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dragonlady7I spent all of today lying around the hotel. It was not until after a nap and some ginger tea that I was able to leave the hotel room. I really hadn't thought I'd drunk that much, but it did not sit well. Incidentally, however, I never got a headache-- so whatever that's worth... Just nausea and dizziness. Blech.
We did get out to dinner, and went to Wakamama and had ramen. It was OK, but it wasn't as good as Rai-Rai Ken in NYC.
We also sort of solved the mystery of the hotel run by foreigners-- we'd theorized it was the Bulgarian Mob, because we simply could not place their accents. So I spoke to the concierge for a while today, and he revealed that he was Algerian, the night guy was Albanian, and the morning woman was Russian. So there goes that theory. All the other guests seem to be foreign as well. We are the only English speakers.
I impressed him by not only having heard of Algeria, but also having previously known people from Algeria. (Fellow travelers in Spain, who spoke no English; they were native speakers of Berber and French, and the only language we had in common was our mutually terrible Spanish.)
I have been useless all day. Tomorrow morning we are going to attempt to get up super early, zip down to the British Museum, see some looted artifacts and traveling American post-expressionist exhibits, and then come back up and hang out in the afternoon with Ursula.
We need to bring back a gift of some sort for Z's mom but I can't think what. I may just buy gin in the duty free. :/
I should probably talk about last night's wedding, which was absolutely lovely, but I am so fuzzy and vague I don't think I could do it justice. It seems like the whole thing went whizzing by so fast. Mostly it's the faces I've retained-- people I knew ten years ago and was so excited to see again. I had forgotten how truly lovable David Paisley who was my date at the Leaver's Ball is. He showed up in the same kilt he'd worn, rather proud that it still fit ten years later. He is an actor and the person whose appearance I think had changed most out of all the people I hadn't seen in ten years; I don't remember him as being terribly distinctive in appearance, but now he really looks quite Heath Ledgerish, back when the latter was alive of course-- he's a beautiful fellow with a lovely jaw and piercing deep-set blue eyes. Perhaps I was simply blind to his charms ten years ago. I do remember him being this entertaining back then, though-- he'd forgotten his sock garters which are called something else, and so kept having to pause and pull his socks up. Londoners were staring and making crude comments about the "man in a skirt".
"For fuck's sake," he said, laying the Glaswegian accent on thickly, "I'm in full Highland dress, it's not like I'm wearing mascara and a bit o' lippie or anything."
"Maybe you should be," I said, and offered him my lipstick.
I met some wonderful new people as well. One of Ursula's university friends entertained us marvellously with tales in the mixed accents of her childhood-- her mother from Guernsey, her father from Yorkshire. She did a wonderful imitation of his advice to her as she left for an important job interview, in a booming voice Wallace and Gromit-type accent: "DON'T MENTION GAYS." (Where "don't" is "DOOONT" and "gays" is pronounced "GEEEEEEHS".) Z was so amused he wanted her to record that as his cellphone's voicemail message. "EHM NOOT IN JOOST NOO, SO LEVE A MESSAGE AND DOONT MENTSHEN GEEES."
I also was really distressed to find that many of the women had these truly awesome headpieces, barrettes that had floaty bits of feathers on them, while I had nothing. Apparently they're called "fascinators", though I discovered that this sounds absolutely awful in an American accent (feassinaterr, bleh) and must be said "fahsenatehs". I have resolved that I must get one before I leave, though I've no idea when I'd ever wear it. I was likewise upset at the Leaver's Ball ten years ago when everyone but me was wearing hats, incidentally. I still have never had a wonderful hat. I should get one, someday, though apparently they're expensive.
I will probably forget, but I do want to nip into a Marks & Spencer's just to see whether I can find something wacky for headgear. I just thought they were so great.
I have zillions of photos. But the thing is I have this giant memory card in the camera and it's kind of a goal to fill it up, so I am not taking the photos off the camera yet. Perhaps this is stupid, but I actually may have forgotten the camera's cable, so...
