So-- even though there was a big day trip in there--and I'm in my general freak out tourist triage… there really wasn't a whole LOT that happened this weekend, really.
The day trip to Brighton was lovely--if not perfectly clear. I had bought these really cheap non-refundable, non-transferrable train tickets into Brighton at a time when the forecast was for bright sunny days. And yet-- by the time I actually got there, of course, there was threats of thunderstorms. I even momentarily considered just scrapping my plans and letting that (rather small) money be considered a sacrifice to the travel gods.
But I'm glad I decided to go, instead. I had, it turns out, a lovely time still! The beach is the beach, and I just adore the vibe around Brighton. Really, for this trip so far, my favorite stops outside of London have been Brighton and Bristol… Something about graffiti art, apparently. Actually, it probably has something more to do with the fact that I am actually lousy for choice for vegetarian restaurants at either place. Though it's probably a similar overall theme, if you think about it…
Case in point, as I was walking from the train station into town--veering my way to a highly recommended coffee shop I wanted to visit (called Small Batch), I wandered past two veggie restaurants-- both within a few doors of each other! AND-- it was getting to be lunch time on a Saturday and one was offering the "full English breakfast" late on weekend days. Woot! I've been wanting to try this. It's quite tasty, actually… So it's a big breakfast-- beans and toast and eggs and sausage and potatoes and stewed (?) tomatoes… This is the traditional English breakfast. So mine was basically all these things, only a tofu scramble instead-- But the stewed tomatoes was a fun touch-- the beans for brekkie is "foreign" enough to be entertaining. And I got an extra mushroom dish that MIGHT have been considered gravy? I was actually at a loss there-- but it was tasty and I mixed it into my tofu scramble and enjoyed it just fine. :) So I had an English breakfast for lunch, really, but it kind of worked-- as so much of it was unusual for breakfast food, anyway! :) I think I'm more of a continental breakfast kind of girl, really. :)
Small Batch was also a lovely coffee shop-- I just got a flat white (americano with milk-- so basically a cafe au lait mixed with a latte). And tried to take advantage of their wifi-- but they didn't have any. This might have been the one complaint about the whole Indy thing over the course of the day-- none of the restaurants or coffee houses I went to had wifi!
While we're talking about all my restaurants, I'll throw in the dinner joint, too. It was a burrito place called Tortilla that bragged of "genuine California style Mexican food." Well, Cali Mex is my fave… And this place looked basically like a Chipotle-- indeed, it WAS basically Chipotle. More indeed, it was WAY closer to Chipotle than the CHIPOTLE in London!! And that is just weird! The London Chipotle was my one big example of being disappointed b/c the UK version wasn't QUITE what I wanted and remembered from the US version. This other place, though, had tortillas more like the US kind, and added guac as the other kind did… I don't know how/why, but even the ingredients-- the kind of salsa used, etc, was closer to the US Chipotle. The only differences, really, was that I didn't use a knife and fork to massacre my burrito as I usually do (I didn't see cutlery, in fact), and the burrito was a bit smaller than the US version-- making it vaguely POSSIBLE to eat with my hands. It WAS bigger than the London Chipotle, though, in keeping with the general weirdness going on there!
So those were my main eateries-- I also got an ice cream on the beach during the sunny time in the afternoon… And THAT was basically what I did in Brighton…
I found a lovely little used book store in the Lanes (where I would dip when it rained) and bought a trashed copy of The Talented Mr Ripley (aka one of the earliest shows I saw in London) for L1. Knowing this book would never come back to the States with me, I proceeded to trash it further by reading it on the beach for most of the rest of that day… I'd never read it before. And it was pretty close to a fun trashy beach read! Only, of course for me, with the added bonus of being almost "homework" as it was connected to one of the plays I'd seen and meant to read once I had a chance. :)
It was nice just practically to veg out all day. I didn't do the Pavilion--as I'd already done it. I DID do the Pier, and I just sat there and stared at the water… The clouds that hung around pretty much all day really added to the scenery-- they didn't detract. The only thing that would have been better is had I seen the green flash on a clear day. But I can do that some other time. :)
Sunday, then, I was back in London. I had tickets to see a band called the Blues Explosion at this uber famous London club called Ronnie Scott's. I'm not a big jazz person-- so I liked the idea that this band was BLUES, not jazz. It did mean, however, that I'm seeing a show or concert or something each of my last four nights in town… Sheesh!
