migblog

LONDON BABY!

i'm back i'm back i'm back!

london was "phantasmagorical" and "brilliant" and "bloody fantastic." (now that i'm not hindered by linguistic punditry, the brits all have cute and funny accents. especially when they're drunk, or when you're drunk, which makes it so that every word is unintelligible except for "yeah" and "mate" -- and the occasional "cheers.")

i really wanted to buy a pop-up map so that i can get "in" it (a la joey tribbiani at westminster abbey) but they weren't selling those anywhere. and the closest thing i got to royalty was touring kensington palace and looking at those ridiculous crown jewels in the tower of london.

in any case, london was a blast. drinking went from "in moderation" to "in excess" in a short day; it didn't stop until sunday evening when becca and derek forced the chug of the forlorn carlsberg.
(indeed, what ensued next was of paramount hilarity: after chugging, becca chubby-bunnied kit kats, and derek chubby-bunnied goldfish crackers. the chub was "sweet-yeah-ugh" -- we'll get to that later.)

i discovered that i was a museum buff, thanks to the imperialistic notions of the now-defunct british empire; i spent most of my time admiring classic art by raphael, michelangelo, and titian; also the designs and decorative arts in the victoria and albert museum. the british museum mesmerized me with the greek and classics exhibits; the science museum was amazingly intriguing; and the london transport museum was as interactive as it was fun.

there was the issue of cost and expenses; for the most part, london was expensive, but still wonderfully affordable to those willing to sacrifice a few things.

i memorized the tube map for central london. i can even say i've gone to the end of one of the lines. and that i'm extremely envious of the efficiency and caliber of the public transportation system in london proper.

our roommates were weird. they were all sorts of crazy characters: gordo, the irish australian; adrienne, the filipina from uva; chris, the malaysian foreign exchange student from northwestern; joe, the stanfurdite who became the unstalwart fourth member of our group; amy and hannah, the canadians; zana, from wellesley; and the weird masturbating dude who didn't stop whacking off in the middle of the night and kept both becca and derek awake.

and there were plenty of misadventures. (once i get pictures from becca and derek, i'll post them somewhere in a gallery so you can see our crazy antics.) mind you we had a lot of fun shooting perspective shots.

i walked a lot.

i ate a lot.

i drank a lot.

and even though it sounded like the trip of sin and excess 2004, it was in fact one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. i'd love to go back sometime -- soon, i hope -- and go have another round at it, even more excessive, even more in moderation.

jetlag, unpacking, homework, and obligations. miguel's got a lot to take care of in the next two days, so don't wait up.

london was great. and to think, the next spring break's only a year away...

posted by Open Source Food @ 5:38 PM