Back in Montreal!
It’s now 5:45 Montreal time and I have been wide awake for the past 45 minutes. I’ve decided to relate how my trip has ended and, to my dismay, have discovered that I now have trouble with my keyboard… Quite annoying, such switches.
I will begin in chronological order.
Friday, my second to last day, I decided to get out of the center of London. I was not much in the mood for crowds and buildings. I was considering going to Oxford or Cambridge to check out those old schools that house old dreams of mine of studying Eng Lit in the UK, but instead I went to Maidenhead, a suburb to the West of London that not many people have heard about as I had before the time I got in touch with Marc-André on Facebook. We went to high school together and hadn’t seen each other since graduation. I spent the afternoon at his quaint suburban home and we chatted about London, the programming business, and caught up on the past years. I met his wife, a lovely woman. He is a father of one. The last time I saw him, he didn’t speak English.
By 6 PM I was at Canary Warf to pick Claire up from work. It is the most horrible part of London. Developed only recently, it is East of the old financial district and set like a peninsula in part of land surrounded by the Thames. I believe it used to be a port. Now, there is nothing but tall glass buildings. A landscape of glass buildings is a very barren view, one that the few posh pubs that line its ground surface, there to serve the hard-working anybodies in a suit, do not succeed at livening up. It was horrible. I also noticed that the tube stations in that area, just as at Westminster (the most tourist one), all have glass casing along the platform, separating the platform (people) from the train lines and wagon. The glass casing is equipped with doors that open and close as the tube wagons’ doors do. I described them to Claire as the Anti-suicide stations, which made her laugh. I am nonetheless convinced of it, all the more so seeing where these anti-suicide stations (or anti-pushing someone on the rails) are located.
After that we joined Pinakin in Soho for supper and a drink. Guy joined us a little later and we ended up drinking a bit more than expected. We found a club (not a pub, that stop serving at 11 PM) and busied ourselves on the dance floor. We had quite a good time. So much so that the next day, Claire and I pretty much stayed in and took it easy until later afternoon. Saturday night, I had supper with Matthew.
We met at Waterloo station. Matthew had been reading my blog so he knew what I had done (“You’ve done quite a bit!”), and had decided to show me a bit of London that my itinerary had neglected: Covent Gardens. We crossed over on a pedestrian bridge that has, in his opinion, the best view of London. On it there is a plaque that represents the Northern skyline and identifies the buildings. Covent Gardens is on the North shore of the Thames. It is indeed cute, but unfortunately in an overdone way. The old fruit market looks much like the village houses at Tremblant: renovated to look old. The area was mostly busy with tourists (Matthew had worn me about that on the bridge). A mix of restaurants and cobble stones, theatres and pubs. We had a drink and then went for supper in an Indian restaurant. He asked me about my opinions of London (had my thoughts on the food changed?) and we generally conversed about life in London and its surroundings. By ten past 11 he had to scoot off to catch his train and I was forced to walk through the neighborhood because the closest tube station was closed. Strangely, I heard more French (from France) in that area than English.
The next day Claire and I did some shopping so that I could get the last things on my list. We went down to Piccadilly Circus first and then made our way to Camden Town, where Pinakin lives. He came to join us at the tube station and accompanied us to his home (which he owns) before meeting his buddy Russ at a close by pub. After a meal and some drinks, we walked to Camden Market where I was told that I would be able to buy my brother’s extremely vague request of “something cool from London.” Now, my co-worker Michael had told me that Soho on a Saturday night was like the first scene in Blade-Runner. I went to Soho twice at night and could not see it. But Camden Market, even in the light of day, could have very well been the inspiration for that set. Pinakin told me that 10-15 years ago, the market was much smaller. It was located about old stables, and it eventually grew and morphed into a maze of alternative clothes shops, food stalls, antique stores and electronic music booths. I did indeed find there my brother’s “cool London” souvenir.
By the time we finished shopping, Russ had left us. Pinakin, Claire and I went to a pub where we drank and had supper. I liked the place quite a bit. I believe I like the neighborhood quite a bit also. It was like St-Henri, with it’s rich and poor, posh and marginal. Afterwards we went back to Pinakin’s, where we played some music and generally had a good time and stayed too late. (“Putain, il est minuit et dix!”) I’m glad I spent my last evening in London in their company.
The next morning (yesterday), it was cold and raining. I had stayed up later then Claire, doing my best at trying to get my luggage closed. I eventually succeeded, but the suitcase was too heavy and off balance, so the little trolley wheels didn’t quite work. With a broken heavy suitcase and an over-bulging packsack and purse, I slowly made my way to the tube station (sometimes carrying my suitcase, sometimes kicking it like a soccer ball, sometimes pulling it while walking backwards to be sure it was steady, and sometimes trying to push it along like an oversized curling stone), then transferred to another line, then made my way through the train station where a train would bring me to the airport. By the time I checked my luggage I was tired, sweaty, and my hands hurt. I was even glad that I had to check my packsack because the lighter my load, the better! I boarded the plane at 1PM and we took off at 1:30 on what has been the longest plane ride I have ever taken. By 11 PM I was in Montreal (6 PM Montreal time), and I fell asleep like a log three hours later.
I still have to unpack. I should do that now. Last night I basically gave Ben his gifts and showed him the last of my pictures. It’s strange to be back. It smells different here. It smells something I like. Maybe due to the fact that this city has so many trees? And it is much warmer in Montreal than it is now in London. It’ll be strange to be back at work (in 2 hours!). I must say, I really did enjoy my holiday.
I will begin in chronological order.
