The first afternoon was a little difficult for Lisa because she was very jet lagged and I wouldn't let her go to sleep until at least 10pm. It was for her own good! No better way to beat jet lag than get right on track with a sleep schedule. So we wandered Greenwich Park exploring areas I had never seen before on my runs and enjoying the beautiful flowers that seem to be growing somewhat wildly throughout the area. The next day we did a lot of walking starting at St. Paul's Cathedral and then walking to the Tate Modern to look at some pretty art things and then continuing on through Waterloo (past my school), Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus where we stopped for some drinks and then finally right back on home! It was a very long, exhausting and productive day.
Saturday, the highlight of our time together began! We headed off to Madrid, Spain for one of the best few days I ever could have asked for. The weather was so beautiful I wore shorts and dresses the entire time and it was so nice to not need a jacket for an entire FOUR days. We went to several major museums, rowed boats on Retiro Lake, toured the palace, ate lots of tapas and wonderful market food at San Miguel and were taken out by very friendly spanish girls who we met through my friend, Ruth, who I went to high school with and is now studying in Madrid! We had a wonderful time dancing the night away. Literally! The clubs do not open until after 1am so nobody shows up until at least 2am and since the metro doesn't open until 6am there's no point in leaving before that. It is customary to get breakfast on your way home from a night out and as much as Lisa and I wanted to partake in that we were beyond exhausted from our 4ish hours of sleep the night before. Yah, 4 hours because did I mention our flight Saturday morning was at 8am? Meaning we had to leave my place before 6. It was crazy and hectic and totally worth it. Spain is also another metro system that I am now comfortable with though I let Lisa do most of the navigating. My mind has been a jungle of so many cities and I kept getting mixed up as to which direction we were headed (typical Kristin) and so I gave up and left all that business to Lisa and she did a fantastical job of keeping us on track! The warm sunshine was honestly much needed for my sanity. Although London has plenty of sunshine it isn't warm like I am used to! Lisa and I both got some color and I feel so refreshed. Being back in London has also been fun and we of course have kept plenty busy. The weather has been surprisingly warm and we are taking advantage of that. I wore flip flops for the first time in MONTHS (literally) and it was the best feeling in the world! Perhaps not practical for all the walking we have been doing but it was nice to enjoy for a day.
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| Only building in the world (supposedly?) that has been a Catholic church, a Jewish Synagogue, and an Islamic Mosque. Amazing. (It was also a Protestant Chapel and a Methodist Church though not for as long as it was the others. Currently it remains a Mosque where over 3000 people attend on Friday's!) |
Tonight we went on a really awesome tour that involved seeing "behind the scenes" London which most people wouldn't think of exploring. It was a tour that involved experiencing street art in the East end and it's fascinating how much of a separate culture it is. It's not just tagging walls with spray cans or putting ugly graffitti all over the city but it truly is art and I am no fascinated. Our tour guide was enthusiastic and part of the art scene which made the tour feel authentic as well. The artists have created beauty in a part of London which is otherwise worn down, gray, dirty and mostly forgotten about until the Olympics committee decided they needed to clean up the city and in turn told many of the artists they had to stop painting/drawing on/and changing the building. Funny because until recently no one could really be bothered to even help clean the city streets but now that big businesses want to move in and expand and the city wants to show off all of London a culture has to change how it looks to the world.
Anyways, we passed several of the artists while we were on our tour and everyone was friendly, probably because our tour guide seemed to know absolutely everyone we passed and talked to! It was funny and again, felt authentic.
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| This is all plaster chiseled out by hammer and nails |
One cool fact: one of the artists who paints around the East End actually has one of his paintings hanging in the white house! David Cameron and Obama always exchange gifts when they see each other and Samantha Cameron (David Cameron's wife) somehow knew of this man and his artwork and wanting to make her husband seem cool to the president of the United States she told him to give Obama a piece of his artwork and BAM! Now this artist is commissioned by people all over the country to do work on their buildings, bill boards, etc...
Another one of the artists, Connor Something-rather, draws soldiers so I of course liked him the most. Another artist draws large animals in cities all around the world and makes hundreds of thousands when his art goes in to galleries. I find it beautiful that even though some can make thousands and thousands by selling in galleries they still want to spend their free time making an old run down city more beautiful with all of the colors and art they bring to the walls of the city.
Our tour guide also filled us in on a lot of fun, historical and sometimes quirky facts about the city which I will relay to anyone who asks. At least to the best that I can remember! There is so much that I want to share with you all and write down for future memories but I am so tired and it all just isn't coming to me right now. Pictures will be up on facebook in the next week or so as soon as I have some more free time. As for now, it is bedtime.
OH! For anyone who is wondering about the theme song I posted at the top of this post it is our theme song because 1. it is catchy and fun and 2. it was played over and over again and in every place we went to in Spain! It's a portuguese song but apparently this summer it became very popular in Spain and it's just one of those songs that when it's played everyone, no matter what the environment you're in, gets excited and sings along. We've had a lot of fun attempting to learn the words and then again trying to translate because there is no direct translation no matter how many different translators we have used. But it's fun! So, enjoy!
Love from London (and Spain!)
Kristin
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