Sleeping in and Staying out

I have never been one to sleep in late. I enjoy my sleep, but especially this summer and while at school, I always woke myself up to go to work, work out, class of course – the usual list of to dos keeps me going at a non-stop pace. While this weekend was a long weekend of sleeping in late, self guided walking tours in the afternoon, staying out late, and then sleeping some more, which was refreshing, exciting and revitalizing.

 

Saturday morning, after sleeping in of course and recovering from our late night at the theater, and then staying up until 2 am to blog about it, we got up and laid in bed posting pictures on our computer, going online to catch up with things back home (I hear that gas is really high due to Hurricane Ike – from my experience, anything named Ike tends to have a craze worthy impact J good luck with that friends – and while you are spending a fortune filling up, think of me in London spending about the same just to eat a freakin’ muffin.

 

After having a lazy morning, Laura, Andrea and I (the three musketeers of the weekend) headed back out to Trafalgar Square to check out the London Peace Week concert we had heard about while sight seeing the day before. We popped up from the tube right in the prime location, and stood and listened to a man who looked exactly like Lenny Kravitz (my spelling for that is awful, I’m sure) sing some original songs. It was really cool to see so many different people gathered together in the square. But, when you don’t know the performer it can soon get tired. So we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head toward Kensington to see the beautiful King Albert Memorial situated in the heart of Hyde Park.

 

On our way there (of course we accidentally took the longest route possible after getting turned around by the map - but it is okay, all this walking is keeping the bangers and mash from appearing on my backside) we stopped into the Victoria and Albert museum, which has an amazing exhibit on fashion. We walked around winding aisles of clothes from many different eras and locations from around the world. Everything was so exquisite. The center point of this particular area had a temporary exhibit set up in honor of the Supremes – their legendary story and of course, their even more legendary fashion. But, you have to buy tickets and since I just know my mom will love this, I plan to take them back to see it when she comes (in just two weeks!)

 

Then we finally made it to King Albert’s Memorial in Hyde Park and sat in the beautiful sunny weather and watched the sun start to set on the golden details of the beautiful monument. The history behind that landmark is that Queen Victoria, completely distraught at the death of her husband Albert, was so beside herself that in an attempt to purge her grief, she decided to create this enormous monument in his honor. It is really quite incredible and is a testament to how truly in love they must have been. Either that, or she had some money and gold lying around her castle, was a little bored without a King to keep under control and thought, why the hell not – I have a big park, might as well stick something pretty in it. Either way, I am glad she did.

 

After taking pictures and enjoying just sitting on the steps of the monument, which over looks the Albert Concert Hall and is surrounded by the beautiful greenery and afternoon activity of the park, we took out our trusty map and decided to walk about a mile along Hyde Park to the closest tube stop to go back to Embankment. The area was also having a major festival celebrating the end of the summer, which we wanted to check out.

 

When we got off the tube and walked across the foot bridge to get over the beautiful Thames River (and of course, stopped traffic to take a picture – we are shameless tourists J ) we saw tons of people culminating around a market of tables and tents surrounding this area of restaurants and theaters. There was techno music blasting and tons of people dancing underneath the pier in hordes. We usually would jump right in, but we were starving starving starving from our long day of walking, so we headed to  Giraffe – a delicious restaurant that had standard American food. We each got burgers, my first one since being here, and it was SO GOOD. It also came with these potato wedges that were seasoned deliciously and were so worth going back for. Another highlight was that our waiter had specially served out of his section because he wanted to be the one to get “three beautiful Americans” their dinner. I am telling you being American here adds a certain flair to everyday events, like eating J.

 

The minute the sun sets in London it goes from warm short-sleeved weather, to a bitter cold, so we headed back to the flats to change and get ready for the evening. After quickly booking our flight from Naples back to London for our fall break trip in Italy, we got dolled up and headed out for another night in Oxford Circus.

