18 Oct 2010

Hestia and London (in numbers)

4 - days in the glorious city

£5.76 - each, for breakfast in the hotel.  Shouldn't have booked it. Vauxhall has wonderful hispanic/portugese delis - could have had massive breakfast for all 4 of us for a fiver.

3 - of course there were only 3 of us, not 4 of us in London......  *brain a bit fuddled*

£30 each to get on!!!!
£30 - to go on the London Eye.  EACH.  We stood on the ground with ice cream cones and watched it go round and then spent £60 on BOOKS.

1 - small case with 4 days of clothing crammed in.  £60 of books can really dent your clothing space.  Came home dressed like a fecking yeti.

2- evening meals in the local Spanish restaurant - tapas - 7 plates for 3 of us.  I was so unwell I thought I had gallstones.

4 hours spent standing upright in the bathroom because of hideous pains that may or may not be gallstones. No-one came to see if I was alright, even though I was moaning gently with the pain and lack of sleep.

5 - number of museums visited - Natural History (Dinosaur heaven for a small boy); V&A (heaven for Hestia); Science Museum (Heaven for Tertarus); Imperial War Museum (small boy/big boy heaven) and....some other museum that I have temporarily forgotten.

1 - store that I actually got into on Regent Street - National Geographic Shop.  Chap behind the counter made my day by looking startled when I spoke to him in perfectly enunciated Scottish English.  He thought, for some inexplicable reason, that I was Spanish.  Made my bloody day! Wandered around pretending to be Penelope Cruz....

20 minutes - permitted shopping time in Harrods.  They do not have any ordinary looking burds working in the beauty hall there, do they?  That said, the girls at Chanel were very helpful when I looked utterly crestfallen at failing YET AGAIN to secure the illusive Paradoxal nail polish.....

1 - lunch spent with my younger brother who was down in Lahndan on business.

0 - the number of pounds that my younger brother had on him to actually contribute to lunch *sigh* somethings NEVER change.

1- visit to estoteric bookshop Watkins.  Bought a book on Sacred Geometry.  I'm sure I'll read it.  One Day.

100% necessary - my laptop to maintain communication with the Twitterverse...and to work out which Tube Station went with which museum.

Nil - quantity of digital cameras that we remembered to take with us.  Was reduced to buying a disposable camera for going to the dinosaurs in Nat History Museum.  The unfinished spool will lie in a drawer until the day Sonshine is clearing out my things after my funeral.

Nil - quantity of eye-make up remover that I brought with me.  Removed my mascara every night with neat soap on folded up bit of toilet roll.  Class.  Now have eyes like pissholes in snow.

1 - spiritual home - the V&A - I'm coming back to visit just a bit more of it.  Only managed the jewellery, the gallery with all the buddhas, the fashion section and the SHOP!!!!! The SHOP is fablas!!!!  Nearly bought myself a Ballet Russe scarf for £18.50 only to find out at the till it was £185.00!! (note to self - take reading glasses with you EVERYWHERE)

200% disappointed that I didn't manage to meet up with Christina from Fashion's Most Wanted :-(

1 - noisy radiator.  It was like the bowels of a ship when it cranked into gear in the early morning.

nil - hot water for a shower by 8am thanks to the legion of early risers.

5 - breakfasts that consisted of 2 tiny croissants*, 2 half slices of dutch cheese, 2 x quarter slices of gammon, one coffee and a tub of something indescriminate which may, or may not, have been yoghurt.  *Nearly brought one home as a captive wife for Kevin in the breadbin for Part 2 of the experiment into dough eugenics.

100% wanted to stay in London.  I love it.  Much greener than I expected.  OK - people drive like bloody madmen, but I could get used to that......I confess to casting an eye over a sign that said Seasonal Waiting Staff required and wondering whether Tertarus and Sonshine would really miss me if I ran away to London to pursue my dreams.

If only I knew what my bloody dreams were.

12 comments:

  1. There is a huge amount of green space in London - parks, heaths, woods.
    See that big tall building behind your picture of the Eye? I used to work there. A bunch of us decamped one morning and went for a ride the week it opened :D

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  2. I wish my schedule had not been so hectic too, as I would have loved to have met up with you ... I love the image of the yeti in my mind ..LOL
    London is wonderful but I am always shattered when I return it is so much stimulation
    Love Ruth xx

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  3. Love, love, love London, I find it difficult to tear myself away am always trying to figure out a way of affording a pied a Terre, short of winning the lottery or pulling off a successful bank heist both highly unlikely I think it will have to remain firmly in dreamsville.
    XXX

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  4. I miss London. The last time I was there was the day Diana died. I was woken up by a flight attendant to ask me if I was British. She then whispered that Di had just been killed in a car accident. (thought to myself, there might be another death on this flight if you wake me up again).The city was surreal. The flowers were just starting to pile up on the streets and everyone looked shell shocked. I must go back soon. I hope you are feeling better Ali.

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  5. There is a Barry M nail polish that is apparently a dupe of Chanel paradoxal. Look!
    http://www.lipglossiping.com/2010/10/16/barrym-dusky-mauve-vs-chanel-paradoxal-um-dupe/

    £2.95 they last much longer.

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  6. Hey sarf London is my manor - are you still in the area?

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  7. Mrs TNMA - nope, back in the bosom of boring old Bute now!

    M - is that you, M?? Dinosaur M?! Thank you for stopping by and putting an end to my ridiculous quest for that damned nail polish! That Barry M stuff is a bloody dead ringer. Am off to chemists tomorrow to buy me a bottle - thank you so much :-)

    Legend - another death on the flight - LMAO!

    Dash - I couldn't even afford a matchbox in London, but if I can find a good hotel to go back to every visit, I'll be absolutely delighted. It's my first time there since inter-railing around Europe whilst at Uni with a girlfriend and some guys 'for security.' I shall draw a veil over it all right there....

    Ruth - yes, coming back to Bute, where the most exciting thing is watching two crows battle it out on the bird table, after London is quite a culture shock ;-) Sorry to have missed you there too!

    Ania - why am I not surprised that you all played hooky. I wonder whose idea it was *fixes steely gaze on the purple-haired blonde*

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  8. Yup. Dinosaur M, Facegoop M. I *knew* there was something I mean to buy at lunchtime. I will go and pick up my own bottle tomorrow. Bwahahahahahhaha.

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  9. Dear Ali, I'm sorry we didn't meet up. Please let me know as soon as you're coming back. I'll take you to some nice places. Also if I have a bit more time I can sort you out a better hotel. Lots are cheaper if you book more than 3 weeks in advance.

    No water and the breakfast = not good. I would have left the mascara on personally!

    I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself. It will be much more fun if you come back on your own ; ) I definitely won't be taking you to the Imperial War Museum! Love the V&A though.

    Let me know when you are free and I'll call you for a catch up. Look forward to it! xx

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  10. I visited London ages ago and on both visits spent a day at the V&A. Loved it. Loved your post also.

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  11. Oh what fun you had. I would have left the mascara on although that depends on how tidily one sleeps.
    May you soon return. X

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  12. Lori - I'm not a tidy sleeper lol!

    Mystica - V&A is The Best!

    Christina - was disappointed that we couldn't meet, but these things can't be helped! When work calls, you need to jump ;-) But next time, minus Tertarus and Sonshine, we can have a blast!

    Ali xxxx

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