London, baby
Sep. 3rd, 2006 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hilsHad an amazing time in London this weekend. It's weird but the more time I spend there the more I like it. Still don't want to live there though.
Friday
Train arrived 45 mins late (surprise, surprise!) but the tube was running fine and I was soon at Derek and Matthew's. They cooked me a lovely meal (which was a little too spicy for me but I managed most of it) and we had chocolate cheesecake for pudding. WHEE! We watched a few episodes of American Dad and Matthew had me cringing at the episode that involved a sci-fi/fantasy convention. I was pretty tired after that so I went to bed.
Saturday
Had breakfast then went to Canary Wharf and had second breakfast. LOL. Took a boat up the Thames a way and had to make an inpromtu stop so I could get some batteries for my camera. Looked at HMS Belfast and some weird sculpture thing which I think was supposed to be a ship and then carried on. We went and had a look at The Golden Hinde which is a reconstruction of one of Francis Drake's ships. It was quite small and we didn't go aboard because it was quite expensive but I took some photos of the outside. We had lunch and met up with one of the girls I used to work with. We then went for a walk and wound up climbing the 311 steps of The Monument. My legs ache still! Got some nice photos at the top though. After that it was time to go to the IMAX to see Superman Returns. I didn't realise some bits of it were in 3D! Very cool! And on the biggest screen in the UK too. After that we headed to Chinatown and had dinner. We finished the evening with a drink in a nearby pub and then headed home. Somehow I ended up staying up until 2am watching selected highlights of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Matthew was horrified to discover that I wasn't a Star Wars fangirl. Hehe!
Sunday
Had a reasonable lie in, watched some Baywatch and Hollyoaks and then headed out. Took some photos at Canary Wharf and then took the train to Greenwich. If I was going to live in London (which I'm not) then this would be the place. Got off the train, rounded a corner and there was The Cutty Sark just sat there (not moored, it wasn't on the water). I bounced and squeed. Before we went to look at the ship we went to Ottakar's because Matthew had mentioned seeing a book he thought I might be interested. That book was Vampirates. Seriously, they are vampire pirates. How cool! It's actually a kiddie book but then so is Harry Potter. I bought the first Vampirates book and if I like it there is another one. Was amused to see that the junior novelisation of Superman Returns completely ignores the subject of Lois having a child. Clearly it might have raised issues about sex which the author didn't want to be responsible for. LOL.
After that I went aboard The Cutty Sark while Derek and Matthew went and found somewhere for us to have lunch. Took lots of pics. To be honest, I preferred the Trincomalee. The entire lower deck of The Cutty Sark was just filled with figureheads from various ships. Not that interesting really. I took lots of pics though.
After lunch we went for a walk up to the Maritime Museum. Didn't have time to go in unfortunately, just for a poke around the shop. Managed to resist buying anything despite there being two bookcases full of nautical books of both fact and fiction. Vampirates was there too. Hee!
Then I had to make a frenzied rush back and I caught the train back to York with 3 mins to spare. LOL
I must say thank you to Derek and Matthew for indulging my Age of Sail obsession all weekend. I had a great time, guys!
Friday
Train arrived 45 mins late (surprise, surprise!) but the tube was running fine and I was soon at Derek and Matthew's. They cooked me a lovely meal (which was a little too spicy for me but I managed most of it) and we had chocolate cheesecake for pudding. WHEE! We watched a few episodes of American Dad and Matthew had me cringing at the episode that involved a sci-fi/fantasy convention. I was pretty tired after that so I went to bed.
Saturday
Had breakfast then went to Canary Wharf and had second breakfast. LOL. Took a boat up the Thames a way and had to make an inpromtu stop so I could get some batteries for my camera. Looked at HMS Belfast and some weird sculpture thing which I think was supposed to be a ship and then carried on. We went and had a look at The Golden Hinde which is a reconstruction of one of Francis Drake's ships. It was quite small and we didn't go aboard because it was quite expensive but I took some photos of the outside. We had lunch and met up with one of the girls I used to work with. We then went for a walk and wound up climbing the 311 steps of The Monument. My legs ache still! Got some nice photos at the top though. After that it was time to go to the IMAX to see Superman Returns. I didn't realise some bits of it were in 3D! Very cool! And on the biggest screen in the UK too. After that we headed to Chinatown and had dinner. We finished the evening with a drink in a nearby pub and then headed home. Somehow I ended up staying up until 2am watching selected highlights of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Matthew was horrified to discover that I wasn't a Star Wars fangirl. Hehe!
Sunday
Had a reasonable lie in, watched some Baywatch and Hollyoaks and then headed out. Took some photos at Canary Wharf and then took the train to Greenwich. If I was going to live in London (which I'm not) then this would be the place. Got off the train, rounded a corner and there was The Cutty Sark just sat there (not moored, it wasn't on the water). I bounced and squeed. Before we went to look at the ship we went to Ottakar's because Matthew had mentioned seeing a book he thought I might be interested. That book was Vampirates. Seriously, they are vampire pirates. How cool! It's actually a kiddie book but then so is Harry Potter. I bought the first Vampirates book and if I like it there is another one. Was amused to see that the junior novelisation of Superman Returns completely ignores the subject of Lois having a child. Clearly it might have raised issues about sex which the author didn't want to be responsible for. LOL.
After that I went aboard The Cutty Sark while Derek and Matthew went and found somewhere for us to have lunch. Took lots of pics. To be honest, I preferred the Trincomalee. The entire lower deck of The Cutty Sark was just filled with figureheads from various ships. Not that interesting really. I took lots of pics though.
After lunch we went for a walk up to the Maritime Museum. Didn't have time to go in unfortunately, just for a poke around the shop. Managed to resist buying anything despite there being two bookcases full of nautical books of both fact and fiction. Vampirates was there too. Hee!
Then I had to make a frenzied rush back and I caught the train back to York with 3 mins to spare. LOL
I must say thank you to Derek and Matthew for indulging my Age of Sail obsession all weekend. I had a great time, guys!