A KiKi in London--Part 3 [ March 17, 2005, 1:30 am ]

Now that I have time to write a good entry.....

In "chapter 1" (if you can really call it that), I was talking about my first weekend in London. I just wanted to add a few things.

Portobello Road turned out to be one of my favorite things about the trip just because of the amazing atmosphere. The weather was gorgeous, the people were happy and the overall vibe from the three hours we spent there left me absolutely giddy. There was so much vibrance and life in that stretch of road. I wish I could have bottled it to inspire me when I have writer's block.

On Sunday we went to Greenwich. First off, that section of the city is beautiful. OK, so the whole city is beautiful, but Greenwich feels a little more isolated, a little more rural and private. It may have felt that way because we had to jump three different train lines to get there, but still. It was cloudy and lush and I adored the atmosphere. While there, Ry and I strattled the Prime Meridian, which was a cool thing. It's fun to be able to say that I was in two places at once. We also walked around the observatory and caught a glimpse of the city at dusk. Gorgeous.

I honestly still can't get over just how beautiful the entire city was. I'm so enchanted by all of it. I can't believe places like London exist. I know it's because I've lived in the UP where all I see are trees and deer all year round. But honestly--London is the most phenomenal city, sight-wise.

Sunday night, we decided to go to a club called the Zoo Club. Our travel book said it was fun; we wanted to drink, it worked out well. When we got in, I was immediately in heaven because the DJ was playing 80s music. (I automatically fall in love with any vicinity that blasts a good 80s song.) Ry immediately took advantage of the 18-being-legal rule and started filling up on drinks. While in the midst of drinking, we joked about how we were cock-blocking each other because people probably automaticially assumed that we were a couple. This theory turned out to be right.

We were dancing a little while later and I was getting sweaty so I sent Ry to check my coat. He wasn't even gone a minute when a guy started dancing with me. We ended up together for the remainder of the time I was at the bar. The cock-block theory was true. Poor Ry--he just left us alone and pounded down more drinks. (Thanks dear!) I'm just impressed that I attracted any attention with my hair the way it was--all pulled up all manly-like in my newsboy hat and totally begging for a shower. The guy was French, though, so that may explain some things.

Viva la France.

Monday was a low-key day for us. We slept in and didn't even attempt to make it out of our room until 1. We decided to check out the London Zoo since a.) it's gotten rave reviews from lots of people and b.) I'd never been to a real zoo before. I feel lame admitting that I was in the greatest city in the world and I wanted to gawk at penguins, but I'll admit--I love me my penguins. And giraffes and monkeys and Dory-fish. The zoo freakin' rocked. I was literally a foot (and a glass partition) away from a tiger. And I shrieked when I saw pink flamingos. And! And I got to hold a ginormous snail! It was huge! And slimy! And I didn't squeal (much)! AndAnd!!! We went to the reptile house and I got my picture taken where that scene from the first Harry Potter movie was shot. That really made my day. (And I know it'll make my friends just a little jealous.) It was a lot of fun.

On Monday night, Ry and I (I love saying that) went to a gay club called Heaven. Word on the street was that it was a great club and it was extra great on Monday nights. I'm all about gay clubs and Ryan was excited to be at a place where he knew the hot men were all for him.

Getting there was an adventure in and of itself. The only directions were to get off at Charing Cross station and look for the arches. We did this. We sillily assumed that the arches were, um, these arches that we saw when we emerged from the Tube station. There were three stone arches, they were pretty, we thought they were them so we sauntered over there. The only thing we found was a lamp-post. No club. So we wandered. And wandered. And looked. And searched. And wandered some more. No Heaven. Just backroads. And more wandering. And then! A backroad! With a clue! A sign that said "ARches this way." We followed the sign.

And we found a huge-ASS line. It was five people across and snaked around the corner and down a block to the next road. We'd officially found the entrance to Heaven. And it was long.

We got in the line and waited. And waited. And waited some. more. We befriended a girl in front of us who was really sweet. After about 45 minutes she found another friend of hers and that friend let us cut--that saved us about 20 minutes in line. Still--by the time we got INTO the club, we'd been waiting for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

When we walked in, though, Ry and I looked at each other and gasped. It looked like something out of a music video. It was this massive expanse under the subway with pipes along the walls. And it was packed--at least a thousand gyrating bodies grooving to techo music. And there were hot men! Shirtless! On platforms! They were ripped! And did I mention shirtless? It was pretty.

Heaven was quite the interesting experience. Ten minutes after being let in, I was offered a joint. Two minutes after that a guy approached me.

Him: Hi
Me: Hi!
Him: Want to go fuck?
Me: WHAT?
Him: Want to fuck me?
Me: Um, no, I'll just dance, thanks.

It turns out it was a gay club that a lot of straight people frequented because of the rave-esque atmosphere.

It was fun. It was different. I'm used to small spaces cramped with people. Large spaces cramped with dancing people just feels like one giant orgy. (Not that I'd really know, but really--that's what it felt like.) I didn't have Ry to protect me because I wanted him to get some play. (He didn't, though--he's a good little boy.) So I had nobody to dance with except myself. Which was fine and good. I preferred it to the creepy Euro guy who tried to back me against a wall and feel me up. Soon after that incident, Ry and I jetted. Creepy people don't make for happy endings at clubs.

Heaven wasn't our favorite part of the trip. It was a fun experience; I'm just glad that I didn't pay a lot to get harassed. At least I have fun stories to tell from it.

Stay tuned...much more to come when I have much more time to tell.

Ciao, dahling!

~*Krissy*~

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