London Calling
The Eugene World Tour 2009 begins with a brief stop-over in London. I know some of you would love to hear every detail and all the things I'm seeing. Well FORGET IT. I'm not some trained animal whose job it is to entertain you people!
Wait. Actually, I am, aren't I?
Okay. So here're some notes.
-Air New Zealand non-stop from LAX to London gets a huge thumbs up. The planes all have personal entertainment devices (with many many many episodes of Flight of the Conchords), free white wine, the flight attendants all have charming accents, the food was actually somewhat edible. A positive experience.
-Alas, like most airlines, there aren't power hook-ups in your seat in Economy. Would be nice to be able to keep my laptop charged for the whole flight. However, there are power hook-ups in all the lavatories - there for men who want to shave during the flight.
Which begs the question... what's to stop me from bring an extension cord, plugging it in one of the lavatories, laying the cord down the aisle, and then running my laptop to my heart's content? I mean, the alternative is for me to bring my laptop into the lavatory and just, uh, sit there for a while...
-Fun game when you're on a plane - sit up in your seat and see what movies everyone else is watching. You'll find yourself surprised, and then start to extrapolate what this means about them.
The pudgy plumber? He's watching "Hannah and her Sisters."
The vapid Paris Hilton? She's watching "Pink Panther 2."
The kid who won't stop crying? He's watching "Speed Racer."
And the guy who looks kinda creepy and weird? He's watching a double-feature of "In-Bruges" and "The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh."
Sit far far away from that guy...
-Took forever to get to my hotel. Just my luck, I landed in London during a 48 hour Tube strike. Instead of taking the tube straight from Heathrow to my hotel, I took the train to Paddington, then queued up for half an hour for a black taxi driven by a guy who actually shouted, "Blimey!" Didn't realize people still said that.
-Stayed at the Premier Inn County Hall in London. Awesome hotel in the old County Hall building, so it's right in the shadow of the London Eye and Big Ben. Thanks to jet lag, I took a stroll along the south bank of the Thames at 5 in the morning. Very peaceful - walked across Westminster Bridge and had it all to myself. You could almost hear the ghosts of old London. If you're curious, they sounded like Peter O'Toole in A Lion in Winter.
-I love love London, but this was only a short one-day layover. Only had time to walk the parks and the sights with all the other American tourists, swung by Kings Cross platform 9 3/4 to beat-up the Gryffindor freshmen, and then took in some history at the British Museum.
-The receptionist who checked me into my hotel? I'm pretty sure it was Amy Winehouse. Because if it wasn't, there's yet-another woman running around London with a thick block of eye make-up and tall hair.
-Clicking around on the the television set, saw something that completely blew me away. Imagine suddenly seeing something that you knew of. You'd heard of. You believed that it existed, and yet you'd never seen it? Well, allow me to shout it from the rooftops!
I saw Finley the Fire Engine!
It was a pre-school toon from a few years ago. Many of my friends worked on the show, and they made a lot of episodes! But it never aired in the U.S. But now I can say that I was one of the lucky ones who saw it.
-Went downstairs into the lobby and the tv screen there had BREAKING NEWs... along with a photograph of Madonna. Sigh. I wondered to myself if the Brits love having Madonna around? or if they just sit there and stew that we dumped her off on them?
-Stupidest thing I've done since I got here.
Me. Standing under Big Ben.
Me: "Hey, what time is it?"
I reached for my cell phone, then stopped and slapped myself for being stupid.
-I ain't no Jane Espenson, but here's some of what I've been eating in London.
...A spicy (curry?) meatball bagel sandwich from a neighborhood deli.
...A huge English breakfast with back bacon, sausages, runny scrambled eggs, baked beans, tomatos, and mushrooms.
...A tuna and cucumber sandwich on a baguette.
-Dumbest thing I paid money for. At a souvenir shop, my eye caught the "City of Liverpool 'Streets Named After Beatles' Limited Edition Collectors Guitar Pick." It was ridiculously expensive for a silly collectors guitar pick. Then the saleslady said, "George and John glow in the dark."
SOLD! So I am now the proud/ashamed owner of a "John Lennon Drive" collectors guitar pick that glows in the dark. I'm so proud/ashamed.
-Got driven to Victoria Station by a cab driver who can best be described as the Bangaldesh version of Ernie from Sesame Street. Nice guy - hilarious yet somewhat off-putting laugh.
