London Diaries II

The next day dawned bright and clear( well as far as London goes anyway) and we went to eat fish and chips in one of the oldest pubs in London. After a sumptious meal and conversation to go with, we proceeded to the event which had instigated the whole trip-a performance at the Globe theatre.

Shakespeare's charm which has held audiences captivated over the centuries was brought to life in the rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream which we experienced. It was a very scintillating performance, what with the actors up close and looking in our eyes and the various characters from the play which kept bursting from in between the audience. The open environs(namely no roof) added to the old world charm. Music and dance and drama kept us on our toes for almost 3 hours. 

Soon after the dream ended, we went about trying to find a good indian restaurant, guided by our noses and some helpful Londoners(they are awfully nice and hilariously funny). We eventually found ourselves in Brick Lane and helped ourselves to some delightful and savoury dishes-the likes of which  I had only seen in my own country. Stomachs filled to bursting point, we traipsed to central London where a delightful performance by a stand-up comedian, Inkey Jones was to follow.His scathing yet hilarious comments about people in the room left us laughing till we ached and begging for mercy. We all needed a breath of fresh air after being a nearly passive audience for some time and decided to walk back to our hostel. Although it took us close to an hour, nothing could rival London in all its beauty at night. Shimmering in blue, yellow and red, London transformed from a classical old world town during the day to a glittering modern butterfly at night. The Millenium bridge looked like a portal straight out of Star Wars( or Trek if anyone can tell the difference) and the reflection on the waters on the Thames was close to celestial. There was magic in the air and in our eyes as we finally brought yet another remarkable day in the remarkable city of London to a close.

London Diaries I

Hello everyone.

This blog has been in the making for a long long time and should have been up and running a few years ago. Nonetheless now that the moment has come, lets not mince words and get down to brass tacks.

Let me begin by the motive which finally pushed me to creating this-the London trip and hence the first entry is aptly titles as the London Diaries I

Why London  I hear the interested reader(s) ask? Well it was officially a trip with my English class( don't get me wrong, my level of english has not regressed with learning french but this is a compulsory course and I am not complaining) with a legendary Prof who will be called as such and some band of friends who will also be called as such. One weekend was what it consisted of and evidently one did not expect to discover the whole country/culture in such a short span of time. But what I did not expect was that I would make new friends and discover a London which was very different from what a tourist might hope to discover.

It all began on the train which although goes under the Channel is not like the one which has been made popular in Dubai-that of fish trailing above and menacing sharks baring their beautifully set teeth. Neither does it involve the impressive ocean waters swirling into nothingness. All it does involve is a tunnel where one hears nothing thanks to blocked ears and has to shout to make oneself heard. Which is mildly irritating for those whose ears are NOT blocked-its like being stuck in a fish market in Kolkata when you don't want any fish. Moving on, the light at the other end of the tunnel gave way to some dark clouds and a lush countryside-my first impression was that i was finally in a country where cars rolled on the 'right' side (or left as my italian friend quickly pointed out) of the road.

The disembarking, taking the tube(which is really like its name suggests, giving you the uncomfortable feeling that you are much like an insect inside a tube) and reaching the hostel was banal. However the achitecture and the planning of the city with a Shard rising above some classical bulidings was surprising. We checked in and decided to roam the streets for food when we bumped into our Prof with some other friends. Finally having chosen a pub/resto we settled down to a delicious meal and some wonderful conversation, for who knew that Prof was such an interesting character! The never ending wonderful stories, the stimulating discussions and the cracking sense of humour was enough to keep us entertained until late at night. Who said age was a barrier to have a pleasant evening?