Hello everyone, here's the thrilling and exciting conclusion to my tale. It involves sorcery, mythical creatures, an epic journey, and the defeat of evil. Not really, but I like to think it's almost as entertaining as that description I just gave since I'm writing this up nine months after it happened.
When I touched down in London (on Thurs. April 21,2011) it was around 4 pm local time (for some reason London's an hour behind). I call Camy, but this time to actually let her know that I have landed in London, and head over to my hostel on the train. The London underground is a huge labyrinth of escalators, massive amounts of people, connecting train lines to and from anywhere in the city. Thankfully I could ask for directions on how to get around (Hooray for English) and Camy knows the system pretty well. I reached my hostel and began to set up shop. After I checked in I went to the hostel bar where I noticed a sign that caught my attention immediately, Guinness extra cold. If you've been reading my blog at all or know me at all then it goes without saying that I had to try this delectable nectar and it did not disappoint one bit. I could speak at length about how much I enjoy Guinness served extra cold but the show must go on. Camy and I made plans to meet on Oxford st. to do some sight seeing and have dinner when she got off of work. I was tired from all the fun I had in the airport earlier in the day so I just napped until it was time to go and meet Camy. Around 7 or 8 I hopped up out of bed and turned my double decker bus swag on. (That means I took the bus for those who aren't hip to the lingo.) My first time on a double decker bus was also the first time I saw the river Thames, Big Ben, the London Eye, Parliament, Piccadilly square, and Oxford street. (All of which were lit up since it was night time and Oxford street was decked out with Union Jacks flying high above the street along with other decorations for the Royal Wedding.) Obviously this is one of the more memorable rides on the bus I've ever had. Camy and I met up on Oxford street and she gave me a little tour while we talked and caught up. We stopped into a place that reminded me of Dave & Busters for a quick drink and to just sit, relax, and talk. After our thirst for cider was quenched, it was a unanimous decision that it was definitely time to eat. Camy led the way as we walked over to Chinatown to have dinner. Chinatown in London is the complete different from the one in New York. Instead of shops and street vendors there's restaurants and buffets. We walked around looking at sushi places, and various sorts of Chinese and Japanese restaurants until we settled on a Chinese buffet for 6 pounds. It was more like a dim sum than a buffet because you tell the waiter what you want and they bring it out to you until you stop ordering. After a couple of rounds both Camy and I were stuffed and decided it was time to head back out into the London air. Camy decided that we should walk through Soho so I could get a taste of nightlife on Kingly street before we headed our separate ways. As soon as we reached Soho Camy and I ran into a couple of people she knew, which I swear happened everywhere we went. As we're standing and talking to her friends the cast from The Only Way is Essex came onto the street, presumably to go out. Everyone around us was going nuts and snapping pictures except for me. I had no idea who they were until Camy explained that they're basically the British equivalent of Jersey Shore. Soon after we walked back to Oxford street to go home all the while making plans to hang out the next day after Camy finished working.
