Paris: Days 4/5

On this morning, we got up and went straight to the Louvre.

We got off the Metro and walked through one of the Palace's wings to the central court yard with fountains and the pyramids. You enter through the glass pyramid in the center and head down into the museum. The Musee du Louvre is a huge museum that holds the art of ages. (It's in the Da Vinci Code.) It has over 35,000 pieces of art work.

I can't describe to you how fantastically large the Louvre is. There are 3 main wings. Each wing is an actual wing of this huge palace. And each wing has at least 3, if not more, floors. There is no way that you could see the entire museum in one day, and probably not all of it in one week. To give you an idea of the size, there is this map. At the end of the day I also took this video.

OJ and I decided to head towards the Mona Lisa, because if it's there, you might as well see it. (This is the only area of the Louvre where there is a queue. Fortunately it is not tourist season so we got to the front fairly quickly. I could not get a good/steady picture because this Japanese woman was violently elbowing my kidneys. I returned the favor.)

So we saw Renaissance paintings, then headed towards the Greek and Roman sculpture, saw the Venus de Milo. saw Egypt, Mesopotamia, the history of the Louvre, and many other things that I can not possibly describe because they were so numerous. The sad thing is, that we probably didn't even see a third of the museum.

After hoofing it around for several hours we decided we were starving and needed a break. So we headed out of the Louvre and into the Jardin, which was recently torn up for renovations, so was actually not all that much to look at. But we found a lovely cafe and have some delicious ravioli, some refreshing tea, and a crepe! I was totally satisfied.

Then we went to the Musee d'Orsay, and we saw a lot of Impressionist paintings, like this Van Gogh. We did manage to see all of this museum. And I recognized a lot of pieces of art. I don't know how I feel about taking pictures of art work, but regardless I took them to show all of you that look, I have seen such and such in person. There was also a very cool exhibit about how styles come back, and had furniture, posters, etc. from the 1890's and the 1970's. Art Nouveau.

Even after all this trekking around and art viewing, being very cultured and refined and exhausted. ( I don't know if my brain or my feet were more tired.) The day was not done yet. We got back on the Metro and went home, took a power nap and got ready.

Ready for what? Salsa dancing. Yes. We went out to a nice French dinner, then met OJ's friend Samy and his friends for some drinks (they ate dinner due to a small miscommunication due to OJ not reading the entire text message) and lots of teasing half-translated conversation. Then we all headed to a Salsa Club.

It was a bit expensive to get in, but the atmosphere of the multi-leveled club and the moving dance floor were really fun. I guess the only problem was that it could decide if it wanted to be a club or a dance place and would alternate between hip-hop music and salsa music. But there was no room to salsa dance because of all the people, and you can't hip-hop dance to salsa music. But I got a mojito and laughed and danced a lot. So I was totally content.

Then we went home, or rather tried to get home by hailing a cab, but they were all busy, and then miraculously caught a bus back. I immediately fell asleep, a smile still on my face.

The next morning I got up, showered, packed, had a last cup of tea with OJ and went back to Gare du Nord to catch my train home to London. (OJ walked me most of the way to the station. We were getting some food. She was in her PJ's. She went to McDonald's. I have never seen her look so stereotypically American. It was hilarious.) It was a very relaxing ride home.

I had so much fun in France, and can't thank OJ and her host family enough for letting me stay with them, and OJ for showing me around despite having a cold. I took more pictures than I usually do, bought no souvenirs, only good food, and ended up buying some Carambars (a left-over addiction from living with Rex) and ended up with 4 cents in Euros.

Great trip.

Paris: Day 3

Friday we went to Versailles.

We left the house and OJ had to go and meet one of her advisors. So she went to get paper advice and I sat in a cafe, drank some tea and ate some croissants. People watching was awesome. Probably had too much tea, but there we go.

Then we got on the Metro and easily on to the RER to the Chateau de Versailles. It is just to the south west of Paris and was less than an hour train ride. (At this point I would like to say that the French public transportation system is far easier to get around than the British system. And by get around I don't mean getting from point A to point B.) Then we got off and I had to make a bee line for the toilet.

Unfortunately this necessitated a trip to the tourist office and then a power walk to the Palace itself. We got tickets then went inside to the toilet. It was only at this time that I could truly see the splendor of the place.

It is breath-taking. I can't really put words to how amazing it is, so I don't think I am really going to try.

