Movements.

Wow, can you believe it? Three posts in three days, I know. How regular.

Just thought I would take a brief moment to comment on the unbelievable amount of London I covered today. Start of day: home (Angel) to Tottenham Court Road, prior to work, to exchange a DVD for work-related project. Store closed, as it's 9:15 am. Typical. Walk Oxford St., top up my phone, buy my grande soy chai latte (see below) and make the 20 minute walk to work west down Oxford and north up Great Titchfield. BEAUTIFUL morning and it's an amazingly nice change to be out in nice weather, with people milling about, during the work week - instead of behind my computer screen and desk. I think the latte helped.

On my lunch break, I reverse this path for attempt two to return said DVD. Stop into four or five (at least) shoe shops on the way. Pick out some new kicks, which I'll try on tomorrow. More on that later. Make this trip BACK to the office (panini for take away at Bagel Mania, which makes me laugh. Mania? For Bagels? Really? Okay then.) At 4:50, after a verrry slow afternoon at the office, I sprint to the tube station, take the Underground for the first time in weeks, and make my way to London Bridge station (opposite side of town). Run the stairs UP the escalator on what I'm pretty sure is the most buried tube line, the Northern. Wait in line to see the David Greig show, meeting Barbara in the meantime, to no avail. We get back on the tube and head to Sloane Square - getting stopped underground because the train in front of us had its passenger emergency lever pulled - and get tickets to see Kebab at the Royal Court Upstairs. FANTASTIC show. More on that later too. Maybe. Yeah, probably. Maybe you'll be getting four posts in a row, wow.

After the show, we walk to Knightsbridge, where we catch a bus to Notting Hill, meeting three Spanish women on the way. I think they were looking for a disco. We chatted, and they asked me to take their picture. Barbara
and I find a shady local (pub) in Notting Hill, and we stand out like, well, Americans in an offbeat local. We have a round and catch the bus to South Kensington. I've started to notice people roll their eyes at me when I say "South Ken." It's just cozy/lazy, I didn't realize that perhaps this is pretensions. We try to find a place for both food and drink. It's 11 and no kitchens - restaurant or pub - are serving. Just the alcohols. We're about to give up and go to Sainsbury's and back to Barbara's and I'm about to suggest Pasha (speaking of pretentious) when it comes to me -- CAFE FORUM. How could I have not thought of it sooner?

So we walk from High St Kensington down Gloucester Road. Needless to say, Cafe Forum is amazing. There we split a pizza (bespoke, I might add) of chicken, garlic and basil (baz-ul, and I pronounced it correctly) and also a slice of chocolate cake. Delicious cake. Oddly tasted of Hostess cupcakes I recall having Mom buy at gas stations on roadtrips. For some reason, things like that were allowed then. Anyway, it was more gourmet than that, but it had essence. We also had the chance to watch several chess matches between a strange lot of old men. I'd forgotten what a great vibe - only elsewhere experienced at Wally's, my favorite in Boston - exists at Cafe Forum. Good mix of people, all ages, all types, and an on-the-inside feeling atmosphere.

Finally, at midnight now, we walked to the Gloucester Rd Tesco (I made Barbara buy this amazing banoffee tart for herself and those lucky enough to share it with her) and on past the Crofton (ah, old stomping grounds!), where I caught the Number 9 (so many memories) to Piccadilly and then finally back to Angel.

It seems every once in a while I get these days where I get to cram in all my favorites into one evening. I've definitely had two, and maybe three, of these now. These are the days when it's really nice to be in London. These are the comfort, self-serving, completely spoil yourself days. I'm hoping to make a weekend of it. It's really time to start enjoying what's all around you.

Songs worth listening to this week: "Super Duper" by Joss Stone. "How Long Do I have to Wait For You?" by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. "Recokoner" from the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows. And "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye.

Book I'm almost done with: "Any Human Heart" by William Boyd. EXCELLENT British writer. Highly recommended.

Jen