Tuesday, January 04, 2005
So this is the new year!
Happy new year, everybody! I hope everyone had a great time, complete with lots of kissing and champagne. We got back from our trip yesterday afternoon, and we're almost recovered.
We took off Thursday afternoon, and were able to get first class seats, which I have to say were amazing. We are so lucky to be able to travel in such style. I dread the day that Victor doesn't work for an airline anymore. Anyway, we enjoyed the flight over (I watched Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, because I heart Topher Grace... it was pretty bad), although we didn't get much sleep. I was hoping to sleep a lot since the seats fully recline into a bed, but alas, no luck.
We got to our hotel, the Stylotel, around 10am Friday morning. They didn't have our room ready, but I was apparently so pathetic about wanting a shower that they put us in a different room. It was a triple room, with one double bed and a single bed. It had a little cubicle with a tiny shower, sink, and toilet. Even though it was a fairly small room, we liked it a lot. Budget hotels are usually pretty awful in London, and at least this one was recently renovated and had an amazing breakfast.
We took a nap and then hit the town. Victor wanted to do some shopping, so we headed over to the Oxford Street/Bond Street area. He ended up buying some jeans at Fenwick, which is a nice department store on Bond Street. We also checked out the designer shops, including Prada, Miu Miu, and Burberry, but we didn't make any purchases there. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and a bite to eat at a pub around the corner.
For New Year's Eve, we went to a club night called Popscene 2K5 (short description found here). Basically, it was two floors of a college building overlooking the Thames that had been converted to a 60's retro club and an indie club. We had a hard time finding it, but once we got there, it was amazing. Highlights: Watching the mods and hipsters oohing and aahing over the fireworks above the Thames and the London Eye; counting down the New Year with "Sympathy for the Devil" in the background; dancing our asses off to the Smiths, the Killers, the Walkmen... you name it, it was played.
Saturday we dragged ourselves out of bed for more shopping. We went to Knightsbridge to see Harrod's (which was closed) and Harvey Nichols (which Victor fell in love with). We did more shopping, too... we both made purchases at Mexx, and we wandered around Selfridges for a long time. Here is a silly picture of me from Saturday:
That night we were exhausted, so we got takeaway Indian food. We ate it on the bed in the hotel room. I found a piece of chicken tikka masala that looked like a face. I mean exactly. So of course I took pictures. They didn't turn out so well, so use your imagination:
We spent a lot of Sunday sightseeing. Of course we went to my favorite London park, St. James's Park, where I got a quick picture of a very cold Victor:
We peeked at Buckingham Palace through the gates. Unfortunately, the next changing of the guard was an hour and a half away, so we didn't get to see that. Maybe next trip. Anyway, as we were heading down to see Westminster Abbey and Parliament, we saw some guards marching over toward the palace:
And no trip to London is complete without a photo of Big Ben (yeah, yeah, it's the bell inside the clock tower, not the tower itself):
We also made our way down to see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We didn't have time for the Tower of London tour, which I love, but Victor got a picture of some Beefeaters anyway:
We spent the rest of the day at the National Gallery and shopping around Covent Garden. Victor picked up two very lovely (and relatively cheap) shirts at Paul Smith, a couple of things at H&M, and an early birthday present for me: a super cute suede purse from Ted Baker. We ate fish and chips that night and passed out, since we had to leave the hotel at 5:30am Monday morning. And we were able to get first class again on the flight home.
All in all, the trip was fantastic. The only real downside is that whatever detergent the hotel uses for sheets and towels gave me a horrific rash. All over my arms and legs, and a little on my ears. I'm so miserable. I think it's starting to subside though, especially with all of the oatmeal baths and hydrocortisone and antihistimines... Maybe Kris would say I deserved it... after all, I still haven't posted anyone else's top tens yet. I promise to do it before the end of the week. Promise!
Happy new year, everybody! I hope everyone had a great time, complete with lots of kissing and champagne. We got back from our trip yesterday afternoon, and we're almost recovered.
We took off Thursday afternoon, and were able to get first class seats, which I have to say were amazing. We are so lucky to be able to travel in such style. I dread the day that Victor doesn't work for an airline anymore. Anyway, we enjoyed the flight over (I watched Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, because I heart Topher Grace... it was pretty bad), although we didn't get much sleep. I was hoping to sleep a lot since the seats fully recline into a bed, but alas, no luck.
We got to our hotel, the Stylotel, around 10am Friday morning. They didn't have our room ready, but I was apparently so pathetic about wanting a shower that they put us in a different room. It was a triple room, with one double bed and a single bed. It had a little cubicle with a tiny shower, sink, and toilet. Even though it was a fairly small room, we liked it a lot. Budget hotels are usually pretty awful in London, and at least this one was recently renovated and had an amazing breakfast.
We took a nap and then hit the town. Victor wanted to do some shopping, so we headed over to the Oxford Street/Bond Street area. He ended up buying some jeans at Fenwick, which is a nice department store on Bond Street. We also checked out the designer shops, including Prada, Miu Miu, and Burberry, but we didn't make any purchases there. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and a bite to eat at a pub around the corner.
For New Year's Eve, we went to a club night called Popscene 2K5 (short description found here). Basically, it was two floors of a college building overlooking the Thames that had been converted to a 60's retro club and an indie club. We had a hard time finding it, but once we got there, it was amazing. Highlights: Watching the mods and hipsters oohing and aahing over the fireworks above the Thames and the London Eye; counting down the New Year with "Sympathy for the Devil" in the background; dancing our asses off to the Smiths, the Killers, the Walkmen... you name it, it was played.
Saturday we dragged ourselves out of bed for more shopping. We went to Knightsbridge to see Harrod's (which was closed) and Harvey Nichols (which Victor fell in love with). We did more shopping, too... we both made purchases at Mexx, and we wandered around Selfridges for a long time. Here is a silly picture of me from Saturday:
That night we were exhausted, so we got takeaway Indian food. We ate it on the bed in the hotel room. I found a piece of chicken tikka masala that looked like a face. I mean exactly. So of course I took pictures. They didn't turn out so well, so use your imagination:
We spent a lot of Sunday sightseeing. Of course we went to my favorite London park, St. James's Park, where I got a quick picture of a very cold Victor:
We peeked at Buckingham Palace through the gates. Unfortunately, the next changing of the guard was an hour and a half away, so we didn't get to see that. Maybe next trip. Anyway, as we were heading down to see Westminster Abbey and Parliament, we saw some guards marching over toward the palace:
And no trip to London is complete without a photo of Big Ben (yeah, yeah, it's the bell inside the clock tower, not the tower itself):
We also made our way down to see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We didn't have time for the Tower of London tour, which I love, but Victor got a picture of some Beefeaters anyway:
We spent the rest of the day at the National Gallery and shopping around Covent Garden. Victor picked up two very lovely (and relatively cheap) shirts at Paul Smith, a couple of things at H&M, and an early birthday present for me: a super cute suede purse from Ted Baker. We ate fish and chips that night and passed out, since we had to leave the hotel at 5:30am Monday morning. And we were able to get first class again on the flight home.
All in all, the trip was fantastic. The only real downside is that whatever detergent the hotel uses for sheets and towels gave me a horrific rash. All over my arms and legs, and a little on my ears. I'm so miserable. I think it's starting to subside though, especially with all of the oatmeal baths and hydrocortisone and antihistimines... Maybe Kris would say I deserved it... after all, I still haven't posted anyone else's top tens yet. I promise to do it before the end of the week. Promise!
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