Friday, my second to last day, I decided to get out of the center of London. I was not much in the mood for crowds and buildings. I was considering going to Oxford or Cambridge to check out those old schools that house old dreams of mine of studying Eng Lit in the UK, but instead I went to Maidenhead, a suburb to the West of London that not many people have heard about as I had before the time I got in touch with Marc-André on Facebook. We went to high school together and hadn’t seen each other since graduation. I spent the afternoon at his quaint suburban home and we chatted about London, the programming business, and caught up on the past years. I met his wife, a lovely woman. He is a father of one. The last time I saw him, he didn’t speak English.
By 6 PM I was at Canary Warf to pick Claire up from work. It is the most horrible part of London. Developed only recently, it is East of the old financial district and set like a peninsula in part of land surrounded by the Thames. I believe it used to be a port. Now, there is nothing but tall glass buildings. A landscape of glass buildings is a very barren view, one that the few posh pubs that line its ground surface, there to serve the hard-working anybodies in a suit, do not succeed at livening up. It was horrible. I also noticed that the tube stations in that area, just as at Westminster (the most tourist one), all have glass casing along the platform, separating the platform (people) from the train lines and wagon. The glass casing is equipped with doors that open and close as the tube wagons’ doors do. I described them to Claire as the Anti-suicide stations, which made her laugh. I am nonetheless convinced of it, all the more so seeing where these anti-suicide stations (or anti-pushing someone on the rails) are located.
After that we joined Pinakin in Soho for supper and a drink. Guy joined us a little later and we ended up drinking a bit more than expected. We found a club (not a pub, that stop serving at 11 PM) and busied ourselves on the dance floor. We had quite a good time. So much so that the next day, Claire and I pretty much stayed in and took it easy until later afternoon. Saturday night, I had supper with Matthew.
We met at Waterloo station. Matthew had been reading my blog so he knew what I had done (“You’ve done quite a bit!”), and had decided to show me a bit of London that my itinerary had neglected: Covent Gardens. We crossed over on a pedestrian bridge that has, in his opinion, the best view of London. On it there is a plaque that represents the Northern skyline and identifies the buildings. Covent Gardens is on the North shore of the Thames. It is indeed cute, but unfortunately in an overdone way. The old fruit market looks much like the village houses at Tremblant: renovated to look old. The area was mostly busy with tourists (Matthew had worn me about that on the bridge). A mix of restaurants and cobble stones, theatres and pubs. We had a drink and then went for supper in an Indian restaurant. He asked me about my opinions of London (had my thoughts on the food changed?) and we generally conversed about life in London and its surroundings. By ten past 11 he had to scoot off to catch his train and I was forced to walk through the neighborhood because the closest tube station was closed. Strangely, I heard more French (from France) in that area than English.
The next day Claire and I did some shopping so that I could get the last things on my list. We went down to Piccadilly Circus first and then made our way to Camden Town, where Pinakin lives. He came to join us at the tube station and accompanied us to his home (which he owns) before meeting his buddy Russ at a close by pub. After a meal and some drinks, we walked to Camden Market where I was told that I would be able to buy my brother’s extremely vague request of “something cool from London.” Now, my co-worker Michael had told me that Soho on a Saturday night was like the first scene in Blade-Runner. I went to Soho twice at night and could not see it. But Camden Market, even in the light of day, could have very well been the inspiration for that set. Pinakin told me that 10-15 years ago, the market was much smaller. It was located about old stables, and it eventually grew and morphed into a maze of alternative clothes shops, food stalls, antique stores and electronic music booths. I did indeed find there my brother’s “cool London” souvenir.
By the time we finished shopping, Russ had left us. Pinakin, Claire and I went to a pub where we drank and had supper. I liked the place quite a bit. I believe I like the neighborhood quite a bit also. It was like St-Henri, with it’s rich and poor, posh and marginal. Afterwards we went back to Pinakin’s, where we played some music and generally had a good time and stayed too late. (“Putain, il est minuit et dix!”) I’m glad I spent my last evening in London in their company.
The next morning (yesterday), it was cold and raining. I had stayed up later then Claire, doing my best at trying to get my luggage closed. I eventually succeeded, but the suitcase was too heavy and off balance, so the little trolley wheels didn’t quite work. With a broken heavy suitcase and an over-bulging packsack and purse, I slowly made my way to the tube station (sometimes carrying my suitcase, sometimes kicking it like a soccer ball, sometimes pulling it while walking backwards to be sure it was steady, and sometimes trying to push it along like an oversized curling stone), then transferred to another line, then made my way through the train station where a train would bring me to the airport. By the time I checked my luggage I was tired, sweaty, and my hands hurt. I was even glad that I had to check my packsack because the lighter my load, the better! I boarded the plane at 1PM and we took off at 1:30 on what has been the longest plane ride I have ever taken. By 11 PM I was in Montreal (6 PM Montreal time), and I fell asleep like a log three hours later.
I still have to unpack. I should do that now. Last night I basically gave Ben his gifts and showed him the last of my pictures. It’s strange to be back. It smells different here. It smells something I like. Maybe due to the fact that this city has so many trees? And it is much warmer in Montreal than it is now in London. It’ll be strange to be back at work (in 2 hours!). I must say, I really did enjoy my holiday.
posted by julie at
6:08 a.m.
1 Comments:
It s been a long time. I still wear your present, a beautiful black london style coat. I didn't appreciated it fully at first, I am more grateful now. You were really good for me , always thinking about giving me a present at every occasion. Life give lessons to those who don't know how to live. And I was not a living person, I was a 'all is hard to do' person. I would like to have the possibility to share a bit of easy living time with you now. Nothing must interfere between two lovers .. love must be simple and the rest is not important. Ho, a second chance is never probable. It's a shame that we learn just when we lose the important. The love and the person who love you. Miss you.
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ben, at 2:28 a.m.
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