Friday madness

I had a really, really busy but fun day yesterday! Here's where I went:

-Brick Lane for a field trip with my fiction class. As usual, our professor didn't tell us much about where we were walking. He stopped us at a few historic pubs and talked about the famous fights that had gone down in each, but that was about it.

-Castlehaven (my internship, in Camden Town) to return a key to the storage closet. I found it in my pocket earlier that morning and figured they would need it.

-St. Martins-in-the-Fields for a free concert at 1 p.m. Students at the Royal College of Music played piano and sang opera. Gorgeous.

-Covent Garden Market, where I wandered the stalls for a bit & got a Ben's Cookies triple chocolate cookie. Somehow this market seemed more pricey than most... there was an entire hall of high-end stores that looked like they belonged on Oxford St.

-Somerset House, a huge historical building that contained...

-The Courtauld Gallery, some rich guy's small collection of art. The most famous paintings I saw were Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere and Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Most of the gallery is impressionism and post-impressionism (i.e. Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, etc.) with some earlier and later stuff.

-In another part of Somerset House I saw a photography exhibit that had photos both of random people off the street and of Kate Moss, Audrey Hepburn, Prince William, etc. I still have no idea what the coherent thread or theme of the exhibit was... it seemed pretty random to me.

-PRI-MARK!!!! (The one at Marble Arch). In hindsight going there at 5 p.m. on a Friday was not the best decision. You couldn't even move. The line to the dressing room was 50 people long, and I'm not exaggerating. I got a sensible pair of black tights, 2 pairs stockings, and a new shirt.

-Home for dinner with Vera & international students. It was my favorite, chicken & "chips."

-A hookah bar in Ealing with Sean. We were a little wary about going in, as a huge group of thuggish-looking Middle Eastern guys were standing out front and the only people inside were Middle Eastern as well... but the owner directed us to the back of the store, which was much cozier. We got peach-pineapple flavor which was quite good, and a free cup of tea each! We also met a nice couple who were from Britain and Syria.

-The New Inn, our usual pub, for a pint before the tube closed.


Today will not be as fun, unfortunately, as I've decided it's errand day. Here's my to-do list:
1. Laundry
2. Bring boot with faulty zipper to shoe repair shop
3. Bring crappy camera to camera repair shop
4. Clean room

Cheers,
Rebecca