London Again?
A quick decision... back to London
Though it had only been days since I'd left London, I decided to visit again. I had been invited, after all, to Johan and Christine's '7 Days to Easter Party' at their flat in Kentish Town. Since it only costs £15 for a return trip to London, I figured why not?
The plan was to show up unannounced. I had told Brad and Nadine that I was coming, however, and we planned on meeting up beforehand so we could show up at the door together. I grabbed the bus, in usual fashion, and all was going smoothly. The bus, being an early evening service, only had about ten people on it. At one point, one of the two people sitting in the back seat went into the bathroom, and shortly thereafter, the smell of a lit cigarette crept into the coach cabin. Everybody on the bus was turning their heads toward the back. I presume it was more obvious than the person had suspected it would be. I was waiting for the driver to say something over the PA, but alas nothing.
A short time later, the other person went into the bathroom, and again, the smell of smoke. Just then we passed another National Express bus parked in the hard shoulder, and began to pull over. I initially thought that the driver had called in the smoking situation, and this couple were going to be escorted off the bus, and taken back to Bristol. It turned out, however, that the other bus had broken down, and since it was also heading to London, we were taking on its passengers. The smokers were off the hook, but I'd imagine the one that was in the bathroom when the bus pulled over thought he was in for it.
Leaving the other bus near the 'Slough Trading Estate' sign on the M4 that became so familiar in the opening sequence of The Office we were on our way. What we weren't told, however, is that these new passengers were scheduled for a stop at Heathrow, which would no doubt add at least half-an-hour to the journey. I spoke to Brad on the phone and we arranged to meet at Kentish Town Station at 9:15pm. Traffic on the M4 into London was crawling, though, and by the time I got to Victoria Station, it was already 9:00. I just managed to get a text from Brad before boarding the Tube that said, 'Hey we're running late. We'll meet you at Johan's.' They were meeting and collecting Saskatchewan/Halifax friends April and Dale.
I got on the Northern Line train and as it stopped at Charing Cross Station, some familiar faces boarded the train. By coincidence, Brad, Nadine, April and Dale were standing on the platform perfectly in line with the train car that I was on. We marvelled at this for some time. All the lateness had aligned and we were, despite giving up on our plans to meet up beforehand, arriving at the party together. We made a few stops for spirits and beers along the High Street and then made our way to Johan and Christine's. We told them that they had just found me on the Tube, and then had to iterate that we were actually telling the truth.
The party was full of Canadians. In fact, there were six of us University of Manitoba alumni, five of which were from the same class. Elaina, fellow classmate and former housemate of Johan and Christine's, had come from Winnipeg on her way to Eastern Europe. There were also classmates of classmates there. Gabriel from University of Toronto knew some of our fellow U of M grads who had emigrated there for their Masters.
There was plenty to eat and drink. Earlier in the day, housemate Ben had procured a punch bowl that very much resembled a light cover. Elaina had brought Jell-O from the New World which were made into shooters of course. And naturally there were Cadbury eggs galore. We stayed until the wee hours before heading out to the streets of London in search of food. A bunch of us caught one of the buses heading back toward Oxford Circus. Of course, bad kids that we are, we sat on the upper deck at the very back. Dale and I entertained the group and many of the other passengers by musing on a solitary glove that we found on the floor. A long-haired, bearded Swedish man named Johnny even joined us on our quest to find the owner of the gauntlet. No one really wanted it in the end.
Soon our stop arrived, and the five of us bid adieu to the others and headed toward our favourite chippy, which we in true Seinfeldian form have called the Chip Nazi. The place was quite popular at that time of night. After finishing our food, we parted ways from April and Dale and headed back to Brad and Nadine's for some shuteye. The evening was definitely worth the nearly three-hour trip. It was certainly more fun that I would have had had I stayed in Bristol.
The next morning I arose around 10:00am to give myself enough time to get back to Victoria to catch my bus. I got a bit nervous as there was a queue at Russell Square Station that didn't seem to be moving. I opted to walk to the next one, and got to the Coach Station on time. Unbelievably the trip back was interrupted by another pull-over for a bus in the shoulder. This time it was at Swindon, and no action was required. We continued on our way, and I was back in Bristol by mid-afternoon.
Next up: no not another trip to London, but rather to the only other place I seem to go: Nottingham.
Cheers.
