A Big Ben Birthday

I have to say that one of the perks of living overseas in Europe and having a close knit group of friends is that the answer to the question, "Want to go to London for the weekend for my birthday?" is a real, possible thing.  And they mean London. England.

So, with plans made, hostels and taxis booked, and tickets bought we were on our way to London for the weekend to celebrate Ms B's birthday.

In typical Cool Cats fashion, our trip was an adventure and it all started on the train ride to Milan, or maybe even before then for some of us aka me.  See, you can buy these cute little bottles of vino here, and so I'd gotten 4 for our trip to celebrate the start of the birthday weekend shenanigans.  Unfortunately, in my haste to depart school and get to the train station I'd left them in the fridge.  Nonetheless, I figured I'd pop into the grocery store on the way home and grab some more.  Well.....3 stores and 20 minutes later I was flying into the apartment to change and grab my gear since this endeavour left me with only 20 min to spare.   However, in true Simonsen fashion and knowing the priorities of a birthday trip, I made it! :D

Upon getting situated on the train and presenting the birthday girl and companions with their celebratory bevies, I proceeded to open mine.  I should have read more closely before doing so though.  See, I'd bought prosecco - a champagne style bevy that upon removing the lid makes a sort of....popping sound following with a gust of air.  But oh, not me.  I've got to inadvertently pull this off in grandeur style; and I did, with the lid narrowly missing the poor unsuspecting gentleman in the pod kitty-corner from us, although still managing to get the cap into his lap.  Yes, I am very talented ;)  Well, an S giggle fest, a couple of "mi dispiaces" and a moment to let the fizz dissipate and the celebrations were on.  Needless to say my lovely "Look at our group over here moment" led to S being designated to remove lids on all the rest of the bottles.

Thanks S for your big lady muscles :)

Poor unsuspecting victim.

Didn't realize what he'd gotten in to by sitting near us lol :p

Our journey that night was a long one with us arriving at our hostel in London at 1:00am amid train, bus, plane, and taxi (original appointed one MIA) transport devices.  It didn't matter though because.....we were in London!  Oh, the english language.  How we so missed you!  I think the first thing that really hit us was when our taxi was a no-show we could actually communicate with someone to solve our problem, without broken Italian, wide stares and hand gestures.

Hello London!

Right outside the airport.  

And let's just say that it was actually quite good that we had such a long evening/night of travel.  It saved the hostel, somewhat, from our astonishment.

For me, this was my first hostel stay.  Now, I'd heard both horror stories and good ones from various people in different places they'd stayed throughout Europe.  We have also booked a couple for our October Break (goodness me now).  So I guess that, being a hostel first timer and knowing that we'd booked a private room of 4 with ensuite, I think my genuine shock and astonishment was warranted.  So upon walking in to the hostel and seeing the myriad of people sitting in the small common room, and the front desk clerks, all 3 of them, who offered us chocolate but had neglected to write back to us about the towel situation thus I've now a nice white hotel style towel at the "low" cost of 5 quid, I was like.....hmmm, this could be interesting.  Plus there was a gentleman who walked in behind us with a lady friend and asked if he could rent a room for an hour :o  And no, we were in South Kensington - a supposedly reputable part of the city.  Anyways, my thoughts and suspicions about our hostel adventure were confirmed upon entering the room.  Let's just say I hadn't slept on a bunk bed since the cabin when I was, oh, 8?!  And going to the bathroom while being able to have my knees graze the door, wash my hands in the sink and my feet in the shower at the same time.....just plain awesome. lol.  Already, this was the weekend adventure we weren't anticipating.

Welcome to summer camp.

A cool nights sleep later, London was a little drafty this weekend and the hostel comforters were a little suspicious so they were put away for the duration of our time there, and we were off.  In the land of wonderfulness, english and life unabated.  The day started off just swell with a Starbucks chai tea latte in my hand, oh how I missed this, a tube trip to Westminister and a glimpse of Big Ben in the sun.  What more could a girl ask for on a Saturday morning! ;)  Btw, this was after one of us couldn't get through the tube entrance because she was using the wrong card (Milan bus card, not the London tube card).

Good morning Ben

London eye

Ben

Thames

After a quick photo op, we headed to the London Dungeon- the first event on our weekend list.  Little did we know there was going to be a Halloween special on this weekend. Oooooh! This made S especially glad we were going here. ;)  It was a very cool attraction that started with a water ride (and yes, I was stinky water covered for a portion of our day), live actors sharing with us sordid pasts of London's murderous history and legends, a seance, 90 minutes of walking from dark room to dark room, information galore and an exhilarating drop of doom style ride at the end.  Finger mark bruises on my arm not withstanding, it was a great time and highly recommended.  I would've like to personally have been scared, even just a little, but the historical content included was well worth the trip.

