I'm going to apologize in advance for two things: 1.) I don't have any pictures and 2.) this is a bit of back-tracking considering I have fallen behind in my posting. I wouldn't say that a ton of things happened between now and Saturday evening, where I left off on my last post, but there were definitely some note-worthy moments, unfortunately left uncaptured through film.
Saturday night was my first night out in London. The interns that had already arrived at the Nido met in the lobby around 6PM and we went to a pub called O'Neill's which was only a quick walk away. All of us were beyond exhausted -- not just because of the stresses that are associated with travelling but because of the time change combined with the lack of sleep. I know that I was lucky to get a few hours of sleep on the plane, aided by the fact that it was an overnight flight, but other interns were not so fortunate. Many of them hadn't slept in at least 24 hours, and the best way to beat jet lag is to try to push yourself until it's night time at your new destination.
So with that mindset, we made it to dinner but were a bit zombie-ish -- going through the motions, answering in grunts and nods rather than excited or enthusiastic conversation (what you would probably expect from a bunch of 20-somethings getting ready for the next eight weeks in London.) However, once aided by a bit of alcohol and some food (including England's famous "fish and chips," and "mushy peas" for some), we did start to gain a bit more energy. I actually ordered a beer for once, and for anyone who knows me, you would realize how amazing this is considering my alcohol repertoire generally consists of fruity drinks, champagne or wine. Although the beer was more of a cider and I only drank half of it, I was proud of my ability to "do as the 'Londoner's' do" since I guess grabbing a pint of beer is a frequent ritual.
Once we had dinner, chatted and got to know each other a bit better, we went from O'Neill's to another bar. Apparently, "bar-hopping" in London is called "chasing," as a fellow intern pointed out to the rest of us, and is the norm for anyone who is going out at night (and we certainly did quite a bit of chasing between Saturday and Sunday). The second bar that we went to was a little less populated and quieter than O'Neill's so it was a good transition for a group like ours -- one that is still unfamiliar with each other and in need of a quieter place to actually hear what each other is saying. We didn't spend too long at that place before we were searching for another destination.
From that second bar, a local then suggested we find Camino, a Spanish bar, that would be open and a good change of pace from the past two places we had been. The group scurried over to our new location and was immediately hit with some loud music, lots of people and sangria. At this point, we definitely had to struggle a bit in order to push through the jet lag. We were at the bar around 11PM and even though that doesn't seem too late for some of you bar-hoppers or chasers out there, when you're operating on an empty tank of gas thanks to minimal sleep, 11PM feels like 4AM. We felt like we had been partying for the entire night. Despite our difficulties, everyone started talking and laughing, a few people even starting mingling with some Brits. We managed to stay there for another hour and a half before deciding to call it quits and believe me, I was proud of being able to stay up that late. Once my roommate and I got back to the room, we were still a little too awake to go to sleep, but after about a half an hour of winding down, it was as if I was in a sleeping coma. Someone could have walked over to where I was sleeping, yelled in my ear or even moved me off of the bed, and I swear, I probably would have still been sleeping.
My roommate and I woke up around 1PM on Sunday. We actually had been up at 8AM thanks to the sunlight that was streaming out from behind the blind in our room. Most people don't realize that London is actually on the same sort of level as Alaska -- if that makes any sense. It is pretty much light out for the majority of the 24 hours. Around 8PM-9PM it starts getting darker, but then around 4AM it is so bright. Nevertheless, we pushed through our early wake up call via the sun and went back to sleep.
We had a walking tour with the rest of the group at 3PM which started off fairly well. It was a tad bit windy and seemed to be drizzling a bit, but we now had several hours of sleep under our belts so we were more enthusiastic than the day before. So off we went to Soho, an apparently very fun and hip part of town, and when we made it there, we split off into a few groups. Some of us, like myself, wanted to go get Pay as You Go phones, others went to explore Soho and then others just went off to explore in general. After buying our phones, we ventured back outside, and to our dismay, it had begun to rain -- what you would expect right? After all, we were in London, so I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised, especially when the weather is known to be unpredictable.
For the next few hours, I was accompanied by a few friends as it continued to pour. Luckily, we had all had enough foresight to bring umbrellas, but even with the wind, our umbrellas were in a precarious situation. Mine had definitely turned inside out a few times, which is definitely the worst. We kept looking for a place to buy pillows, towels, hangers and bath mats (since our rooms did not come equipped with them) and just kept walking and walking without any luck. Just when we thought we'd find a store, we'd get lost again and all we could hear was the grumbling of our stomachs suggesting that we give up and eat something!
