Thursday, May 28, 2009
To be continued...
The final chapter can be read at scottwbolohan.blogspot.com as I'm out of space on this blog. There might be some moving issues but hopefully it should be all smoothly running soon.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
16/5/09
We went down to Camden Market, which Mary thought was like Diagon Alley. She loved it, we looked at all sorts of cool things and she found gifts for a bunch of people.
We walked back along the canal and into Regent's Park, stopping to get a Flake. As we were wandering around by the water, Mary stopped and was looking at swans when an old dude came up and asked her if she knew a lot about swans. He ended up telling us all about the park - the different birds and plants. He was sort of like Dennis. His name is Dr. Teng Dolgoruky, who worked as a doctor with terminally ill children and now has retired and only does some writing, but mostly works as a painter. He painted a number of restaurants in the area and was out drawing today as well. He speaks 16 different languages and can say thank you in some 200, because he has a prominent role in the UN and has traveled the world many times. He would name drop Kissinger, Carter, and Hugo Chavez in his stories.
Everyone that he saw he would stop and ask them where they were from and speak to them a little in their native language. It was fascinating, just an incredibly nice and knowledgable man, we spent hours with him. As we were leaving he told us about how he was the last man out of Hungary in 1956 when the Russian tanks rolled in because he was on assignment from MI5, helping to remove important Hungarians and as a doctor fluent in many languages he was needed from the government. He basically has a Dr. Schmidt story.
He gave me his card when he left and told me to call him and we'd get dinner (he's a vegetarian too). I'm going to.
After that we went down to the Charles Dickens Cafe and Mary worked while I wrote up my column and read Sherlock Holmes. I had a good cappucino.
When it closed at midnight we walked back into Leicester Square area and went into the Fiori Cafe that was open until 5. I had an awesome black forrest cake and a white coffee. It was really cool, I just read Sherlock and Mary got a lot done. The Brits don't seem to really do the studying in cafes thing, but no one bothered us at all, so it was really cool.
We got back around 3. It was a pretty great day.
We walked back along the canal and into Regent's Park, stopping to get a Flake. As we were wandering around by the water, Mary stopped and was looking at swans when an old dude came up and asked her if she knew a lot about swans. He ended up telling us all about the park - the different birds and plants. He was sort of like Dennis. His name is Dr. Teng Dolgoruky, who worked as a doctor with terminally ill children and now has retired and only does some writing, but mostly works as a painter. He painted a number of restaurants in the area and was out drawing today as well. He speaks 16 different languages and can say thank you in some 200, because he has a prominent role in the UN and has traveled the world many times. He would name drop Kissinger, Carter, and Hugo Chavez in his stories.
Everyone that he saw he would stop and ask them where they were from and speak to them a little in their native language. It was fascinating, just an incredibly nice and knowledgable man, we spent hours with him. As we were leaving he told us about how he was the last man out of Hungary in 1956 when the Russian tanks rolled in because he was on assignment from MI5, helping to remove important Hungarians and as a doctor fluent in many languages he was needed from the government. He basically has a Dr. Schmidt story.
He gave me his card when he left and told me to call him and we'd get dinner (he's a vegetarian too). I'm going to.
After that we went down to the Charles Dickens Cafe and Mary worked while I wrote up my column and read Sherlock Holmes. I had a good cappucino.
When it closed at midnight we walked back into Leicester Square area and went into the Fiori Cafe that was open until 5. I had an awesome black forrest cake and a white coffee. It was really cool, I just read Sherlock and Mary got a lot done. The Brits don't seem to really do the studying in cafes thing, but no one bothered us at all, so it was really cool.
We got back around 3. It was a pretty great day.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
15/5/09
I went and got some more Nutella, bagels, and a baguette because we ate the entire jar in a day. Whoops.
We walked down to Hyde Park again, stopping along the way to get adapters a and went into Kensington Palace, from the 1600s but it was interesting to us because Diana lived there (Mary loves Diana). The place just seemed sorta old and not all that nice, and on top of that we didn't get to see where Diana lived. Fail.
We walked along the park and over to Harrods, which was fun. We obviously didn't buy anything but we had a good time looking around, especially with the foods.
From there we walked back to Marylebone and went to the Indian place that I couldn't find before. It was completely empty, maybe because it's hard to find. We ordered papado, and I had vegetable biryani while Mary had cheese nan and vegetable curry. It was really good.
It was pouring so we ended up staying in. I booked a hostel in Florence and did a lot of looking for Venice. We're planning on two nights in the train station/on the train, with one night in a Venice hostel and two in a Florence one. The trip will be 19 and 20 Venice, 21, 22, 23, Florence, 24 Milan and leave at night for London. I'm excited.
We walked down to Hyde Park again, stopping along the way to get adapters a and went into Kensington Palace, from the 1600s but it was interesting to us because Diana lived there (Mary loves Diana). The place just seemed sorta old and not all that nice, and on top of that we didn't get to see where Diana lived. Fail.
We walked along the park and over to Harrods, which was fun. We obviously didn't buy anything but we had a good time looking around, especially with the foods.
From there we walked back to Marylebone and went to the Indian place that I couldn't find before. It was completely empty, maybe because it's hard to find. We ordered papado, and I had vegetable biryani while Mary had cheese nan and vegetable curry. It was really good.
