Defeated by Jet Lag...

It is currently 3:22am in London... ugh. We went to bed ~9pm, but for some reason I have awoken and can't get back to sleep. I'm sitting downstairs, somewhat freezing, wrapped in a fluffy blanket and listening to the drunk 20-something girls giggle as they stumble home.

The flight over to London was uneventful-- gin and rum filled, but uneventful. Kathleen's video screen gave the old college try, but in the end failed her in her effort to enjoy G-Force. Which, frankly, may be for the best as I might have ended our friendship over her watching that "film".

I would say the highlight of the flight, as with any good Air Canada segment, was the food. My supper was some sort of frozen egg-bread, a peas-and-unidentified-veggie salad (Kathleen tried it... couldn't decide if it was carrot, sweet potato or turnip) and a chicken in roasted red pepper sauce with penne. Not delicious (or really edible), but Kathleen got the real gem. She had ordered a diabetic meal, just to be careful, which apparently means everything is gluten free. Her roll felt like a stress ball and we marveled at how one could squeeze it and it would retain its shape. Her meal was chicken in mushroom sauce on basmati... which was actually rubber in brown goo on rice-shaped cardboard flakes. The goo is what got me... it was actually the consistency of slime.

"These mushrooms were freshly picked from the forest. They taste like dirt." - K. Du.

The line at Heathrow security was long, but only took half an hr to pass and then we were off on our very long tube ride. We arrived late, as our plane had been delayed 40mins for de-icing in Ottawa, but Sara waited for us at the tube station and I was so excited to be greeted by her gorgeous face upon arrival! She had waited about an hr in the freezing cold station, but it wasn't so bad-- the numerous attractive men helped her while away the time.

At this point something magical, and you may believe impossible, occurred- we were waiting outside for a taxi and only 4 or 5 passed by, all with people in them. One guy drove by and wouldn't stop... then, our of nowhere, a black cab driven by a lovely woman stopped and asked where we were going-- it was on her way, so she said she would give us a drive because we "looked cold". We found out that her car had had its windows smashed the night before and she had in general been having a stroke of poor luck, so she figured helping us out might turn her karma around. It was the NICEST thing. We were very cold, and appreciated the drive immensely. Then, to top it off, she wouldn't take any money for the trip, as she was going that way anyway. Seriously, this city is like any other-- can you picture NYC or Paris cab drivers giving you a break? It just doesn't happen. Welcome to London.

Sara's flat is lovely and TV-less--while this stressed K Du out, I quite like it. There is wireless if needed, but you can sit around and drink and talk...and there is no background noise. You do other things, because there isnt a TV to spend valuable time watching. I dont know that I could live without the potential of watching Mansbridge, but I like the idea.

We hit Camden Market tonight, for a couple hours. It was a little cold and, the bigger issue, we were tired. There are some artists there that paint (albeit in mass production) beautiful work and K Du and I both picked up a couple paintings. Sara is in heaven there, as they have so much vintage jewelry and clothing-- she is one of those effortlessly beautiful people with more character than most, who can pull off the fashionable looks most of us only dream of. I love the handmade crafty things and vintage silver, but I just look like some sort of yuppie hipster wannabe, so I stick to my basic essentials and leave the rest to the glam kids.

I have had love and hate affairs with Camden Market, but I do truly love it. There is a lot of repeat stuff and some garbage (particularly if you get off at Camden Town tube stop and have to walk down the street of trashy stores) but there are also some gems-- like my painters. I also love the food options-- there is Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern and, my fav, Indian, all in multiple stalls for 4pounds per meal. Mix and match what you want. We had some

sort of Indian chicken in a peanut-y coconut sauce that was basically the most amazing thing of life, and a

chocolate/banana crepe that surpassed all others I have ever eaten. We didn't spend enough time in the market, but may venture back tomorrow when we have a full day to tool around London. We were supposed to do a Grayline tour of Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge, but apparently everything is "closed" due to weather. Like, for real. We heard a woman complaining on her cell that it was snowing "quite hard" while we were in Camden Mkt-- the three Canadian girls looked around and noted some minor flurries, but it wasnt remotely storm-like. There is some ice here and a bit of ground snow, but it is very minor. People here are so unaccustomed to it though-- we head about one girl who commutes to London from an hr away, who emailed and said she may not be able to get to class because there is "a foot of snow" in her city. ONE foot. That would be my dream winter! Alas, to be fair, Britain and Britons are not really equipped to deal with snow at any level (evidenced by the lack of salt or sand on the icy sidewalks). It was a little cold tonight with the wind off the canal, but in general its about 0 degrees over here-- compared to the -15/20 Ottawa has been seeing, it's virtually tropical.

So, with the cancellation of Grayline, we now have extra time to spend in London and we are moving Stonehenge to another day at the end of the trip. Windsor might get missed, but I've been there and the state apartments are closed anyway--I'm sure we can find something else to do with our time.

Tomorrow will see the hunt for a SIM card-- I finally ditched Bell and their shoddy service and went to Rogers, so I have an unlocked GSM Blackberry waiting for a local SIM. I almost like not having a phone, but it will become increasingly difficult to plan anything without one. Sites and shows in Londontown for a couple days, then off to Amsterdam!

And it is now 3:52am. Le sigh.

xo from London,

C.