Eventually we did just that. We grabbed the tube back to Kings Cross, walked closer to the Nido and found a place to grab some food. All of us were exhausted, but so glad to be out of the rain and getting something into our stomachs. Shortly afterwards, we went back to the Nido to relax for a bit, dry off and get ready for -- what else -- going out and "chasing."
That Sunday night was a ton of fun. We started back at O'Neill's, the bar we went to on Saturday with the entire group, and got some beers. It was a lot of fun, especially since we had more interns now that they had arrived and the rest of the group was a bit more familiar with each other. Something that we all learned about the London nightlife and its people -- bars and pubs shut down early because Londoners start drinking earlier. I heard that London is known for its binge-drinking, so what they usually do is start drinking around 5 or 6 PM and that's why some of the bars shut down earlier -- because they finish earlier.
Anyway, O'Neill's was closing at 12AM, and we had only arrived there around 11PM so soon enough, we were devising a plan as to where to go next. One of the locals suggested a place called Millers which was really close to where we were living and promised some great karaoke. Of course, at the mention of karaoke, all of the happily buzzed interns were enthusiastic about going there, so we followed our new local friend to the bar. Once there, we grabbed some more drinks, and the guys were already nominating various people to sing embarrassing songs. We girls took the more team-oriented route (and much less embarrassing) and decided to sing a good old-fashioned, classic British song. What else? Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Some of the other locals at the bar joined in with our singing (which sounded a lot more like screaming).
Despite our stellar performance, we had to leave that bar too due to their shutting down early and the bouncers telling us that we had to earn the privilege of staying later and until that happened, we had to go. So again aided by our new local friend (who I'm pretty sure just offered to escort us because he liked some of the American girls in our group...) we went off to a bar called the Lexington -- also very close-by. I actually drank beer again, which was quite the feat, and shared some laughs with my new friends.
It was probably around 2-3AM that we finally headed back. We mingled in the communal kitchen a little while longer, especially because there were a few Dallas Mavericks fans and the NBA finals were on. It was a ton of fun, and a great night for getting to know each other.
And now that brings me to Monday and today! -- both of which I will have to discuss later, especially seeing as though I have tons of pictures from today but even more to tell you from Monday too. We have just been so busy and whenever we have free time, we interns spend it together or use it to shower and sleep.
My internship starts tomorrow (eek!) so I will also have to update you on that. Sorry for this lengthy post, and I wish I could say my other posts will be shorter, but if you know me, then you know how much I like to talk... There's just so much to chat about but I will try to include pictures next time to make your reading experience that much better!
Goodnight! And wish me luck tomorrow!
Saturday night was my first night out in London. The interns that had already arrived at the Nido met in the lobby around 6PM and we went to a pub called O'Neill's which was only a quick walk away. All of us were beyond exhausted -- not just because of the stresses that are associated with travelling but because of the time change combined with the lack of sleep. I know that I was lucky to get a few hours of sleep on the plane, aided by the fact that it was an overnight flight, but other interns were not so fortunate. Many of them hadn't slept in at least 24 hours, and the best way to beat jet lag is to try to push yourself until it's night time at your new destination.
So with that mindset, we made it to dinner but were a bit zombie-ish -- going through the motions, answering in grunts and nods rather than excited or enthusiastic conversation (what you would probably expect from a bunch of 20-somethings getting ready for the next eight weeks in London.) However, once aided by a bit of alcohol and some food (including England's famous "fish and chips," and "mushy peas" for some), we did start to gain a bit more energy. I actually ordered a beer for once, and for anyone who knows me, you would realize how amazing this is considering my alcohol repertoire generally consists of fruity drinks, champagne or wine. Although the beer was more of a cider and I only drank half of it, I was proud of my ability to "do as the 'Londoner's' do" since I guess grabbing a pint of beer is a frequent ritual.
Once we had dinner, chatted and got to know each other a bit better, we went from O'Neill's to another bar. Apparently, "bar-hopping" in London is called "chasing," as a fellow intern pointed out to the rest of us, and is the norm for anyone who is going out at night (and we certainly did quite a bit of chasing between Saturday and Sunday). The second bar that we went to was a little less populated and quieter than O'Neill's so it was a good transition for a group like ours -- one that is still unfamiliar with each other and in need of a quieter place to actually hear what each other is saying. We didn't spend too long at that place before we were searching for another destination.
