Weekend in London

Quick note - pictures are posted to msn space here.

The first weekend in London is wrapping up - and, aside from the typical "what the heck are all the cars on the wrong side of the street and car for???", it's been great! While I'm not a big "london culture" fan, the city is still fun, yet quite expensive. Glass of wine? 6 pounds - or $14 Cdn! Dinner for two at nice restaurant? Well over $250 Cdn!! A bottle of water from some places is over 10 bucks CDN!!

Friday I landed, and took the underground into london from the airport. I didn't "Pre-plan" - so I ended up a bit lost once I exited the subway at Piccadilly Circus - trying to find Trafalgar Square, then my hotel. It took me nearly an hour and a half - when it really is just a 2 min walk!! It was CRAZY busy too - I'm right in the heart - where all the clubs and bars are. And they're ALL super-busy.

Saturday, I had a quick early lunch, then met up with a friend. We did a good tour - Harrod's, Kensington (ie st. james), big ben, etc. At night, we found a very good turkish restaurant - and ended up cancelling our main's to get more meze's!! The feta + melon was GREAT, as was their squid (sooo tender..:).. Afterwards, we walked around looking for a lounge - and there were lineups everywhere. It was strange - there was one club with a huge lineup out front, but this manager came up to us out of the blue and said we could skip the lineup and come directly in...guess we were just that dead sexy!! We both looked pretty good, though..:) Ended up drinking champagne at a crowded bar, but it was fun.. Virtually everywhere here plays a form of house or electronica - even sandwich shops... While I like that type of music quite a lot - it is a bit tiresome and "forced coolness".

Sunday we went to the da vinci exhibit (his drawings) which was very good - but the lack of food and an over abundance of alcohol the night previous someone minimized the appreciation level..:) Lunch at a pub (food wasn't that good), and then tower of london and london bridge (after circling around a bit..funny story..:) Then some walking around the boat area (st katherine docks), tea, and back to trafalgar sq. for a couple glasses of wine..!

It's good here - I don't *love* it - but you can feel the city's history....and it's been absolutely sunny for the weekend (which I've been reminded to appreciate..!). And coming here to party hard would be a blast...but open up that bank account!!!!

Other "quick notes" that you may not know:

- dirty dancing is a musical here (nobody puts baby in a corner! ugh)
- ashlee simpson is doing chicago
- patrick swayze is currently starring in Guys and Dolls