Well. I have been awake for about three hours, but am considering going right back to sleep now. British Museum early! We'll see if we can do it. Though, if the damn thing doesn't open until late, this may not work. I should go look that up.
We did get out to dinner, and went to Wakamama and had ramen. It was OK, but it wasn't as good as Rai-Rai Ken in NYC.
We also sort of solved the mystery of the hotel run by foreigners-- we'd theorized it was the Bulgarian Mob, because we simply could not place their accents. So I spoke to the concierge for a while today, and he revealed that he was Algerian, the night guy was Albanian, and the morning woman was Russian. So there goes that theory. All the other guests seem to be foreign as well. We are the only English speakers.
I impressed him by not only having heard of Algeria, but also having previously known people from Algeria. (Fellow travelers in Spain, who spoke no English; they were native speakers of Berber and French, and the only language we had in common was our mutually terrible Spanish.)
I have been useless all day. Tomorrow morning we are going to attempt to get up super early, zip down to the British Museum, see some looted artifacts and traveling American post-expressionist exhibits, and then come back up and hang out in the afternoon with Ursula.
We need to bring back a gift of some sort for Z's mom but I can't think what. I may just buy gin in the duty free. :/
I should probably talk about last night's wedding, which was absolutely lovely, but I am so fuzzy and vague I don't think I could do it justice. It seems like the whole thing went whizzing by so fast. Mostly it's the faces I've retained-- people I knew ten years ago and was so excited to see again. I had forgotten how truly lovable David Paisley who was my date at the Leaver's Ball is. He showed up in the same kilt he'd worn, rather proud that it still fit ten years later. He is an actor and the person whose appearance I think had changed most out of all the people I hadn't seen in ten years; I don't remember him as being terribly distinctive in appearance, but now he really looks quite Heath Ledgerish, back when the latter was alive of course-- he's a beautiful fellow with a lovely jaw and piercing deep-set blue eyes. Perhaps I was simply blind to his charms ten years ago. I do remember him being this entertaining back then, though-- he'd forgotten his sock garters which are called something else, and so kept having to pause and pull his socks up. Londoners were staring and making crude comments about the "man in a skirt".
"For fuck's sake," he said, laying the Glaswegian accent on thickly, "I'm in full Highland dress, it's not like I'm wearing mascara and a bit o' lippie or anything."
"Maybe you should be," I said, and offered him my lipstick.
I met some wonderful new people as well. One of Ursula's university friends entertained us marvellously with tales in the mixed accents of her childhood-- her mother from Guernsey, her father from Yorkshire. She did a wonderful imitation of his advice to her as she left for an important job interview, in a booming voice Wallace and Gromit-type accent: "DON'T MENTION GAYS." (Where "don't" is "DOOONT" and "gays" is pronounced "GEEEEEEHS".) Z was so amused he wanted her to record that as his cellphone's voicemail message. "EHM NOOT IN JOOST NOO, SO LEVE A MESSAGE AND DOONT MENTSHEN GEEES."
I also was really distressed to find that many of the women had these truly awesome headpieces, barrettes that had floaty bits of feathers on them, while I had nothing. Apparently they're called "fascinators", though I discovered that this sounds absolutely awful in an American accent (feassinaterr, bleh) and must be said "fahsenatehs". I have resolved that I must get one before I leave, though I've no idea when I'd ever wear it. I was likewise upset at the Leaver's Ball ten years ago when everyone but me was wearing hats, incidentally. I still have never had a wonderful hat. I should get one, someday, though apparently they're expensive.
I will probably forget, but I do want to nip into a Marks & Spencer's just to see whether I can find something wacky for headgear. I just thought they were so great.
I have zillions of photos. But the thing is I have this giant memory card in the camera and it's kind of a goal to fill it up, so I am not taking the photos off the camera yet. Perhaps this is stupid, but I actually may have forgotten the camera's cable, so...
Well. I have been awake for about three hours, but am considering going right back to sleep now. British Museum early! We'll see if we can do it. Though, if the damn thing doesn't open until late, this may not work. I should go look that up.