It was pouring so we ended up staying in. I booked a hostel in Florence and did a lot of looking for Venice. We're planning on two nights in the train station/on the train, with one night in a Venice hostel and two in a Florence one. The trip will be 19 and 20 Venice, 21, 22, 23, Florence, 24 Milan and leave at night for London. I'm excited.
Friday, May 15, 2009
14/5/09
I have one month left until graduation, crazy. I'm not looking forward to leaving.
We went down to Hyde Park and went to the Serpentine to rent a row boat for a half hour. Having never rowed before, it was a a struggle to say the least, but I got the hang of it eventually. It wasn't really sunny out but nice enough that it was a good time.
From there we went and bought awesome Flakes and walked over to the Diana Memorial where we put our feet in the freezing water and pitter pattered.
We walked through the park to Buckingham Palace and then over to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong. I got yelled at twice for sneaking pictures, but I got a couple. The choir was great again, we sat up behind them which was cool and did the whole standing and sitting thing. Fancy.
From there we took the Tube back and met up with Kim, Heidi, and Annie to drop off Heidi's eye drops. It was nice to see everyone. Unfortunately Mary didn't do anything ridiculous in front of them to make them think she was crazy like I was hoping.
We went in a made dinner in the kitchen and Mary studied while I read Sherlock. Kim came over because she had to catch an early train down to the airport since she missed her flight yesterday and she hung out with us. We talked more about my funeral plans as well as how magnets have all sorts of untapped potential. Then we cam back to the room and talked about Italy and looked at hostels and such before she left at 4 am and we went to sleep.
We went down to Hyde Park and went to the Serpentine to rent a row boat for a half hour. Having never rowed before, it was a a struggle to say the least, but I got the hang of it eventually. It wasn't really sunny out but nice enough that it was a good time.
From there we went and bought awesome Flakes and walked over to the Diana Memorial where we put our feet in the freezing water and pitter pattered.
We walked through the park to Buckingham Palace and then over to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong. I got yelled at twice for sneaking pictures, but I got a couple. The choir was great again, we sat up behind them which was cool and did the whole standing and sitting thing. Fancy.
From there we took the Tube back and met up with Kim, Heidi, and Annie to drop off Heidi's eye drops. It was nice to see everyone. Unfortunately Mary didn't do anything ridiculous in front of them to make them think she was crazy like I was hoping.
We went in a made dinner in the kitchen and Mary studied while I read Sherlock. Kim came over because she had to catch an early train down to the airport since she missed her flight yesterday and she hung out with us. We talked more about my funeral plans as well as how magnets have all sorts of untapped potential. Then we cam back to the room and talked about Italy and looked at hostels and such before she left at 4 am and we went to sleep.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
14/5/09
We got up and went to Giraffe in my neighborhood where the Beatles filmed the restaurant scene in 'Help!' It didn't look much like it did in the movie, but at least I had good pancakes and Moroccan mint tea.
From there we walked down to Primark and spent a pretty good amount of time shopping around there. After Mary picked out about the entire store, the line to try them on was too long so she slipped them over her clothes and ended up not liking any of them. I got a fancy striped white shirt with roll-up sleeves, some ridiculous red shoes for £2.50, and my old sunglasses that I lost in Spain for a pound (and these have UV protection).
After stopping to get me a new SIM card, we decided to go study somewhere, so we went to Passterie Valerie, which is a cafe on Marylebone High Street I pass a lot. It was really cool, from the 1920s, with the walls painted in old murals. I had the cream tea again, this time with an Earl Grey, and Mary had an expresso and an awesome Chocolate Mousse cake that I ate half of. She studied MCATS while I read Sherlock Holmes. That basically sums up our lives.
We went to Sainbury's because we'd been spending a ton on food. We bought tons of good things, most notably Nutella. We made dinner in the kitchen.
Around 11 we decided to go out for a walk, putting the forged pass to a test. We didn't have any problems leaving and it was somehow nicer out than before. We did a lot of the walk from last night, making our way down to Big Ben, stopping at Trafalgar Square to hang out for a while. They had been working on the fountains for a while and must have just finished today, they looked great. We went and heard Big Ben go off at 1 and hung out there for a while before going back and sleeping, no problems at security.
From there we walked down to Primark and spent a pretty good amount of time shopping around there. After Mary picked out about the entire store, the line to try them on was too long so she slipped them over her clothes and ended up not liking any of them. I got a fancy striped white shirt with roll-up sleeves, some ridiculous red shoes for £2.50, and my old sunglasses that I lost in Spain for a pound (and these have UV protection).
After stopping to get me a new SIM card, we decided to go study somewhere, so we went to Passterie Valerie, which is a cafe on Marylebone High Street I pass a lot. It was really cool, from the 1920s, with the walls painted in old murals. I had the cream tea again, this time with an Earl Grey, and Mary had an expresso and an awesome Chocolate Mousse cake that I ate half of. She studied MCATS while I read Sherlock Holmes. That basically sums up our lives.
We went to Sainbury's because we'd been spending a ton on food. We bought tons of good things, most notably Nutella. We made dinner in the kitchen.
Around 11 we decided to go out for a walk, putting the forged pass to a test. We didn't have any problems leaving and it was somehow nicer out than before. We did a lot of the walk from last night, making our way down to Big Ben, stopping at Trafalgar Square to hang out for a while. They had been working on the fountains for a while and must have just finished today, they looked great. We went and heard Big Ben go off at 1 and hung out there for a while before going back and sleeping, no problems at security.
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