One thing that was pretty jarring from the antiqued beauty was the modern art scattered throughout the property. This actually happens at a lot of historic sites. I think it is a very French thing, because there is no way you would see modern art at places like this in London. Huge dead space men in front of Buckingham Palace? No way. (I refused to take pictures of them directly, but you can see them in some pictures anyway)

In these pictures it is a bit easier to see the restoration work that is being done to the palace. On the left all the gold has been redone, and the roof has been refinished. They haven't finished the right side yet.

Here is OJ, yet again, taking pictures. It's weird to think that this is where the angry mob stood during the French Revolution and pulled King Louis XVI out of his bedroom and where France became a Republic. Marie Antoinette lived here (we visit her house later) and basically all the Kings of France. Yeah, its awesome.

Obviously, this blog is not a history lesson, so I won't bore you with all the ridiculous, "this king sat here on his 47th birthday," "this room was built for the king's mistress, he built a fireplace for his wife," type nonsense that is very interesting on a tour, but not quite as much later.

In this picture you can see a bit of the modern art popping out of my head, it's like a big purple jewel thing. But the balcony right behind me is the King's bedroom. It is where they climbed up to get him. Cool huh?

After going inside, one of the first things that you see (after picking up your handy-dandy headphones) is the Chapel. Literally everything is made of marble, gold and silver. The ceiling painting is gorgeous and the organ at the far end is really spectacular. It's the tallest building in the entire palace and is flooded with light all day long. (No flash was necessary, and therefore none of those weird backlit pictures, which is very rare in all these buildings with very little electric lighting added afterwards)

We wandered through the portrait gallery detailing the French Monarchy's history since the Palace was built. There were lots of paintings and busts, but none so interesting as to warrant a picture.

I thought that I should chronicle how ridiculous and touristy I looked wearing the informational headphones. They told me interesting things like, "there is no room in the entire Palace that has not been redecorated at least 10 times." And while I could have read the French plaques that were strategically and unobtrusively placed in the rooms, it was far easier to listen than to attempt to decipher French.

We wandered through the King's appointment rooms, the King's receiving rooms, etc. and the amount of detail in every single thing is quite astounding. Every ceiling is painted, every room a slightly different theme, Apollo, Athena, French military victories, etc. Just to illustrate a bit more, the thing below that is a golden face, is actually a curtain holder. Yeah, really intensely over-wrought details in every nook and cranny of the place. No wonder the people revolted, the place cost fortunes.

In my opinion, the most beautiful place in the entire Palace is the Hall of Mirrors. It's a hallway, essentially, the one side is window and the other side is mirrors, so the light reflects. There are ceiling paintings, chandeliers, marble statues; it is ridiculous. And it is huge. The picture below gives you a little bit of an idea of scope. (Also it took me several tries to get a picture of myself that didn't have a chandelier growing out of my head.)

After we explored all the bedrooms, halls of white marble statues, exhibits, etc. We headed outside to look at the Gardens of Versailles. It is beautiful. I think that the wandering around outside in these immaculately kept gardens, even as winter approaches and things are covered up and leaves have fallen. it is just beautiful.

To see a map of the place and how huge it is, check this out.

There are fountains and ponds, reflecting pools, hedges, roses (or would be), lines of trees, pathways, direct routes and meandering ways, mazes, follies, statues and much more. I was in awe pretty much the whole time we were walking around.

We wandered through most of the park, all the way down to the private residences of the royalty on the far end. We saw The Grand and Petit Trianons, Marie Antoinette's house, the farm she created that still keeps sheep, and sat down for a lovely cup of hot chocolate. It is Angelina (a cafe near the Louvre that is filled the gills most of the time) hot chocolate. It is literally like drinking melted chocolate. I was in hot chocolate heaven. OJ said she couldn't drink more than a cup it is so rich. I of course looked at her like she was insane, but I guess I understand how one person could only drink one cup...

Anyway, after seeing all that we wandered back towards the Palace. The sun was going down and setting. The way the light was reflecting the colors on the clouds, and on the water and buildings was really pretty. I attempted to do it some justice with my point and shoot camera.

Growing up in Tahoe I love nature, and especially sun sets and rises. And usually I think that buildings and such get in the way, but standing here I understood why the French did things the way they did. Most of it is opulent and ridiculous, but when you have a mirror for nature in those reflecting pools it is just that much better. Or when you see the sun setting through the windows in that mirrored room, or watch the colors on a masterpiece statue, it just makes everything that much more beautiful.

