Chromeo Day 15, London, one more time...
Another day on the slow side in the Grove. The name of the street where we're staying is Hammersmith Grove, so we've just started calling it the Grove. Slow days consist of getting up around noon, going downstairs for coffee, going back up and sitting on the windowsill for a while, spend some time people-watching, and eventually coming up with a plan for the evening.
Today was daring. We actually walked down the street for coffee. It's slightly more inconvenient than just going downstairs, but it had to happen. First of all, the coffee is just better, and second, after almost 2 weeks of going to the same coffee shop once, sometimes twice a day, the staff at Cafe Kristof still won't even say hello. We've tried. We're always nice, we try to talk to them, we're regulars. Nothing. Not even "hi", never a "thank you". There was one guy who sat and talked with us for a bit the first week, but that was the only time we saw him so we figure he got fired for having a personality. So, off to Cafe Brera we go.
It was a windy day, very cold, the coffee was good for that. We also had some entertainment for the afternoon. The pub across the square had a patio set up, and the wind was so strong that it was blowing full pint glasses off the tables. We saw about 5 of them smash on the ground, chairs were blowing around, etc... It was pretty amazing. After a few minutes, someone finally went out and shut down the patio and put away all the tables and chairs.
For the evening, the plan was to go meet another friend of mine, from France who was in town for the day, from whom I received a last-minute message. So we went out to Camden where, for the first and likely last time of my life, I bought Chinese food from a street vendor. I've had better meals...
Anyways, we went to a club called Dingwall's to see a show by a guy named Thomas Dybdahl. He was pretty good. After the show, we went to the pub upstairs, which was a little on the dead side, so two of the people we were with went down to recruit some show-goers and bring them upstairs. It livened up for a bit, and we met a few Norwegians who were fascinated by the Canadian health care system. They ended up leaving with us when the pub shut down, but we couldn't find another place to go so they ended up bailing.
The rest of us walked around for a bit and eventually called it, but not before buying hot dogs from a street vendor, which were not at all dogs, but lamb sausages, and searching hopelessly for the bus back to Hammersmith. See, in London, the trains stop running around midnight, and it was about 3am. We had a problem. It took some work, but we did find the right bus stop and hopped on for the long ride home. On the bright side, it was the first time any of us had taken a ride on a London double-decker bus, and we got the front seats on top. It was pretty cool, as far as bus rides go.
Once we got back we crashed pretty fast. We had to be up at 6:30 to head to the airport...
Today was daring. We actually walked down the street for coffee. It's slightly more inconvenient than just going downstairs, but it had to happen. First of all, the coffee is just better, and second, after almost 2 weeks of going to the same coffee shop once, sometimes twice a day, the staff at Cafe Kristof still won't even say hello. We've tried. We're always nice, we try to talk to them, we're regulars. Nothing. Not even "hi", never a "thank you". There was one guy who sat and talked with us for a bit the first week, but that was the only time we saw him so we figure he got fired for having a personality. So, off to Cafe Brera we go.
It was a windy day, very cold, the coffee was good for that. We also had some entertainment for the afternoon. The pub across the square had a patio set up, and the wind was so strong that it was blowing full pint glasses off the tables. We saw about 5 of them smash on the ground, chairs were blowing around, etc... It was pretty amazing. After a few minutes, someone finally went out and shut down the patio and put away all the tables and chairs.
For the evening, the plan was to go meet another friend of mine, from France who was in town for the day, from whom I received a last-minute message. So we went out to Camden where, for the first and likely last time of my life, I bought Chinese food from a street vendor. I've had better meals...
Anyways, we went to a club called Dingwall's to see a show by a guy named Thomas Dybdahl. He was pretty good. After the show, we went to the pub upstairs, which was a little on the dead side, so two of the people we were with went down to recruit some show-goers and bring them upstairs. It livened up for a bit, and we met a few Norwegians who were fascinated by the Canadian health care system. They ended up leaving with us when the pub shut down, but we couldn't find another place to go so they ended up bailing.
The rest of us walked around for a bit and eventually called it, but not before buying hot dogs from a street vendor, which were not at all dogs, but lamb sausages, and searching hopelessly for the bus back to Hammersmith. See, in London, the trains stop running around midnight, and it was about 3am. We had a problem. It took some work, but we did find the right bus stop and hopped on for the long ride home. On the bright side, it was the first time any of us had taken a ride on a London double-decker bus, and we got the front seats on top. It was pretty cool, as far as bus rides go.
Once we got back we crashed pretty fast. We had to be up at 6:30 to head to the airport...
posted by t. at 1:01 AM
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