Runaround Day (and a bit of the British Museum)

It had to happen sometime, I just wasn’t quite ready for it, I thought we’d have more time… It wasn’t nice, it wasn’t pretty.. it was the day of “completing all the errands”

We did have plans of seeing the museums today as the weather was shite and it was better to be indoors than out, but we realized that the day of runabout had come. We had to organize our mobiles and their numbers & the bank accounts. We caught the tube a bit of a ways to where the agency we’d signed up with were, grabbed our ‘start up packs’ and then head to the bank which of course, had to be another few good tube stops away and then another 10 minute walk.. nothing seemed easy today. We got off at the right station and began to walk, it was crazy busy and people were just pushing and shoving you in every direction, there were nothing but fashion shops and all we wanted to do was sit down and pull out a map so we could see where the bloody hell we were.. and then we saw it, a big fat sign on the corner of a building stating “OXFORD STREET”… ooooohhhh, now that explains it all. We’d totally stumbled upon it by accident, and we couldn’t wait to get off it! We pulled into a small café to grab a milkshake and coffee just so we could breathe for a minute or two, but then our breath was taken away once more when the bill arrived… it was 9 bloody pounds for 2 drinks! 9 freaking pounds…. That’s equivalent of $18! Thank god we didn’t decide to eat there as well! (no smuggled sandwiches today, we think they’re onto us now…) What made it even more annoying is the fact that we were expecting a pound or so change and that never arrived as they’d kept it as tip. Sorry, but they’d just sent us broke, they didn’t deserve to keep our change as well!! At this bloody rate we were going to be sitting on the street with a Styrofoam cup in front of us with a sign saying “we’re not crack addicts, we just had had a quick drink, any change appreciated”

Anyhow, we moved on to where we eventually found the bank and were served by a very nice young man, who assisted us in setting up our bank accounts. Along the way we passed Marble Arch, but neither of us could be bothered getting the camera out to take a snap shot. We then found a shop in which we were able to buy 2 new mobile phones and set them up so that we could keep in touch with friends and family. Figuring out the international codes etc was fun (please note the large dose of sarcasm) but we did it in the end.

By now it was well and truly into the late afternoon and we were both stubborn and didn’t want to waste today on just running about, we wanted to get some form of sight seeing out of it, so we made our way to the British Museum. Whoa, is this place ever big!!! Its ginormous and so easy to get lost in!

We checked the map and chose a room or two to see, there was no way on earth, even with a good week up your sleeve that you’d get to see this place properly, thus the reason why we chose a room or two. We decided on the ancient Egypt room and the roman room, both of which were very very interesting and amazing. The sphinxes and statues were all fantastic, again the craftsmanship that went into these works of art is nothing you’ve ever seen before, and they dated back to 200-300 AD, bloody amazing!

Venus getting ready for her bath. The unoffical title I've given this statue. British Museum

A startled Venus in the bath, seriously, that's the title of this piece. I doubt I'd look that serene if it were me.

Again tour groups were pushing past and we’d by now had enough of the crowds and in immature fashion made a deal of pushing past the tour groups that had just pushed by us.. Do unto others and all that.. Our feet were sore, our patience was non existent and we were getting hungry by now (again, no sandwiches…) so we decided to go and grab dinner in Leicester Square, where we had a rather yummy Japanese meal.

I Emily, who is allergic to fish and all things that grow, live and breed beneath the waves tried some vegetarian sushi. Last time I tried this I did have a reaction, and this time was no exception, though it was less severe and I popped a pill straight away so I was fine and dandy. Next to us at the restaurant sat a couple who were on their first date and god it was painful to observe and listen to! We weren’t being noisy, we couldn’t help but practically be involved in their date, the tables were all crowded in there and we had (with NO exaggeration or sarcasm used at all here I promise you) an inch between their table and ours. My gosh though, the guy on this date was something that very strongly rhymes with banker! My head was screaming “RUN GIRL RUN!” but that was just me, hopefully she has sense to see through the guys crap… though when we got out into the somewhat fresh London air, Chris turned to me and said “that guy was a complete… banker.. “(remember to rhyme!) So it wasn’t just me thinking that after all.. I don’t actually know why I’m filling this blog in with someone else’s date, it’s not relevant at all, but it was a highlight for me being a woman and gossipy I guess…… Anyhow, we got back to the hotel, packed and went to bed early that night ready for our check out and trip to Bristol the following morning.

written by

Chris and Emily on April 9, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

from the travel blog: Europe 2009

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Hi Em. Dunno if you know me but I'm a friend of Chris's. Just wanted to say I love your blog!! It's great to follow your journey (I'm very jealous) and even the whole blogging about someone else's date... it's all part of your experience. I think it's cool :)

written by Cheryl on April 23, 2009

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