one more blocblog! this one is exciting!! (or something)

Thurs, Apr. 2- Liverpool
This particular entry is entitled: Japanese Beatles and white spandex.
It will become apparent why later. So today, Karen and I explored Liverpool, which is actually a really cool city. It’s modern and old at the same time, and pretty fun. There are little neighborhoods, kinda like in Boston, where very different types of people live, and there are all different sorts of entertainment and music venues of all shapes and sizes all over the city. Its also got a ton of history, and pride in that history, and in the city itself, is pretty apparent in most of the people we saw. We started off the day exploring along the coastline, on the piers, and went through the Beatles story exhibit, which was really neat. It took about two hours to walk through how the Beatles came to exist, where the individual band members came from, and how they’ve become an intricate part of what Liverpool is. We then went to the famous Cavern club, which the Beatles made famous by playing there a ridiculous number of times, and took some fun pics, before grabbing lunch, and checking emails, etc… We then went back up to Helen and Jude’s, and cooked some dinner, before heading back to the cavern to see a beatles coverband, which was Karen’s dream Liverpool experience. We got into the club, and there was a guy playing guitar and singing Beatles songs, which was nice, we sang along, and then the official act came on. It was four Japanese guys, probably about my age, who spoke little to no English. Karen was a little shocked that we were being treated to the Japanese beatles, and barely managed to suppress her outrage. Turns out, they were just the intermediate act, so it wasn’t a HUGE disappointment, musically. (the japanese band was actually pretty good…) While there, we also got a great chance to people-watch, one of my favorite activities. Karen and I noticed, at the same time, a group of ladies walk into the club, dressed up very nicely. Somewhat short of prom attire, but still quite formal. The group averaged probably somewhere in the mid- to late- 50’s. The last woman to walk in sent Karen and my mind almost immediately into shock and appallment. She was wearing what can only be described as a white spandex unitard that had been severely attacked by ruffles in all the wrong spots. Karen now swears that she will have any amount of plastic surgery necessary to keep all her bits in their right places, and I’ve decided to go gay.

Fri, Apr.3- Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford
This morning was ungodly. Sometime before the sun rose, Karen and I were up, and on the train, headed to Shakespeare’s hometown. With all of our luggage in tow (on backs,) we walked from the train station to the tourist information center, which, with fun British logic, are on completely opposite sides of the town. Fun times. We then deposited our baggage, and walked around the actually quite pretty little English village for a few hours, before hiking back to the tourist center, and then hiking to the train station for Oxford. We got to Oxford a little while later, once again crossed the entire length of the town to find the tourist info center, again deposited our bags, and again walked around the town. Although there are about 5 million universities in Oxford, they’re apparently all closed to the public, so we got some great pictures of most of the universities outer walls, but are unfortunately not smart or British enough to enter the sacred campusi. (campuses?) We wandered down to the Oxford castle, which is really cool. It’s been renovated, and now encompasses a market/mall type thingy, which includes a krispy kreme!! YAY! Sean got his hot donut fix for the day. So much better after that. We then got on the train to London, and arranged to meet Elaine near her house, but had complications on the tube (of course,) where one of the girls in our train car was having a seizure, and so we had to vacate, and ended up taking the bus. Successfully found Elaine, went out to the neighborhood pub, and then passed out.

Sat, Apr. 4- London
First day in London was a sausagefest. We walked over to the London bridge, which, honestly, is fairly boring, and unpretty. Wandered down the Thames to the tower bridge, which is much prettier, and took lots of pictures on the perfectly clear, warm, sunny day. The weather here really has been amazing… we’ve really lucked out as far as weather goes while being here in the UK! We walked around the tower, and then met Ariel, a friend from BC near the Borough market, where we went for lunch, and spent almost 3 hours eating and talking about life. They had a whole variety of all different kinds of food and food products from all over the world, but Karen and I decided that we missed Germany, so we went with Bratwurst with sauerkraut. Mmmmm. This was the first part of the sausagefest. We then continued our walk along the river, past the Globe theater, the Tate modern, and finally, to the eye. The line was outrageously long, so we decided to put that ride on hold till tomorrow. Ariel was meeting one of her friends at the British Film Institute for an independent film, and invited us along. The film we saw, which was part of the Lesbian and Gay film festival, ended up being very odd and interesting, but good. Karen and Ariel were two of four women in the theater. This was the second part of the sausagefest. The film itself was the third part of the sausagefest, and I’m going to leave that to your own personal interpretation, while keeping this blog PG-13. We then went to a pub, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up, and generally having a great time. Tomorrow, we’re going to ride the eye, see big ben, the parliament, and Westminster abbey for church. Other than that, we’re just going to explore!

Sun, Apr. 5- London
This morning, Karen and I decided to go to Westminster Abbey for palm Sunday mass. It was gorgeous inside, and full of sarcophagi, which was neat. I got to see the coronation chair behind the high altar, and the tombs of Isaac Newton, amongst a ton of others. The mass itself lasted about 50 million years, but was still pretty cool. Afterwards, we met up with Ariel, and wandered around the town for the day, taking pictures, and exploring after Ariel pointed us in the right direction. We went from Sloane square to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and then ended up in Soho for dinner, which was Indian and lovely.

Mon, Apr. 6- London
This morning, we met up with my friend Wish from LA, who is here visiting some of her other friends, took some more pics, and explored some more. She knows a whole bunch of fun little neighborhoods that she took us around in, and we got to see a whole other side of London. We tried to go for High Tea at a really posh store near Leicester Square, but they required reservations (and it was 40 pounds per person, OUCH!) so we went to a little café, and had tea and cake for muchmuch cheaper. We then met up with her friend Morgan, who lives and works here, and hit up a couple stores, trying to find some souvenirs, and then hit up a couple really good pubs. One of them had homemade chocolate truffle stout, which was amazing! We then headed back to his place to sample his quite amazing collection of whiskeys, whiskys, and bourbons. Mmmmmm. Tomorrow: Stonehenge and Bath! YAY!