Before the show, I tried to knock off a couple more items off my London list… The Abbey Rd zebra crossing obligatory Beatles picture and Regents Park--which I have seen (but can never believe) described as BETTER THAN my beloved Hyde Park/Kensington. Ooh-- I just thought of something. I saw RP described as better than Hyde Park-- NOT Kensington Gardens. This is interesting-- and potentially true. Kensington Gardens is really my favorite-- Hyde Park is fine-- but not nearly as cool… So maybe I give the tour guide/ Timeout credit for that one… Regents Park-- the corner that I visited Sunday-- was lovely. It's tulip season-- and I might have seen more tulips here than at Kew! And there are a ton of rose bushes that will explode into bloom this summer! That will be GORGEOUS!! Another thing I appreciated/noticed about Regents Park is that they have a famous open-air theater there, that I hadn't even tried to book at-- as I was here just in the winter. BUT-- I AM back for one night in May before I fly back to the States… Maybe, maybe, after all. Then MAYBE I will also see some roses… The show, btw, is Peter Pan-- which is THIS close to perfect, as Barrie lived near my good old Kensington Gardens and PP is set at Kensington Gardens. It's super-local to me (ala the previous Cats show) and in an outdoor theater! This might just be meant to be! :)
By the way-- if you want to watch ridiculous tourists attempt to cross the zebra crossing at Abbey Rd (you missed your chance with me)-- there's a web cam for that:
http://www.onabbeyroad.com/cam.htm
After RP-- I wended my way down to grab a bite before the show. This was my only real complaint about the day… I had a fun Indian place lined up-- but it was unexpectedly closed. THEN there was a coffee shop next, but it was under construction! So I ended up at a chain with decidedly Meh food… Sigh! Let that be the last boring chain experience of mine in London-- this is my wish… :)
Finally, I went to the show-- not really knowing what to expect. First off, I was suddenly standing in one of those queues outside a club like everyone always does. Only, imagine me in such a line: wearing hiking books, jeans, and a backpack-- having just come from walking around Regents Park for hours! :) Oh well-- I had tickets already-- They don't have a dress code-- people just seemed to WANT to dress up for it. And it would be dark in there… Whatcha gonna do?
I got in there and stepped DIRECTLY back to the 1950s. I had never actually been in this kind of club before-- where people are sitting at tables, and ordering food and drinks, all through the show. It was really cool, actually! I was just waiting for the cast of LA Confidential to show up… In that kind of mood, I ordered a whiskey sour to drink during the concert-- It seemed like an appropriately old-fashioned drink. AND it was Mark Twain's favorite cocktail. Indeed-- my chapter theorizing that Twain helped to popularize whiskey in his literature will largely feature this particular drink (well--versions of it). So it was practically research! :)
The band was a lot of fun… Not the BEST thing I've ever heard, but an entertaining evening out. They played old blues standards-- but nothing so popular that a tourist like me would know it. So it wasn't QUITE like listening to the soundtrack to The Commitments, but it was really close. There was the brass section, a keyboardist, then a woman came up in the second set and it was practically like they had the back up singers. I'm not complaining! I loved that movie and my mom and I watched a couple of the original members in a show in San Jose years ago. The music was a LOT like that… Makes me realize I should work on that part of my musical knowledge. (I have NO musical knowledge outside of 80s pop and hair bands-- there I'm an expert. If Dean Winchester would know the music-- there is an EXCELLENT chance I do, too. Otherwise, not so much. I have a lot of shame about this-- but watcha gonna do?)
And that was my day-- In keeping with the theme of reading books based on shows seen, I read Neil Gaiman's Stardust while on the bus and in the park over the course of the day… I didn't see a live show, but rather the movie… But it was at the house of one of my colleagues and a lot of fun, so I'm counting it!
It's funny that here I am in frantic mode trying to get everything done in the time I have-- and yet I've finished three books in two days… (Saturday I also finished Song of Solomon on the train on the way DOWN.) I guess now that I'm not reading for school, I can read these other books. I would imagine if I checked I've been reading this much all along… There is a LOT of time spent on the tube, or the bus, or the coach, or train, or whatever in London… But before it was always for class, or the chapter I was working on, or something more work-related like that… even counting the week or two I spent falling down the Harry Potter rabbit hole (ooh--fun mixed kids' book metaphor there!). So I guess I'm not reading any faster than normal… :)
And apparently tonight's show, American Buffalo, is also based on a book… well, a play, but a readable work of literature… Stuff to keep me busy… ;)
Oh and I almost forgot: I also went past Speaker's Corner Sunday afternoon to see the nutters. I forgot b/c it was pretty forgettable. A couple Christian nutters screaming at a crowd of maybe 20 passing tourists like me. Oh well I have the photo below... C:
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