time to catch the last bit of Rome (this TV series that Alex is hooked on, and is rather good).
Monday morning I had a later start, checked out of the hotel (luckily they let me leave my bag there since I wasn’t leaving London for a while), and headed over to South Kensington to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Got there at about 10:30am and didn’t finish until 3pm. There was so much to see, and all very interesting stuff. Sculptures, figures, replicas of famous pieces of work, a fashion exhibition, Asian rooms, British History halls, etc. 80% of the pictures I took from the whole weekend were in this place. After I exhausted my eyes and mind with the museum, I went back to the hotel, grabbed my bag and walked to Churchill. Left my bag there then Alex and I headed out. We had a few hours before I had to catch my train, but we can’t really go far since he has to stay near the pub in case of an emergency, and there isn’t much to do in Notting Hill on a late Sunday afternoon. So we had a few drinks, and ended up at this place called the Hilltop (I think) and ran into one of his regulars and had a few drinks with him.
Now you would think that after having about 2 “bad” experiences with drinking Stella that I would have learned my lesson. But no. I had about 4-5 pints of it and that is usually the amount that screws me over, which it did again. :oP Not the best thing to be travelling home pissed but such is life. Luckily I made it home safe, and with a solemn vow to never drink Stella again. Evil stuff. Aside from the rocky ride home I had an awesome weekend. Got to check out more of London and see Alex. <3
posted by Triana @ 1:15 PM
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