That's it for London. More blog notes to come...
Wait. Actually, I am, aren't I?
Okay. So here're some notes.
-Air New Zealand non-stop from LAX to London gets a huge thumbs up. The planes all have personal entertainment devices (with many many many episodes of Flight of the Conchords), free white wine, the flight attendants all have charming accents, the food was actually somewhat edible. A positive experience.
-Alas, like most airlines, there aren't power hook-ups in your seat in Economy. Would be nice to be able to keep my laptop charged for the whole flight. However, there are power hook-ups in all the lavatories - there for men who want to shave during the flight.
Which begs the question... what's to stop me from bring an extension cord, plugging it in one of the lavatories, laying the cord down the aisle, and then running my laptop to my heart's content? I mean, the alternative is for me to bring my laptop into the lavatory and just, uh, sit there for a while...
-Fun game when you're on a plane - sit up in your seat and see what movies everyone else is watching. You'll find yourself surprised, and then start to extrapolate what this means about them.
The pudgy plumber? He's watching "Hannah and her Sisters."
The vapid Paris Hilton? She's watching "Pink Panther 2."
The kid who won't stop crying? He's watching "Speed Racer."
And the guy who looks kinda creepy and weird? He's watching a double-feature of "In-Bruges" and "The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh."
Sit far far away from that guy...
-Took forever to get to my hotel. Just my luck, I landed in London during a 48 hour Tube strike. Instead of taking the tube straight from Heathrow to my hotel, I took the train to Paddington, then queued up for half an hour for a black taxi driven by a guy who actually shouted, "Blimey!" Didn't realize people still said that.
-Stayed at the Premier Inn County Hall in London. Awesome hotel in the old County Hall building, so it's right in the shadow of the London Eye and Big Ben. Thanks to jet lag, I took a stroll along the south bank of the Thames at 5 in the morning. Very peaceful - walked across Westminster Bridge and had it all to myself. You could almost hear the ghosts of old London. If you're curious, they sounded like Peter O'Toole in A Lion in Winter.
-I love love London, but this was only a short one-day layover. Only had time to walk the parks and the sights with all the other American tourists, swung by Kings Cross platform 9 3/4 to beat-up the Gryffindor freshmen, and then took in some history at the British Museum.
-The receptionist who checked me into my hotel? I'm pretty sure it was Amy Winehouse. Because if it wasn't, there's yet-another woman running around London with a thick block of eye make-up and tall hair.
-Clicking around on the the television set, saw something that completely blew me away. Imagine suddenly seeing something that you knew of. You'd heard of. You believed that it existed, and yet you'd never seen it? Well, allow me to shout it from the rooftops!
I saw Finley the Fire Engine!
It was a pre-school toon from a few years ago. Many of my friends worked on the show, and they made a lot of episodes! But it never aired in the U.S. But now I can say that I was one of the lucky ones who saw it.
-Went downstairs into the lobby and the tv screen there had BREAKING NEWs... along with a photograph of Madonna. Sigh. I wondered to myself if the Brits love having Madonna around? or if they just sit there and stew that we dumped her off on them?
-Stupidest thing I've done since I got here.
Me. Standing under Big Ben.
Me: "Hey, what time is it?"
I reached for my cell phone, then stopped and slapped myself for being stupid.
-I ain't no Jane Espenson, but here's some of what I've been eating in London.
...A spicy (curry?) meatball bagel sandwich from a neighborhood deli.
...A huge English breakfast with back bacon, sausages, runny scrambled eggs, baked beans, tomatos, and mushrooms.
...A tuna and cucumber sandwich on a baguette.
-Dumbest thing I paid money for. At a souvenir shop, my eye caught the "City of Liverpool 'Streets Named After Beatles' Limited Edition Collectors Guitar Pick." It was ridiculously expensive for a silly collectors guitar pick. Then the saleslady said, "George and John glow in the dark."
SOLD! So I am now the proud/ashamed owner of a "John Lennon Drive" collectors guitar pick that glows in the dark. I'm so proud/ashamed.
-Got driven to Victoria Station by a cab driver who can best be described as the Bangaldesh version of Ernie from Sesame Street. Nice guy - hilarious yet somewhat off-putting laugh.
That's it for London. More blog notes to come...
posted by Eugene at 12:59 PM
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