The next morning (Friday April 22) came quicker than expected as I was awoken at 7 am by one of the German girls I was sharing the room with blow drying her hair. Thankfully I was able to fall back asleep and the day wasn't terrible like my wake up. I got out of bed around 10 am and began texting Camy for ideas of what I should do during the day until we met up. Obviously the first thing on my mind was food and Camy suggested I check out Burrough market for an Ostrich burger. With my lust for food driving me I was ready and on my way within the hour (quite rare for me to be ready that quick). With my newly purchased Oyster card and directions from Camy I set out for the tube. After a quick ride on the train I was immediately pointed how to get to the marketplace from the station. (once again hooray for English.) I was not prepared for just how amazing Borough market was and hopefully how it will always be. The simplest explanation is that it's a farmer's market, but it's easily the best one I've ever been to. There were all types of different fruit, juice, vegetable, desert, meat, seafood, wine, etc. booths in the market. All of the ingredients looked fresh and everything was prepared in front of you. Food as far as my eyes could see, but I couldn't let it distract me from my original goal and basically my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, an ostrich burger. I was having trouble finding the booth and the smells of the market were starting to entice me, but I eventually found the exotic meat section. With my Ostrich burger and smoothie in hand I looked for a space to enjoy my conquest. My throne ended up being the nearby curb but that burger was so good nothing else in the world even mattered at that point. The texture ostrich reminded me a lot of turkey, but it has a very different and really unique taste. On top of that it was garnished with cranberry sauce on the top bun, Dijon mustard (my condiment of choice while in Europe) on the bottom bum, and some nice crisp lettuce. Easily one of the best burgers I've ever had and one of my favorite eating experiences of the trip. With my hunger satisfied I morphed back into tourist mode and headed back to the tube to go to the British Museum. After a nice digestion filled train ride and walk through a small park complete with people tanning in the grass I reached the British Museum. The thing that attracted me the most was the fact that it's a free chance to nerd out and see some really cool historical objects. The most famous of course being the Rosetta stone. There were plenty of other exhibits from ancient Sumeria, Japan and a temporary exhibit which explored how different cultures around the world deal with death. The centerpiece was a glass case lining up the exact number of pills two different individuals took throughout their adult years (if I remember correctly). After two solid plus hours of nerding out throughout the British museum corridors I figured it was time to head towards my meet up point with Camy. I had a little time before she got off work so I decided to go and find the Notting Hill market place. Unfortunately I got lost and sidetracked so I decided to stop and do some shopping for the fam. I never made it to the Notting Hill market place to have lunch and instead settled for the quick route of McDonald's. Solidifying England as the third different country I've had McDonald's in on the trip. After I had finished stuffing my face with English Mickey D's I headed off to meet Camy right outside of her job. I arrived early because I thought I wanted to continue shopping in the nearby stores but due to low funds instead settled for people watching on the corner. I continued to take in the scene until Camy finished work and met me on the corner. The plan was to continue my tourist expedition and head over to Wembley stadium. Unfortunately for us there was an issue with that train line so we had to cancel that plan and hopped on a double decker to Camy's so we could start the night. The plan was to get back to Camy's to meet up with one of her friends, get her car so we could head out to eat dinner and then go on a night tour of the city. We got to Camy's unwound a little bit, had a couple of beers and were overall just chilling. The thing is Camy's friend got a little too comfortable and ended up passing out on the couch. On top of that our little journey towards Wembley and then taking the bus back to the other side of town ended up taking much longer than expected so our dinner plans were already shot. We decided it would be best to chalk this one up as an L and not to set out on a night time adventure because Camy had work bright and early the next morning, but before I went back to my hostel of course we had to eat. Camy said there was a chicken & chips (fried chicken & french fries) place nearby and we walked over to go chow down. After we had our fill Camy drove me back to my hostel and I passed out in a hurry.
Even though I was once again woken out of my slumber once again by one of the German girls at
an un-Godly hour, for the most part I was able to sleep in. I figured that I needed as much sleep as possible because I would have no time for it since my flight left at 6 am the next morning and it was my last night in London, I had to go out. The day started off just like the last one with a quick trip over to Burrough Market for an ostrich burger. Even though it took a little longer to get there because I got off on the wrong stop before texting Camy for guidance. I didn't want one, I NEEDED one. To my delight the stand was offering double ostrich burgers that day. I think you know what my order was. If it's good the first time, why not double up? With my belly full, and money on my oyster card I now needed a destination. Camy suggested I check out Camdem market and that she would meet me over there once she had got off work. Sounded like a plan to me so I got up and left the amazing smells of Burrough market behind to take the tube over to Camden. The quickest description of Camden is that it's a large street with an outdoor flea market. There were a mix of stores and street vendors lining the block selling all types of things but clothes were the most popular