mind the gap.

'ello. we arrive in london via easy jet round deux. this time i know to check my luggage. whatever. haters. catching the airport shuttle from barca was an experience. but we make it with some minutes to spare. i grab a bag of crispy m and ms in the duty free shop. i am informed if i buy another 330 gram bag, i get a free mug. tempting. i have no room for the mug however.

in case you are wondering. slash doing a double take. yes. i did say crispy m and ms. no. the pretzel m and m has not made its way across the atlantic yet and you are able to purchase these vintage m and ms on the reg. i know. gasp.

we get to london. take a train similar to metro north into the city. michal (dana's friend from GW who now studies in london full-time meets us at the tube). wooo. the tube.

we ride the tube, buy our oyster (5 pound metro card that you can sell back and get your 5 pounds back. yeah i kept it. hi. memories). and we are offish in london.

michal lives in the equivalent of the BK in london. it was compared to williamsburg by some, however it is in the air whether we will call the neighborhood hipster. or ethnic. either way. it was great. shadwell stop on the DLR tube line. right near brick lane. right near a 24-hour walk through mcdonalds. so like. its all good.

we spend day one walking ALL over london. so fun, walk along the water, the london bridge, i snap photos of who knows what. we stop in like 80,000,000 boots. cause there is no such thing as CVS or Walgreens or Boots in france. so we are in heaven.

that night, michal has a promoter friend mo. we head to cielo for free three course dinner, then downstairs to the club Luxx where a table has been purchased for mo. we enjoy. the club is ultimately a catwalk. we catch the night-bus back. hit up mcdonalds. and call it a night.

friday we head to fashion week-end at the somerset house. lauren meets us there, she is also in london. designers from fashion week are selling clothes, accessories, shoes all at a discount. it is mostly cool to walk around. no major purchases but lots of looking.

we head to oxford crossing to hit up the flagship topshop. that takes hours within itself. i end up purchasing something from what i think is topshop but is actually a boutique inside. whatever. and walk all around oxford crossing. find a burger place for lunch. michal meets us. we walk more throughout the area and head home.

en route home we purchase 3 for 12 pounds white wine and head back to make some baked ziti.

i would like to take this time to note that while london is on the pound, rather than the euro. no one informed me that they had different outlets. and were an hour behind. like what. for real. whatever. we made it work. oy.

after dinner we head out to a house party of one of michal's friends. just our luck. it is majority french people. like we dont have enough of those where we are coming from. of course they tell me i can't speak french. i know. i told YOU that. then you INSISTED i say something. oy.

the party is fun. michal's friend james walks us back. he is from liverpool and therefore has a northern accent. dana asks him if people here "know he isn't from ireland". yes, yes theyd do know. good question though. we all hit up mcdonalds again. and we are in for the night.

the next day we head to portobello road. it is slightly misty-rainy, but it was so nice the days before we don't complain. we walk all around, google a fro-yo place. head to harrods to see the food court. duh. head to another department store i forget the name of. head to the victoria and albert museum. conclude the day by ordering in indian food. duh when in london. and head to brick lane for our final night.

while we weren't looking to do anything crazy, so we mostly just observed. brick lane is a culture of its own. super fun. glad i saw it. sat outside and drank beers. laur joined us. then we headed home for toast and some always sunny. clutch.

everything seemed normal. we got a suprise visit from a blacked-out james. as we lay in bed the buzzer rings. we figure it is not for michal's apt. it rings again. then there is an extreme attack on the door. i am talking non-stop banging. michal gets up. its james.

oy. coming from a rugby something or other. most definitely wearing a stolen jersey covered in signatures. he is hopping in and out of the bed. crying "me hand". his hand is bleeding. his takes of his pants. he takes of his shirt. he puts on michal's boxers. he shows us his cuts. he is ridiculous.

finally he falls asleep on the floor. we wake up for the airport, he is passed out. michal later informs us he woke up with no idea how he got there. and he buys her breakfast. silly brits.