Bath

This is why the walk up the steep hill to Alexandra Park was worth it.

London calling

Last night, I felt a bit unnerved as I tried to fall asleep, knowing I was going to London the next day. I was trying to think of how to make the most of my trip, but also wanted it to be a unique experience. I was also kind of struggling with where to start. I'd been to London before and knocked down most of the big hotspots (Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Palace, etc etc) so I wanted something … different. 

Sometimes I struggle in giant cities because the vast majority of things to do encompass eating, watching or shopping. All of these activities are of course unique to each city someone visits but seeking these activities ad nauseum can get a bit mundane. And expensive. 

Fortunately, London has a plethora of unique activities I could pursue. And really, the opportunities are limitless because as the saying goes, "Tired of London, tired of life". Of course, as I said above, a lack of limit in choices can be paralyzing in itself so I've thought hard to have a few goals over the next few days:

- find different ways to learn about parts of London's history (walking tour? London fire? one or both world wars?)

- see Tate Modern (I missed it last time)

- find an interesting place to read

- do a "day trip" exploring one area/borough/neighbourhood in particular

On deck today - I have been craving sushi for a long time. Let's find an affordable place to see. And I'll check out one of the National History Museum (there is an exhibit of the best wildlife photos of the year) or the National Portrait Gallery, which is something slightly different and should be a good learning opportunity. 

London ho! 

Leeds wrap-up

Just spent the last two days visiting Leila while she's on exchange in Leeds. First impression when walking through town was that it was purely a college/university city. Students wandered the streets, many were lined up in lines for bars, while others were chatting with their casually lit cigarettes in hand loitering outside of them. 

I pretty much fell asleep within a couple hours of arriving and was knocked out cold until the next morning, fortunately letting my body recover from that deep fatigue that I'm familiar with after a long night on call. 

We went to the Leeds v. Tottenham FA Cup Round 4 match the next day. Now I get the hype behind experiencing an English football game. The atmosphere is nothing like a regular season hockey game in Canada. In Edmonton, we would ride the LRT to the arena, opposing fans would sit next to each other, there would be some polite teasing, but nothing over-the-top, and in essence have a mostly family-friendly night of entertainment. 

In contrast, in the shuttle bus to the match, there would be boisterous chanting about Leeds, repetitive Tottenham bashing including a well-known chant about how one of the players is fond of consanguinity. At the stadium, the visiting team's fans are in their own section, and I understood why. While the overall atmosphere was loud and cheerful, there was definitely an underlying tone of pure hostility against the opposing team and its fans. This climaxed at the end of the match where there was a police escort surrounding the visiting teams' fans as they tried to quietly exit the stadium. The tension was palpable as they were surrounded by this crowd of Leeds fans, both sides heckling each other.. and not just in the "ha-ha, match well played mate" type of way. 

The match itself was awesome. It was a crowd of 28,000 which is on the smaller end when it comes to English football, but while it's also bigger than any hockey game it was orders of magnitude more intense than what I've experienced. Chants would erupt spontaneously, and would not have to be cued by a jumbotron and there were at least four or five that everyone at the stadium knew by heart. Every time Leeds scored, it felt like a giant party, and I wanted them to score more just to experience that mood of pure elation that went rampant through the crowd. It lacked the necessary "bigh-five a perfect stranger" I enjoyed in hockey games, but seeing an entire stadium jumping up and down like that made up for it. Fortunately, Leeds won 2-1 which is nice because being an Arsenal fan I also despise Totttenham so it was a jolly trip home. 

We walked around campus briefly on the way back to my sister's dorm and stopped at a student pub for a small dinner before just hanging out the rest of the evening. 

Now on the train, and London awaits...