The Land Where I Belong Part 1

Just returned from a weekend in London. I have spoken about London a few times on this ere blog but the level of detail I am about to dive into has never yet been attempted.

Well the reason I went down was for a friend's birthday. I got the train down with him with another one of our friends who has turned into a bit of a diva now...do this, do that etc. Everything's made sweet with a smile but less of that.

So we made our way down there and it was a beautiful day...the sun was shining, the birds were singing their sweet song (not that you could tell as we zoomed 100mph down the tracks) and everyone was sort of happy. We were reading Private Eye and they were talking about the conflicting news stories about Jade Goody from two years ago to last week. It seems that all the red tops are willing to jump on the Goody Train...just leave her to die in peace. That is definitely not what she wants!

So London then, it's a funny place. Everything is so hectic. I wonder where all those people are rushing to. It'd be good to see on a map where their route is dotted out on different coloured lines. No doubt it'd be like a massive circle of lines and different colours.

Efficiency is the name of the game down there. There was an accident with a cyclist on the corner of my mates road and the traffic was only stopped for about 15 minutes. Sirens a go-go and all that stuff. A few horns honked and a few people stopped to look. My friend then told me not to look at anyone...there was this Mother shouting at her kids and they were running around. I sort of chuckled to myself as they looked really sweet but then Ben said, "don't...don't" because he knows I would probably have wanted to strike up a conversation. He said something like "not down here" which meant not in London. Made me think 'this is my capital city, but I don't belong here. More of that later.

Ben's flat/house/pad/place is an interesting sort of abode. Set in a slight gated community, you enter into a typical front room, complete with laminate flooring and IKEA furniture. He's got these metal stairs with grips (think external fireescape type one) and, although they may look trendy when you're in shoes, in bare feet they are not so nice. His room is right at the top of a very narrow and shaky set off metal and mdf stairs...spiral of course...nothing is ever simple. Muggins here ended up taking most of the bags up. Ben had a lot to carry...a few pillows.

After a few hours of moping around we made our way into town for some food. After a rather tense yet humourous 30 minutes or so choosing where to eat we opted for a non-descript Italian that boasted of Tiramisu and a few nice specials. I opted for a few glasses of an ok Shiraz and a lovely Lamb ragu with pasta that could have been a little too overcooked for my liking. Still, nice food, alright conversation.

Afterwards we went for a few pints but Ben wasn't feeling too great so him and another friend went home whilst James and myself went to the pub and had quite a lot to drink. We stumbled in about 12 by which time we were a bit pissed but Ben and Carol were definitely not. After spilling some vodka on the floor and then clumsily getting into my sleeping bag I drifted off. In the morning I didn't feel that bad considering the cocktail of booze I had consumed. Carol and Ben were rather annoyed that both James and myself were not in the clinches of a full raging hangover. After a hastily cooked breakfast that was by far from good we made our way into town, doing the sights and walking around. We didn't actually do anything other than walk over some bridges and see some pretty things but it was time spent with friends that I really enjoyed.

And so to part 2 of the Land Where I belong will come, hopefully drawing on some conclusions