We left as the sun was almost down and the lights were coming on to highlight the gold in the fence and on the palace. It was really fun day (although my feet hurt from walking on cobbles all day) filled with a little history, a little intrigue, a lot of walking, more gold and marble than I think I will see in one place ever again, and a lot of really beautiful sites.

We went home, had dinner with Patricia, Huber and Eric, had an oddly translated, but very interesting conversation about religion, and went to bed content.

Paris: Day 2

Explorations of the City.

On my second day in Paris, Thursday, OJ had classes. She left to go have her meetings and learn things in French. So I got up leisurely (I really like the leisurely compared the early on trips sometimes), got my stuff together and headed out to explore the city on my own. Armed with my map, my Metro pass, and OJ's Paris walking trip cards (thanks to Jaws) I was ready. The weather was overcast, but not drizzly or windy. Nice, crisp fall weather. I got lucky with that, it was supposed to rain.

I went to the Ile de la Cite. I saw Notre Dame Cathedral, which thankfully was free. You know, the one from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I kept wondering where they would actually hide and live, but as I was cheap and had a lot more to see, I didn't pay to actually go up the towers. And after seeing a lot of cathedrals I am starting to feel like when you have seen one, you've seen them all. But the choir music inside was very lovely. It drowned out the tourist murmer, so really, I am going to give it best ambiance.

Then I wandered around the outside of Notre Dame, saw the bridges, the river, and wandered from the big island to the smaller island, Ile Saint-Louis. Here according to the card is there the best ice cream in Paris is sold. Berthillon is world-famous. I don't know if it is the 'best' ice cream I have ever had, but it was really good. I got chocolate with candied oranges, and raspberry. (Note: This was the first time I had to order for myself and I did it entirely in french. Well french and hand gestures, but whatever.) It was delicious in it's sugar cone.

I then enjoyed the ice cream as I walked more around the island and back to the Ile de la Cite, getting more views of Notre Dame. And while I did manage to not get ice cream all over my face... I did get a tiny bit on my scarf. Well, it's an improvement.

Then I wandered to the north bank, stopped in a boulangerie to get a baguette sandwich, which I ate while I watched the tourists waddle by. Then back on my way, minor incident with a loose storm drain and a wet foot, then I saw some of the French administration buildings, which had a line around the block. It was worse than the DMV by USC. Which of course brought to mind my Dad's favorite joke.

By then I had seen a lot of bridges, a lot of cafes, a lot of street vendors, heard a lot of french, and had walked quite a long distance. Then I got back on the tube and got off at Franklin Roosevelt (not joking, sounds really funny in the Metro announcer's voice) and walked down the Champs-Elysees to meet OJ. We actually met up without a hitch and without calling each other. (This just again proves that we don't have to rely on modern technology to communicate. Yay!) Then we walked all the way up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc du Triomphe.

The Arc is famous. It's been there since the early 1800's and yet the only thing that I could think while standing there was of this.

Europe is stamped by WWII in ways that I can't describe. It is now woven into the very fiber of the people. And this was one of the moments when it's impact hit me the most, and I don't know why.

On to lighter notes, then we walked all the way back down the Champs-Elysees, got on to the Metro and went the Bastille to try to see La Boheme at the Opera Bastille. It is possible to get 25 Euro tickets for students to these performances. Unfortunately this option is open for both students and seniors, and there were about 30 senior citizens already lined up to get tickets. They had been there for several hours, and while disappointing, we really didn't have the time to stand in a line.

So Plan B, we went to the new Library and walked around, saw a movie (which I don't know if I would recommend or not, but it was one of the few movies that was not solely in French, and I feel did a lot better in France than it did in the US) The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Then we went to a very nice Thai-Vietnamese restaurant and went home.

It was a lovely day exploring many many areas of the city. Tomorrow would be big... Versailles.

Hellions Love

So I know that I should be writing about Paris... but I just got so excited and a bit nostalgic hearing about my Hellions at home, that I had to share how proud I was of them.

This weekend they played in the Sean Ryan Memorial Tournament in Santa Cruz, CA. This is the first big tournament of the year for us, and a few years ago, it was my first tournament ever. Thanks to Uzi and Brocc I was updated on what was going on and how the team was doing. I also kept track of things on score reporter. The team ended up 4th with a lot of the focus going towards giving the rookies (lovingly we call them babies) a lot of play time and meshing as a team.