Photo credit: Elaina
Though it had only been days since I'd left London, I decided to visit again. I had been invited, after all, to Johan and Christine's '7 Days to Easter Party' at their flat in Kentish Town. Since it only costs £15 for a return trip to London, I figured why not?
The plan was to show up unannounced. I had told Brad and Nadine that I was coming, however, and we planned on meeting up beforehand so we could show up at the door together. I grabbed the bus, in usual fashion, and all was going smoothly. The bus, being an early evening service, only had about ten people on it. At one point, one of the two people sitting in the back seat went into the bathroom, and shortly thereafter, the smell of a lit cigarette crept into the coach cabin. Everybody on the bus was turning their heads toward the back. I presume it was more obvious than the person had suspected it would be. I was waiting for the driver to say something over the PA, but alas nothing.A short time later, the other person went into the bathroom, and again, the smell of smoke. Just then we passed another National Express bus parked in the hard shoulder, and began to pull over. I initially thought that the driver had called in the smoking situation, and this couple were going to be escorted off the bus, and taken back to Bristol. It turned out, however, that the other bus had broken down, and since it was also heading to London, we were taking on its passengers. The smokers were off the hook, but I'd imagine the one that was in the bathroom when the bus pulled over thought he was in for it.
Leaving the other bus near the 'Slough Trading Estate' sign on the M4 that became so familiar in the opening sequence of The Office we were on our way. What we weren't told, however, is that these new passengers were scheduled for a stop at Heathrow, which would no doubt add at least half-an-hour to the journey. I spoke to Brad on the phone and we arranged to meet at Kentish Town Station at 9:15pm. Traffic on the M4 into London was crawling, though, and by the time I got to Victoria Station, it was already 9:00. I just managed to get a text from Brad before boarding the Tube that said, 'Hey we're running late. We'll meet you at Johan's.' They were meeting and collecting Saskatchewan/Halifax friends April and Dale.
I got on the Northern Line train and as it stopped at Charing Cross Station, some familiar faces boarded the train. By coincidence, Brad, Nadine, April and Dale were standing on the platform perfectly in line with the train car that I was on. We marvelled at this for some time. All the lateness had aligned and we were, despite giving up on our plans to meet up beforehand, arriving at the party together. We made a few stops for spirits and beers along the High Street and then made our way to Johan and Christine's. We told them that they had just found me on the Tube, and then had to iterate that we were actually telling the truth.
The party was full of Canadians. In fact, there were six of us University of Manitoba alumni, five of which were from the same class. Elaina, fellow classmate and former housemate of Johan and Christine's, had come from Winnipeg on her way to Eastern Europe. There were also classmates of classmates there. Gabriel from University of Toronto knew some of our fellow U of M grads who had emigrated there for their Masters.
There was plenty to eat and drink. Earlier in the day, housemate Ben had procured a punch bowl that very much resembled a light cover. Elaina had brought Jell-O from the New World which were made into shooters of course. And naturally there were Cadbury eggs galore. We stayed until the wee hours before heading out to the streets of London in search of food. A bunch of us caught one of the buses heading back toward Oxford Circus. Of course, bad kids that we are, we sat on the upper deck at the very back. Dale and I entertained the group and many of the other passengers by musing on a solitary glove that we found on the floor. A long-haired, bearded Swedish man named Johnny even joined us on our quest to find the owner of the gauntlet. No one really wanted it in the end.
Soon our stop arrived, and the five of us bid adieu to the others and headed toward our favourite chippy, which we in true Seinfeldian form have called the Chip Nazi. The place was quite popular at that time of night. After finishing our food, we parted ways from April and Dale and headed back to Brad and Nadine's for some shuteye. The evening was definitely worth the nearly three-hour trip. It was certainly more fun that I would have had had I stayed in Bristol.
The next morning I arose around 10:00am to give myself enough time to get back to Victoria to catch my bus. I got a bit nervous as there was a queue at Russell Square Station that didn't seem to be moving. I opted to walk to the next one, and got to the Coach Station on time. Unbelievably the trip back was interrupted by another pull-over for a bus in the shoulder. This time it was at Swindon, and no action was required. We continued on our way, and I was back in Bristol by mid-afternoon.
Next up: no not another trip to London, but rather to the only other place I seem to go: Nottingham.
Cheers.
Photo credit: Elaina
posted by Mark Bauche at 8:45 PM
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