Here. We. Go.

Birthday girl went a little crazy!

Let's just say that the two in the middle were the ones paying attention ;)

The people we encountered in the Dungeon

After we gathered our wits about us, we meandered to Victoria Station area and found GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen) where we'd be adding to our group with C's friend who lives in London, and a former Genovese inhabitant who'd left us for a return home to Heywood, Lancashire and her friend.  Within 30 minutes of our arriving, our group of 4 became 7 and amid laughter, catch-ups, introductions, counter ordering (see at this 'restaurant' you have to go to the counter to order and then they'll bring the completed order to your table - quite common it seems in England, not table service), we had a grand ole' memorable time.

Tourists.  Next thing you know they'll be jumping into the map ;)

After our time together, our splits were inevitable as one headed for a much needed hair cut, others to shop, some (myself, A and F'in S included) to hit Southbank for a bevy and another to depart home.

The group members who hit Southbank to.....quench our thirst ;)

Later that afternoon, we headed to Oxford Street to do a little shopping at the, what we dubbed because really that's what it was, North American candy store and Primark before meeting up again at the Hummingbird Bakery.  This place is well known for their cupcakes, of which the lactose person in the group abstained from but not disheartened hence one of the previous store stops (Sweettarts, oh how I missed you).

The NFL is in town

Cupcakes, here we come!

It was then on to Chipotle where we enjoyed some Mexican cuisine, ripe with spices (something we sometimes find Italian food lacks).

Spicing up our lives

For our evening entertainment, B had gotten tickets to "Wicked" at the Apollo Theatre.  First of all, I LOVE that all of the events we attended were within a quick tube ride or walking distance from each one.  I love London for that!! Second, .... WHAT! A! PERFORMANCE! This was one of the best, if not THE best, live musical performances I've ever seen.  And I've seen quite a few.  The lead singer gave me chills more than once while singing.  I'd definitely recommend this musical to anyone, with the hopes that your cast is just as good as the one I got to see.

Oz

Enjoying the Hummingbird goodies

Afterwards, a few of us tried to head to the Maple Leaf London, which involved a lengthy tube ride, with change, later.  The reason I point this journey out is that upon arriving here, not in typical Canadian fashion may I add, we were first ignored, then when I asked what time they closed they said "we are closed".  It was 11:15pm on a Saturday night!  You can imagine the letters that went through my mind at this point.  It was a Saturday.  It was a bar.  It was Canadian! AND if you check the website, that's not what's mentioned there.  Oh well.  We took our photo op and then headed back to the hostel as: a) we were tired from a long day of touristing, and b) our tube pass was up at midnight so at least we'd fulfil its commitments.

*sigh* Maybe next time

The next morning was yet another "bright and early" beginning as we wanted to make the most of our time in London.  We checked out of the hostel and made our way to Victoria Station where we met up with A and F'in S.  (Inside joke here as F'in S referred to me as F'in R jokingly for a year and then we finally met and, well, the name doesn't suit but the inside joke remains lol).  We popped into a nearby pub for breakfast - yes, weird I know but it served a traditional breakfast menu and I could enjoy hashbrowns, toast, eggs, tomato, beans (? a little strange here), bacon (not real bacon though) and a good ole' regular cup of coffee.  Of course with counter service.  A new first for me this weekend.

After breakfast, we said goodbye to our english counterparts and headed for the train to Gatwick. our departure airport,

We made it to the airport in good time and for future reference, if any of my readers fly out of Gatwick just so you know there are some decent restaurants and shops there.  While in my 1.5 hours of waiting to board I enjoyed a hearty bowl of chicken taco soup (more like a stew which was fabulous) and bought a Cath Kidston purse for cheaper than in the city,

I always get a kick out of watching boarding to an Italian city happen on a non-budget airline, meaning an airline that you board by section or seat row.  This does not seem to be a common thing for many so having to wait for a turn, and not line up until you're called, is a VERY hard thing for certain groups of people.

Anyways, a British Airways flight to Pisa, a lovely 1.5 hr train station wait until our Genova train and then the 2.5 hr ride we were finally back in our flat ready to take on another week.

Passing the time with UNO in Pisa

Again, I am loving that I can reside in a place where a trip to London for the weekend is possible.  Love that I have a great group of friends to take travels with and definitely going to soak up all the experiences I can get for the next year :)