I wish that I could be there and be here at the same time. Unfortunately that is not possible, so I am currently living vicariously through them.

Also going on in the Hellions world is the application for sponsorship from Five Ultimate. You may remember my post about this last year.

Another video was made, this time with less singing. It is based on this video.


And turned out like this...


Way to go Hellions! Hellions Love!

Paris: Day 1

So this is going to take a lot more than one post, I was in Paris for almost 5 days. We did and saw a lot, and I think it is going to be pretty much impossible for me to get it all down, if recording every detail is even possible anyway. So there will be one post per day, coming as I finish them.

Day 1- Wednesday
It was a leisurely morning. I got up, made myself some breakfast and tea, (which I was partial to already, but being in Britain has just reinforced the tea drinking habit) finished packing, double checked that I had everything, and made my way to the train station. I got on the tube at the tail end of rush hour and despite the train getting stuck at one of the stations on the way (because let's face it I am bit neurotic about being on time (Thanks Dad for always being late) and left way before I needed to) I got to King's Cross/ St. Pancras with no problems. Checked in to Eurostar (the French controls on leaving/entering the country are FAR less strict than Britain's) and had a bit of a wait because the train was delayed then boarded and was on my way to Paris.

After an uneventful journey (except the French family that glared at me when I made them move out of my window seat. I booked that seat for a reason people!) I got off the train and followed my nice hand-drawn map out of Gare du Nord and easily to OJ's house, a mere 3 minute walk from the station. She buzzed me in and because the elevator looked a bit unstable and I didn't know what floor, I decided to walk up the stairs. Mistake. They live on the 5th floor (that is the 6th floor in America) and because the spiral staircase that the elevator goes up the middle of, OJ could see me and told me I was crazy (entirely possible) but by then I was on the 4th floor so I figured I might as well walk the rest.

OJ's living situation is far different from mine. I live in a dorm apartment with 5 other freshers and she lives with a lovely French family in their home in the 10th Arrondissement. (Her elevator is also reliable, unlike the one here that breaks at least twice a week) Her family was nice enough to invite me to stay in their home so that I could visit OJ and Paris. Thank you again Patricia and Huber!

I ended up in Taylor's room, the other American study abroad student staying with Patricia and Huber who was visiting Italy while I was there. (Fortuitous circumstances!) This was by far preferable to sleeping on the hard wood floor in OJ's room. She also lent me her Metro pass. Thank you!

After resting for a bit we headed out towards the Eiffel Tower. It's the most famous thing about Paris and probably France, so we figured visiting it on a Wednesday afternoon would be far less crowded, and it was an easy thing to do before dinner. As we got off the Metro the sun was going down over the Seine. It was beautiful. Then the tower came into view with the pretty fall leaves. It is rather spectacular.

As the sun was going down we decided that we were starving. And by we, we mean me. So we walked across the bridge and got a sandwich from a vendor, neatly avoiding the many Eiffel Tower replica salesmen and the poorly-padded rollerblading children. (While then missed us, the potholes on the steep hill posed a far larger challenge) We headed back to the tower as it was beginning to get dark and the streetlamps and the tower itself were illuminating.

We decided that instead of a photo-op, it would be a far better idea to go to the grassy field to the side and throw a frisbee. A small boy on a bicycle watched us the entire time. Amazingly, neither one of us got pictures of us throwing the disc (because obviously holding a camera, taking a picture in the semi-dark, while catching and throwing proves to be difficult even for the most coordinated of people) but this is where we were throwing.

Then we went for the photo-op while the tower decided to do a bit of a cracked-out light show. We tried to get some American girls to take the picture but they failed miserably, and then OJ started talking to this couple in French to get them to take a picture of us. They didn't speak French or English, but they did speak Spanish! Yay for multiple language skills! We got our picture taken after I talked to him, and then we headed out of the Jardin to a small cafe and then back home.

Cafes, boulangeries, and patissieries are literally everywhere in Paris. It is hard to find a street that doesn't have at least one. OJ and I commented on how amazing it is that they all manage to stay in business. They all have regulars and their own vibe. I still don't think I quite understand, but Parisian people will spend hours sitting outside under the heated (and sometimes unheated) awnings, drinking espresso and smoking cigarettes just gossiping away. I tried an espresso. Thank goodness they had sugar. I don't think I am ever going to be a coffee person.

