A Sunny Saturday!

Friday night involved a very long wait in a very long line for some "super-cool" club called Fabric. World famous and such. Two hours later, those of us with stout hearts and strong bladders finally entered to find a world famous drum and bass senselessness. For some reason, we weren't into it. Perhaps because everybody was wearing black, ignoring everybody else, and there was nowhere in the club where you could even shout your name. Still, waiting in line was a good time. I had a great time getting to know Tom and Salvas, two of my fellow Rosebery Hall students and very cool dudes. We were hanging with ze Germans.. but for some reason I can't really remember ze German's names.. At any rate, we were up till 3 AM.
I realized what the reason was when I woke up on Saturday with a solid hangover and, interestingly enough, TONS of sunlight! A sunny Saturday in September.. to be said ten times fast. After dragging myself out of bed, I prepared to take a quick hike over to the Elite Fitness Gym to get a membership (only 5 minutes walk). I did not succeed with this mission until 5 PM that evening; instead on the way out I met up with a bunch of groovy post-grads. By name there's Jaime, a 29 year old banker from Kansas City who's married to some groovy chick who's on her way over here to live with him in two weeks. Then there's Elias the greek grad student, Edna the Columbian who's into Buddhism and Native American mythology, and Frederica the Dutch pre-law 22 year old who's taking on the whole world very focused on this task. The group was headed out on a 'short stroll'... Yeah.. short.



I joined in. First we headed over to LSE, making sure to take pictures of the small maple tree that the Canadian Prime Minister planted (note the fence around the tree to protect it).
.. Our journey was just beginning, however. From there we went through Trafalgar square, which looked FANTASTIC on this sunny day. To be fair, I believe being hung over helped make everything seem even sunnier.
We hung out here, took some cool pictures, and then headed to St. James park in front of Buckingham Palace. St. James was amazing- like being in the middle of the British countryside, but in the middle of London!! There were plenty of geese, and rambunctious little squirrels that would eat out of one's hand. The squirrels had no fear- they'd run under our feet without a pause.
Eventually we found ourselves in a wide open space with hundreds of lawn chairs for rent. Apparently the thing to do in London on a sunny day is to sit in the park and sunbathe. It was exactly like being at the beach, just without the waves, and oh so peaceful! I passed out for a good hour or so, and upon waking up not knowing where I was, I was very pleased to rediscover just what London is all about. Sunny days in London are a treat.
After a leisurely two hours in this divine place, we did the tourist thing and headed, in sequence, over to Big Ben, Westminster Bridge, underneath the London Eye, and back around through LSE toward home. The tourists were EVERYWHERE- people from all corners of the globe, speaking every language imaginable. Cosmopolitan indeed- Disneyland eat your heart out. Underneath the London Eye there were all sorts of amazing street performers. I really should have gotten a picture of this one African guy who could balance anything on a small stick that he held between his teeth. I believe as I walked by that he had a small soccer ball, two soda bottles, and a spoon balanced up there. Apparently Emilio walked by later that day, and this same balancing fellow got Emilio to kick a soccer ball up in the air, at which point the African caught the ball with the same small stick, perfectly balanced. It is truly amazing what the mind can do.


On the return trip, I caught what I believe to be a perfect image of London trees in the fall in the park right behind LSE. All in all the day was truly amazing, peaceful, and wonderful. I believe I am in love with this city.

A sunny saturday in September.. good for a stroll, sunbathing, and seeing the sights. I could not ask for a better excursion into London, and to be able to walk back to my apartment only a mile away from it all- what a thrill!

Still, I miss the waves. I find myself asking all of my flatmates where the good surfing areas are in various countries- apparently France has a strong surfing culture. As I cannot surf here, I think I'll have to do the next best thing: purchase a bike. Biking in London is definitely a warrior art- continuous awareness, speed, balance. Perfect! I would say that 90% of the people who bike during the week are young men age 20-30. Nuff said there. Our bartender, Shaun, told me that I could possibly find a used bike in brick lane market on Sunday.. used or stolen, I plan to buy the cheapest thing possible. Well, if I can wake up tomorrow in time, I shall have to do just that.

Peace, Hugs, and love to all my friends and family- If any of you get a chance, you need to come visit this town, and pray that it's a sunny day when you're there.

More to come on interesting philosophical conversations.. I believe this is enough for today :)