item. I decided that once again it was time to do some shopping for the fam and started walking through the shops. After about an hour or so I found a tea shop and stopped in to get some. Fulfilling another item on my to do list I finally stopped to have tea time in London. It ended up being perfect timing because as I was finishing up Camy texted me that she would be getting to the train station in a little so I walked over to meet her. After we found each other Camy and I toured the market place together, checking out her favorite vendors along the way. Camden was full of obscure shirts that you would be hard pressed to find any place else and I also received multiple compliments on my dreadlocks. (which I don't have anymore AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH) When we finished shopping we headed off towards Camy's on the bus. After last nights debacle we both decided that nothing could interfere with the plans for tonight since it was my last night and Camy didn't have work the next day. Once we reached her place we both changed (I brought a change of clothes in my book bag) and headed out to dinner. The place Camy had in mind was a Bengali buffet on a street known as Brick Lane, which I hear if you're in London looking for Bengali/ Indian cuisine this is the place you need to start your search. Camy's choice did not disappoint one bit, as had been the case with all of her recommendations. The food was amazing plus I had Camy guiding me on the what to try and what to avoid (not that there was many things that I did avoid). After we completed phase 1 of our plan (stuffing our faces), it was time for phase 2. As we were leaving the restaurant and heading towards the club she realized that we were near the apartment of some of her friends from school. She called them up to see what they were up and we ended up going up in their apartment to kick it for a little. We ended up convincing two of the four people in the apartment to come out with us to show the American idiot a good time. We headed out to our original destination, some bar that was supposed to be having drum & bass/ dubstep night, but when we got there the music was not as advertised. It turns out that tonight wasn't the night for that type of music as it was the next Saturday. We quickly left because the place was dead and wandered around thinking about what to do until Camy contacted one of her friends who was a promoter at a club. It was getting late but he said he could get us in but that the two guys would have to pay (of course). We rode over to the club and after paying the 20 pounds to get in (roughly 31 dollars) we had a good time and I got to cross learning how to skank off of my London to do list. We ended up leaving the club around 3 and since my flight was leaving in a couple of hours I had to start heading to the airport. Camy dropped me off at my hostel and honestly I couldn't thank her enough for showing me such an amazing time. Once I got back in I grabbed my bags (I had packed them that morning so I would be ready to go as soon as I got back) and checked out of the hostel. No time for sleep I had a flight and a train to catch in order to play in our game in about 9 hours. I took the double decker to the London Victoria station in order to catch the Gatwick express train to the airport. I reached Gatwick (Airport 4) around 5 am (Sunday April 24, 2011) just enough time to grab a quick bite and head to my gate. I boarded the plane and immediately fell asleep. We touched down in Toulouse, France (Airport 5) but my journey was far from over. I had to move quickly because i had to get from the airport to the train station in about 45 mins. Luckily the taxi line was short and I was able to make it to the train station and even had enough time to grab some pain au chocolate ( how I miss it). As soon as I boarded the train I set an alarm for an hour so that I would be awake when the train reached Montpellier, the site of our away game, in order to get off. Before my butt even touched the seat I was already asleep with my ticket on my arm rest so the conductor wouldn't wake me as they were making their rounds checking tickets. When my alarm went off waking me from my slumber we were about 10 minutes away from the station. Of course I had to hit the snooze button and squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep. When the train reached the station I got off and hurried towards the taxi stand. Luckily I thought ahead and had Pierre text me the address to the stadium, because without that handy I would have had no clue on where to tell him to go. Instead all I did was show him the text and we were off. Luckily the Taxi ride wasn't too long and I was able to pay for it with the last Euros I had. After paying for the taxi I ran off to the locker room to change and join the team as they were almost done with warm ups. I made it to the game with 30 or so minutes before kickoff, just in time. My teammates were happy to see me and I to see them. Just as I was finishing warming up it was kick off time. The game started off well. We were able to hold one of the top offenses to 12 first half points. The score at halftime if I recall correctly was 12-7. Even though we played really well that day we unfortunately lost again. We knew from the beginning that this was going to be a tough game because Montpellier was at the top of our division. We played hard but in the end their spread no huddle offense wore us down on defense and we had a couple of guys, including myself, playing both sides of the ball. I think the final was 28-13 or 35-13, something along those lines. That wasn't our teams overarching concern though because during the game Killian (starting MLB and OG) went down with a knee injury. Even though we lost him and the game everyone still had high spirits that we would get our first win and not be in the relegation zone anymore. After the game we showered up and got ready to depart, but I was not headed back to Chambery. Greg and his girlfriend Sabrina had invited Killian and I to join them at Sabrina's house in Marseille for a couple of days of sun and fun. How could the road warrior say no to that?
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