At home Patricia had cooked a lovely meal. Lasagna! I know this is not French food, but you can't go wrong with home cooked lasagna. It was delicious.

SIDETRACK: Language Barriers
OJ is living with a host family in part because it is far easier than getting an apartment, but mostly because her family forces her to speak French and helps her learn the language faster. Patricia, Huber and their son Eric all speak English, with different levels of proficiency, so I could speak English and they would understand me and could communicate back pretty effectively. But they all prefer to speak French and can obviously express themselves better in French. Thankfully, after having lived with Rex for a year and being able to speak Spanish, I could get probably 60-70% of what was being talked about in French. However, because I could usually understand what was going on, they would forget and ask me questions in French. I would then freeze, either not knowing what exactly they asked me or immediately wanting to spit out spanish, neither of which helped. Then the awkward translation process, responding in English etc. I am so thankful that I could grasp what was going on, because being left in the dark, especially at a family dinner, is absolutely no fun.

Back to dinner. We had lasagna, salad and the bottle of wine I brought as a thank you. Then they had a cheese and yogurt course, I of course devoured the cheese with delicious fresh bread. And then dessert, which was a spiced applesauce with ginger cookies. Yummy.

Then off to bed, another big day tomorrow.

Tuesday

Today was Tuesday. It is reading week. The week long break halfway through the semester to let people catch up on reading. So there's no school. And... today was Keelia's birthday. The combination of these things made a Tuesday, into a spectacular day.

It started off rather boring, I did some homework (I know! Shock of shocks, I actually did some work on the designated week instead of putting it off. Wowzers.) and some laundry. Cleaned a bit, you know, toodling around.

Then Drew knocked on my floor, and after a fun peeking out the window (and then coming upstairs to actually talk because his neck was getting a crick) conversation about the events of the afternoon to celebrate Keelia's birthday, I hurriedly got ready to go.

I had to run to the library to print out my train ticket for tomorrow (more on that later) and realized how convenient my printer is at home and missed it. Drew and I grumbled a bit about this on the way to the tube. We took the train to King's Cross and found Platform 9 3/4. It was really fun. And I honestly can't decide if being at Platform 9 3/4 or watching Cristin dork out about asking a porter where the Platform was (yeah, not in between Platforms 9 and 10...) was more entertaining.

Then back on the tube to Leicester Square, where we found the street that JK was inspired by for Diagon Alley. (Can you see the Harry Potter theme starting to appear in this day?) Then decided that a snack and some warm drinks were in order after walking through the drizzle. I got a delicious scone with butter, jam, and cream with a pot of hot tea. It was delicious. (I don't really remember what everyone else got because I was honestly so enthralled by my tea and scone.)

The back out into the intermittent drizzle where we found one of the skinniest streets I have ever walked down. My umbrella was scratching on both sides. Then we wandered by Covent Garden to try to find the telephone booth that would lead to the Ministry of Magic (we did not find one... yet) but got sidetracked by a string quintet that was playing. They bought the CD.

Then we went to an old fashioned candy store and bought some sherbert lemons. And some other assorted candies, we know about my sweet tooth by now. They had fun things like 'not fags' or candy cigarettes (like 'not fags' is any less PC) and 'fish and chips' and 'sugar mice.' (The 'sugar mice' reminded me of the ice mice in Harry Potter and was thus extremely satisfied with this store.) Then we went to Carluccio's for dinner, thus continuing the trend of this restaurant for birthdays. And it was again delicious.

I had to leave dinner a bit early because I had gotten a very cheap ticket to the ballet that night. So I made the 5 minute walk to the Royal Opera House, not having to sprint anywhere this time. Got my ticket and sat down to watch that evening's production of Mayerling. I had never seen or really heard of this ballet before checking out the ROH's website, but it is part of the Kenneth MacMillan repetiore (VIDEO), (a very famous choreographer) so I figured I should see it.

I was right. It was absolutely fantastic. It was completely different from The Sleeping Beauty, which I had seen just about a week ago. That production from the 1940's using Petipa's original choreography uses hand gestures to convey a lot of the story, and many of the scenes are dream sequences with more tutus than I could count. Mayerling (VIDEO) on the other hand, had nary a tutu or dream sequence or hand language in sight. Every emotion was clearly shown through the dance. It was vibrant and sumptuously angsty. The costumes were gorgeous. I could honestly go on forever. (Although seeing it makes me want to call Shannon, my friend from home that now dances for the San Francisco Ballet Company, and chat her up about all this and the history, yada, yada, yada.)

