london, part three.

Here’s the last bit on my time in London and my time abroad in Europe!

On my third day in London, I met up with Michelle and Flavia, as well as Flavia’s friend, Mateus. We walked through the Borough Market even though it was closed that day and then, had lunch at the The Old Thameside Inn. I had a delicious beef and tomato stew (below). We chatted for a while and off we went to Camden to check out the famed Camden Market. The Camden area is a little bit on the old and rundown side, but I guess that adds to the character. It’s a little too grimy for my taste, yet still very interesting to walk through. Inside the market, there are heaps of little shops, a lot of which sold goth and punk clothing and accessories.

After Camden Market, I took the tube over one stop to Mornington Crescent to head over to KOKO to see if I could meet Lana Del Rey. She was supposed to be playing the MTV BRAND NEW FOR 2012 gig, but of course, she cancelled due to “illness.” I waited outside for a while, along with other Lana fans, and I even heard Charli XCX soundchecking. Whilst waiting, Lana’s band filed out of the venue with the instruments in their cases and got into their cars. Lana’s amps were also taken out the venue, so I thought it was a little odd. And a while later, I’d find out from a friend back in Vancouver that Lana had cancelled. Disappointed, I left and met up with Flavia, Mateus, and Michelle again. I said my goodbyes to Flavia and Mateus, and Michelle and I went for dinner with my family. Michelle’s London flatmate, David, also joined us for dinner so that was cool too. That would be my last time seeing Michelle since she would be staying in London and I would be heading back to Canada. Sad, but we all must continue with our lives…

The next day, my parents and I went to 10 Downing Street, also known as where the British Prime Minister lives. Then, we went to Selfridges so I could have a quick browse and also, so we could get some food into us. I’m not going to lie, I think I like Selfridges more than Harrods. It wasn’t as overwhelming and definitely not a crazy busy as Harrods. But my first time in Selfridges was a super quick one because we had to head back to Queen’s Theatre in Leicester Square for Les Misérables!

It was my first time watching Les Mis so it was such an amazing experience! My parents saw it when my mom was pregnant with me, but that doesn’t count, obviously. What was really neat about the show was the rotating stage! I love how it was incorporated into the show. So great! I had to stop myself from singing along from some of my favourites like “Master of the House” and boy, when they started “One Day More,” I started tearing up and tears were running down my face by the end of the song. Even the man in front of me was crying and he had to wipe his face with his handkerchief. Anyway, Les Mis was great and I’m so glad we were able to get decent seats in the balcony. Great way to end my time in London!

Next morning, we had to leave super early because we had an early flight. I barely got any sleep because I was packing till the wee hours of the morning, which was much harder than I was expecting. I literally had to take EVERYTHING out of my suitcases and repack it all. And luckily enough, I still had space in my hand baggage but that means I could have bought a few more things at Selfridges. Oh well, what can you do.

The flight back to Vancouver was just like any other long flight - you watch movies, listen to music, eat crappy airplane food, and sleep. I ended up watching Crazy, Stupid, Love for the second time because you can never have enough Ryan Gosling in your life, and I watched a great film called Another Earth. I had actually seen the trailer for the latter when I watched Wuthering Heights back at Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds and it seemed quite intriguing. The film itself was beautiful and the plot was actually much different than what I was expecting.

After a good 9.5 hours, I was back in Vancouver - home sweet home! But to be honest, it didn’t really feel like home even though it was. I just kept missing Leeds and England, and all my friends, who are scattered all over the world now. More on my adjustment later…