vendredi 14 mars 2008

west end girls: london day 3.

Sunday

Maek let me check my mail on his laptoppy, and Mom sent me an email saying how proud she was to see my essay on Why We Write. She printed it out for Dad and Grandma to read too. That made me happy. Sometimes I can get embarrassed about writing real personal stuff, even on this blog, but it ended up being a good thing. Mom also said that she bought my ticket for home. I officially go home July 3rd on a flight and airline different from my parents. I'm glad they got me a ticket different from theirs, and a ticket home in general. There will be a lot to think about on the flight back to the states.Went to the Columbia Road Flower market, which Maek and Loz suggested for a Sunday morning. It's always nice to do local things and really mingle with citizens of this amazing city. We basically followed people who where coming towards us with flowers. Maek and Loz also told us about this photographer, Seamus Ryan, who does these free themed photo sessions. They went with Jaiya and got the cutest photos. He posts them up on his website, and if you like them you can order them.

But first we went down the road walking through flower stall after stall and hearing the lovely Brits yelling, "Two for a tenner! Come spend your pocket money!" We ducked into little tiny shops that sold cute things. Both Lucia and I got these amazing Scottish scarves made by a company called Johnstons that's been making scarves since 1797. I have this thing for getting special things that have history, like my Frye boots and a story to it ("I got this Scottish scarf at a flower market in London!"). Plus, I just really liked the scarf a lot. It has a unique pattern.

After much wandering around, we found the studio. Today's theme was "The Signing". Seamus took photos of people walking to a white board, signing their name, posing in front of the board, and then walking off camera. He's going to make it into a film too. Lucia and I were really excited. Firstly--it's free. Secondly, how cool is this?!

I went first, then Lucia went, and I took pics of her going. Lucia signed her name "L. Angel"--with her last name, and Seamus said, "Is your name Angus?" Everyone in the room laughed, but not at Lucia, just regular laughing at the moment. Lucia laughed too, which I think helped her photo because she has this smile that remains after you laugh a bit. Very cute. You can see me and Lucia's photo on Seamus Ryan's site.After, Lucia and I took photos in their Photobooth that prints out amazing pictures. It also has a wind machine inside. That was fun.After the flower market, it started to rain a bit, so we decided to do something indoors. I suggested Harrods since Lucia mentioned wanting to buy an English umbrella, something well made to withstand harsh weather. I ended up getting a quintessential Harrods bag, something I always get on each trip to London. They're so cute, and durable since they're made with PVC and laminated. The umbrellas were pretty expensive so we walked down the street a bit and hopped into a luggage store where Lucia found the perfect umbrella: it's black and long with a wooden handle. Lucia also was looking at some luggage since the one she brought here was in bad shape. I too was looking at the carry-on bags that were on sale. Lucia got a duffel with wheels and a Samsonite carry-on in khaki. I got the same carry-on weekend bag in purple.

We figured, what the hell, why not? It was something that would last a long time, we could use it for Italy, and I definitely needed mine since I'm coming home with more than I brought. The luggage guy was super nice and took 20 pounds off the sale price. Nice!Then I did something really stupid that I'm just too embarrassed to even write about it: I left my wallet at the store.

I had no idea. We left the store and were walking towards the metro station, about a block away. The luggage guy comes running up behind us, holding my wallet. I was stunned. I never do this crap. He had this sort of mad face, kind of like the face your Dad makes when you do something really stupid and careless. I was so embarrassed. Lesson learned. I was just so stupidly excited about my new purchase that I didn't even think about the other stuff going on around me. Felt like an idiot for a couple hours afterward and rightly so.

Went home to drop off our purchases. We couldn't think of anything else to do, and I think Lucia was kind of getting tired of "touristy" things. You can only have so much of museums, Maek had said. So we decided to see a movie! I mentioned that Covent Garden as a lot of great cinemas, so I chose the Odeon at Covent Garden to see There Will Be Blood, which I wanted to see for a while.

It wasn't a full house or anything for There Will Be Blood, just a lot of kids our age, which is nice. Before the title credit showed up on the screen some guy said, "Gonorrhea!" which was pretty funny and stupid at the same time. The film itself was pretty good, and everyone laughed at all the right parts ("I drink your milkshake!"). It was a good time. Headed home around midnight pretty beat.