ideas for cheap stuff

Well it was a wonderful and random weekend of fun, chats and mayhem in London. The sun shone, heaps of dosh was spent, and lots was eaten and drunken. Sure its gotta be done! FLTD (Fee, Lids, Tee and Dee) were all tired out after celebrating SiLkEn’s victory in getting through to the next round of the Emergenza Festival at Vicar St in May, but we were up and atom for the trip to London at 07:00. We arrived to a dark, foggy, drizzly, and somewhat creepy London, and did the whole tourist bus thing. Then went to our mate Aoife and Ray’s (see New Zealand pics for more on them) for dinner and to celebrate her getting a fantastic job designing bags for an Irish based company. The future looks bright for accessories! The culinary delights on offer were unimaginably inventive and scrumptious. I’m still salivating from the taste, hmm. Fee and I stayed with our friend Nora, while Lids and Dee stayed at Aoife’s luxury apartment.
Saturday morning I ventured forth on my own to see some more of London, as the other ladies have been there before. Feel in love with the area around the British Museum, visited the Royal Albert Hall, where my mam and pops danced the Viennese Waltz representing Ireland scores of years ago, and other such wonders. There’s entirely too much to see in London, so I just got an overview of it all. Thought that was best for the first trip. Then I met the rest of the gang, and we headed down the Thames on a boat-trip to Greenwich. The river was teeming with life, the sun was shining down on us (I got to wear my Elvis sunglasses), the on-board commentary from Barry our guide was lively, spirited and enlightening. Then we reached Greenwich, and wandered through the cute suburb and market. Saw the cutest finger puppets, which I’m now sickened that I didn’t buy. They had finger puppets to tell Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Gingerbread Man, and the Ugly Duckling stories, among others. I guess I’ll just have to become more arty and make them myself, but god, the effort! Saturday night, after we met Triona, Colma and Paddy, 12 of us went for an Indian feast on Brick Lane, after a drink in a smoky pub (god I love the smoking ban!) It was one of the Dee’s top 5 dinner’s of all time, and I have to say, mine too! We had a great time discussing our first kiss, road blocks, carpets, the environment, pretty much anything under the sun! Then we did a bit of pole dancing on the street, Fee and I argued over who was funnier, and found a club with the most awful jungle music, but at least the company was exceptional! After that we went to a funky little pub for a last late night booze that had loads of hookas to smoke, and lots of Asian, after queuing twice (?!?) Then Triona, Fee and I headed back to Nora’s, where we stayed up drinking and chatting till 6am, before I sneakily slept on the edge of Nora and Frankie’s bed (I’m nothing if not cheeky, though Nora never noticed!).
We had so many plans for Sunday. In the end very few of them worked out, and the weekend was all the better for it. We went for breakfast and I’d a lovely chat over a Baileys coffee, with a BBC producer who’s heading to Egypt for a 6 month stint, before we pushed on to, possibly, my favourite market ever. It was a plant market, and the wonderful variety of colour, smells, and people, just made my head spin with wonder and joy. I love standing in the middle of places like this and just soaking it in. We sang some tunes (Daylight come and me wanna go home), bought a case of beer, met the rest of the guys from Aoife’s and wandered the market. Stipplefields has a more modern setting to any of the other markets, and we got to see Jermaine Jackson (brother to freaky Michael). If you know me well, you’ll realise I’ve a bit of a fetish for hats (though I never tend to keep them for very long with my loosing streak being like a herd of diarrhoetic camels). I saw one, instantly fell in love with its vibrancy, though I thought it wasn’t really looking so good on me, I bought it. Sat with the rest of the gang outside in the sun on the grass with our beers, and after a few compliments from my mates, and Nora labeling my hat magical, a photographer for French magazines came over and asked if she could take my picture as a trendy Londoner! I emphasise trendy as its never been a word I’ve heard ever associated with me, so obviously my ego grew to gigantic proportions, and now I can’t stop mentioning it. He he… So needless to say, but the rest of the day revolved around the sun, laughter, the amazing road to Belfast, and massive good times. Ate some beautiful swordfish for dinner, nearly died of the heat from a chilli I ate, had a last beer in some alternative bars around Covent Garden, and headed home on the last tube.
Monday was pretty much a day of travelling. I couldn’t cope with the heat on the Tube, but I was so happy I got to see something of the Tate Modern. Twas only Lids and I that headed to the Tate, the others decided to do some shopping on Oxford St, and got some lovely pieces. I’d pretty much run outta money by then. We got to the airport early enough for our flight, and then had to peg it for the plane when we heard an announcement that the gate was closing. Jaysus, my chest still kinda hurts! Too funny.
My overall impression of London is that its a gorgeous place to visit, and exciting to explore, there’s no end to the cultural entertainment I’d get there, but I couldn’t live there myself. It was all too rushed, and though I met lovely locals, I couldn’t cope with the rudeness of a few, and I could see myself getting very lost and lonely there. Though that’s not to say it wouldn’t be for others, I just know it wouldn’t be for me. I’d definitely go back though. Could’ve done with another few days. High times in London baby!