From that second bar, a local then suggested we find Camino, a Spanish bar, that would be open and a good change of pace from the past two places we had been. The group scurried over to our new location and was immediately hit with some loud music, lots of people and sangria. At this point, we definitely had to struggle a bit in order to push through the jet lag. We were at the bar around 11PM and even though that doesn't seem too late for some of you bar-hoppers or chasers out there, when you're operating on an empty tank of gas thanks to minimal sleep, 11PM feels like 4AM. We felt like we had been partying for the entire night. Despite our difficulties, everyone started talking and laughing, a few people even starting mingling with some Brits. We managed to stay there for another hour and a half before deciding to call it quits and believe me, I was proud of being able to stay up that late. Once my roommate and I got back to the room, we were still a little too awake to go to sleep, but after about a half an hour of winding down, it was as if I was in a sleeping coma. Someone could have walked over to where I was sleeping, yelled in my ear or even moved me off of the bed, and I swear, I probably would have still been sleeping.
My roommate and I woke up around 1PM on Sunday. We actually had been up at 8AM thanks to the sunlight that was streaming out from behind the blind in our room. Most people don't realize that London is actually on the same sort of level as Alaska -- if that makes any sense. It is pretty much light out for the majority of the 24 hours. Around 8PM-9PM it starts getting darker, but then around 4AM it is so bright. Nevertheless, we pushed through our early wake up call via the sun and went back to sleep.
We had a walking tour with the rest of the group at 3PM which started off fairly well. It was a tad bit windy and seemed to be drizzling a bit, but we now had several hours of sleep under our belts so we were more enthusiastic than the day before. So off we went to Soho, an apparently very fun and hip part of town, and when we made it there, we split off into a few groups. Some of us, like myself, wanted to go get Pay as You Go phones, others went to explore Soho and then others just went off to explore in general. After buying our phones, we ventured back outside, and to our dismay, it had begun to rain -- what you would expect right? After all, we were in London, so I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised, especially when the weather is known to be unpredictable.
For the next few hours, I was accompanied by a few friends as it continued to pour. Luckily, we had all had enough foresight to bring umbrellas, but even with the wind, our umbrellas were in a precarious situation. Mine had definitely turned inside out a few times, which is definitely the worst. We kept looking for a place to buy pillows, towels, hangers and bath mats (since our rooms did not come equipped with them) and just kept walking and walking without any luck. Just when we thought we'd find a store, we'd get lost again and all we could hear was the grumbling of our stomachs suggesting that we give up and eat something!
Eventually we did just that. We grabbed the tube back to Kings Cross, walked closer to the Nido and found a place to grab some food. All of us were exhausted, but so glad to be out of the rain and getting something into our stomachs. Shortly afterwards, we went back to the Nido to relax for a bit, dry off and get ready for -- what else -- going out and "chasing."
That Sunday night was a ton of fun. We started back at O'Neill's, the bar we went to on Saturday with the entire group, and got some beers. It was a lot of fun, especially since we had more interns now that they had arrived and the rest of the group was a bit more familiar with each other. Something that we all learned about the London nightlife and its people -- bars and pubs shut down early because Londoners start drinking earlier. I heard that London is known for its binge-drinking, so what they usually do is start drinking around 5 or 6 PM and that's why some of the bars shut down earlier -- because they finish earlier.
Anyway, O'Neill's was closing at 12AM, and we had only arrived there around 11PM so soon enough, we were devising a plan as to where to go next. One of the locals suggested a place called Millers which was really close to where we were living and promised some great karaoke. Of course, at the mention of karaoke, all of the happily buzzed interns were enthusiastic about going there, so we followed our new local friend to the bar. Once there, we grabbed some more drinks, and the guys were already nominating various people to sing embarrassing songs. We girls took the more team-oriented route (and much less embarrassing) and decided to sing a good old-fashioned, classic British song. What else? Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Some of the other locals at the bar joined in with our singing (which sounded a lot more like screaming).
Despite our stellar performance, we had to leave that bar too due to their shutting down early and the bouncers telling us that we had to earn the privilege of staying later and until that happened, we had to go. So again aided by our new local friend (who I'm pretty sure just offered to escort us because he liked some of the American girls in our group...) we went off to a bar called the Lexington -- also very close-by. I actually drank beer again, which was quite the feat, and shared some laughs with my new friends.
It was probably around 2-3AM that we finally headed back. We mingled in the communal kitchen a little while longer, especially because there were a few Dallas Mavericks fans and the NBA finals were on. It was a ton of fun, and a great night for getting to know each other.
And now that brings me to Monday and today! -- both of which I will have to discuss later, especially seeing as though I have tons of pictures from today but even more to tell you from Monday too. We have just been so busy and whenever we have free time, we interns spend it together or use it to shower and sleep.
My internship starts tomorrow (eek!) so I will also have to update you on that. Sorry for this lengthy post, and I wish I could say my other posts will be shorter, but if you know me, then you know how much I like to talk... There's just so much to chat about but I will try to include pictures next time to make your reading experience that much better!
Goodnight! And wish me luck tomorrow!
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