I am still on kind of a high from it. It put the icing on a wonderful cake of a day. And to think... it's only Tuesday.

It's a great feeling to head to bed with (although sleep is still far away for me) because tomorrow I head to Paris to visit OJ. (I have no school... it's going to be awesome.) And as we all know, I hate packing, so as soon as I upload this that is what I will be doing.

I hope that you are all having a wonderful week. More updates to come when I get back from Paris!

Cheers!

Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night

For those who have seen V for Vendetta, you will have some experience with Guy Fawkes and the 5th of November. It's also known as Bonfire night.

Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder, treason, and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot...

Basically they celebrate the almost blowing up of Parliament in 1605. They set off fireworks, have fairs, general merriment... oh! and they burn effigies of the Guy in bonfires. Good stuff. (Wikipedia gives a far better description of what it is and all the crazy customs than I could, so just check that out.)

On the actual 5th of November, we (Cristin, Keelia, Drew, Ruth, Tom, other Katie, and myself) all tried to go to Clapham to see the big fireworks celebration there. Apparently thousands of other people had the same idea, so we only saw the tail end as the trains were severely delayed. We attempted to avoid the crowds and managed to get back on the tube, after some wanderings, right before they closed it.

Then we stopped at Sainsbury's and got some things to drink and went back to the apartments for a night filled with games, merriment, and the odd stray firework exploding somewhere nearby in Mile End. Despite not seeing fireworks, a fair, or really any Guy Fawkes stuff at all, it was a great night.

_____

As the 5th was actually a Thursday this year... many areas decided that they would hold their fireworks ceremonies on the weekend. Which thankfully for me, as I LOVE fireworks, meant I got to try again to see everything.

This time I went with Emily, a girl from one of my classes, and some other natives (Emma, Chris and Maria) and headed to the local Tower Hamlets Bonfire Night Celebration in Victoria Park. It was like a 20 minute walk.

This time we got there with plenty of time before the show, so we decided to partake in some the carnival/amusement park rides they had set up. We got on one of those rides that is like a mini roller coaster that goes in a circle, but really, really fast. It is really fun, and having been on one before I should have known not to sit on the outside, but I did not. And the other girls did not brace themselves properly. So while I was whirling around and around laughing hysterically, I was also getting a bit skinnier being squished between the edge of our car and my friends. I still have a very nice, very large bruise on my ribs.

Then we headed towards the big crowd to watch the fireworks. We were pretty far back, but that isn't so much of an issue for fireworks. What I didn't realize is that it is a fire show as well as a fireworks show. They had huge fireballs and choreographed jets of flame shooting in the air set to music with fire themes. Even though we were almost at the back of the crowd, I could still feel the heat of the fire on my face. It was awesome. And then the fireworks started. And it was even more awesome.

I had a blast. I was bouncing along to the music with all the other 5 year old children. Although I didn't get to be on my Dad's shoulders (I might be a bit big for that now) and see over everyone's head. The whole atmosphere, lots of families, hot dogs, light up toys, crowds, fireworks, etc. reminded me of being home in Tahoe for the 4th of July. Slightly nostalgic.

The fireworks are far closer overhead than they are at home. Apparently they worry an inordinate amount about house and building fires (like having 15 alarms in our flat) but forest fires they don't care about so much. There is no way that the forest service or the fire dept. at home would ever let a 'fire show' happen. Especially not during the 4th of July.

It was November and not July, I get it. But the crisp air felt the same as a Tahoe night, that is until it started raining after we were headed back. Now I had my soft-shell, so I was fine. But it was the one time I have forgotten my umbrella since I got it, so of course it rained. (I am still sticking to my theory about the relativity of preparedness to what the weather is going to do.)

The group of us decided that some nice, warm curry would be just the thing to cure the dampness. It was also far enough away to not be crowded with people. So we hopped on the tube to Brick Lane (it's becoming a thing isn't it?) and got some food at restaurant. We managed to get a 4 course meal with 2 drinks for 10 pounds a person. I love haggling for meals.

Then we walked off all the curry, naan, popadoms and beer back to QM in the lapse between the first drizzle and the later downpour. Good work.