 

Some select highlights from the evening (I have since learned from my parents that adding some of the more “fun” details in my blog is probably not always the BEST idea…. Jose didn’t go over so well with my father J ) we went back to O’Neil’s, that great Irish pub, and met these two darling English girls Charlotte and Sherine who were both 19 (like me!) and loved America. We talked for about an hour and were gushing over how fun our new English friends were.

 

Then we headed back to Red Club, where they now know us by name, give us priority reserved seating and gave us a round of expensive drinks ON THE HOUSE (I got a drink called a Strawberry Cheesecake and it had actual cookie crumbles on the top – amazing… AND FREE… which is so the best part). Then we tried to get into this club across the street but upon getting upstairs and being asked to pay a 20 pound cover, we declined and left the sketchy high roller club (that actually searched us on the way in). So instead, we went back to The Kingley Club, another elite club we have been trying to get into the past couple of nights out. We finally made good enough friends with the doormen and were persistent that tonight was the night they let us in. It was really cool downstairs, all the walls were lined with aquariums and it was narrow and crowded, but clearly posh and elite. The bar tenders were like the girls out of coyote ugly – no they did not dance on the bar, but you could tell they were hard core perusing with the business men as they gave out drinks. It was really fun to be down there and watch, but even more fun that some rich forty year old bought us all a 145 pound bottle of champagne – no catch, just here is some champagne for being lovely American girls. I swear, we just sit there and men flock to us and buy us drinks. I spent 4 pounds of my own money the whole night – it was a FABULOUS evening – but no dancing, which made me and Laura a little sad.

 

Now that I re-read this, that is actually the whole scoop of the night, but come on - the details are the fun part J and I am a smart and responsible girl who takes the bus home – but as they say, When in Rome! (or London as the case may be J

 

We woke up at 10 am this morning after only a few hours of sleep, but we had a bunch of travel plans to get done with our last remaining internet minutes (we get 1000 a week and it resets at 12pm) So, we booked a weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland on October 10 – 12 through Anglo-American. They set up everything for us – train, tours, hotels and breakfast, which is amazing! We just pay and go, and it is a very reasonable price. We are going to do the same type of deal at the end of November for Paris, and then we are planning one more weekend in Dublin, Ireland, which is still in the works. So everything travel wise is panning out really well… my bank account is draining rapidly, but I worked hard this summer to be able to take this opportunity to see the world and by gosh, I am going to do it J

 

Of course, afterward, we were starving for some breakfast so we headed up the street to Raouls, a delicious café right in Little Venice that specializes in amazing milkshakes and traditional English breakfasts. We had a filling and delicious meal and then came back to the flat in a food coma ready for a much needed nap.

 

I just woke up from that nap and realized I had not blogged! I couldn’t keep you waiting (since I know you are all anxiously waiting a post J ) So there it is, our first full weekend in London without crazy nauseating bus rides or restricting obligations. We had three full days to plan out our own days, do and see, and we did just that. I am really beginning to love this city, especially when the sun is out and it has been EVERYDAY THIS WEEKEND!!! I can only hope the weather is this beautiful when my parents come J

 

As for this evening, we are staying in of course, cooking dinner at home and just spending time together. I really love the girls in my flat. We are all so different but it makes for a lot of laughs. Early to bed of course, because I have my internship tomorrow where I will be attending a showcase with Robert of students from a professional art school looking for representation. I get to sit in, judge and consult with Robert about my favorites and I couldn’t be MORE EXCITED! I love my internship! Love it! So that should be amazing. Stay tuned for that.

 

And do yourself a favor. Take a morning, close the blinds as tight as you can to create the ambiance of a cave (like our bedroom here in London) and sleep in. Sleep long, when you wake a little, go back to sleep. DON’T MOVE FROM YOUR BED. Just one morning, sleep it away.

It feels great.

Then come to London and give me a well-rested hug J miss you all

 

Love and hugs,

Jenny