Nat and Daorcey!

Since Friday, until Sunday, Nat and Daorcey are sleeping on my floor here. It's really nice to have them, and we're getting to do lots of touristy stuff, but my room's pretty small, and it's sort of been like a three-day long sleepover, full of gossiping, giggling, but (thankfully?) no pillow fights.

Nat and Daorcey arrived, after finding their own way on the tube, at the New Cross Station about noonish, and we've pretty much been going hard-core touristy since then.

After their arrival, the showered--always nice after 12-plus hours of travel--but didn't nap. Instead, we ate Iceland pizza and headed out to Greenwich, where we had a beer (Daorcey even had a pint), went to the Greenwich Meridian line, and the Observatory museum, and then wandered around shopping a bit, and looking at the Cutty Sark, before heading to Brick Lane (in a very convoluted route, sort of like this sentence, but on the tube and DLR) for dinner.

Brick Lane for dinner... well, that's a story on it's own that'll write up later, once N/D have left and I have time again. We had fun, suffice it to say, with the restaurant touts (as explained a bit in this entry) Nat might use it as part of a communications assignment... After that, off to the Amersham Arms, the pub we (as in me and my friends) often go to on a friday night, but few showed up, so now Nat bugs me about having no friends. Anne came, and eventually Iain did as well, so N/D got to meet at least one real Brit. (And, Daorcey had two whole pints. Woot! He's really goin' hardcore!)

Saturday we wandered central London. We had planned to hit up the Abbey, but it was randomly closed. As the weather was cold--well, cold for here, and that's cold enough to not want to walk around outside all day--we went to the National Gallery for several hours. Good times, but exhausting.

After we tried to get tickets to a play called A life in the Theatre, written by David Mamet, and starring Patrick Stewart (and Joshua Jackson, but who cares?). We didn't get in Saturday, but have front row tickets for Friday. Nat, the geeky little trekkie that she is, is rather excited.

Instead, we went shopping (including to Hamleys, the wicked-awesome toy store, which had a Harry Potter themed staircase, which was much cooler than that sounds.) Then, we had desert in Covent Garden, and heading home, ran into Anne on the train (think about the odds of that... there's how many stations, with a train going every few minutes, and multiple carriages, and somehow we end up sitting two rows apart. Weird.) We stopped at the late off-license for wine and chips (we got a classy 2000 Chardonnay from Uruguay--which yes, led to many jokes, and every flavour of chip from Plain Salted to Prawn).

Sunday we went to the London Zoo, so Nat could see Penguins. With a capital "p", apparently. Once again, it was cold--good for the penguins maybe, but not for us. The zoo was pretty good tho. I won't go into detail here, but photos are up, with commentary, here: http://njkobie.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=2225263&IID=70827907&Page=1

Afterwards, we wandered over to Abbey Road Studios, where we walked the famous crosswalk--but didn't tourist-out enough to stage a photo... there were lots of cars, and buses, and they ain't stoppin'--and read the wall covered in "I love Beatles" graffiti and scratchings, and took some photos.

Then, went for fish and chips at a restaurant (that rather seemed like a British Boston Pizza, very authentic) on Baker Street, home, of course, to the fictional Sherlock Holmes, tho his never-existed status doesn't seem to stop the tourist authorities from pointing out where he "lived."

Today, I had classes and work to do (hence this procrastination), so they're off wandering the streets themselves. Hopefully they find their way back tonight, as tomorrow... Paris!