Without the Philly Art Museum fireworks and my rooftop pool at the Hop House to celebrate the 4th of July holiday, I over packed a bag and set out for some English site seeing. I started my weekend in London by attending some events for the Big Dance 2010 festival and trying out a burlesque course. The class was fun and the teacher was an amazing performer, but I don’t think I’ll be investing in my own feather fans and boas any time soon. In keeping with the dance spirit, I was able to score a discounted ticket to Dirty Dancing the musical. It was definitely on the cheesy side of musical theatre, but I had "the time of my life" and would definitely see it again. I love when British actors put on an American accent when pretending to be at a vacation resort in the Catskills in 1963.
I also tried my luck at staying at an Easy Hotel. I’ll stop you right there and confirm that this is not rented hourly or imply anything about the social choices of it's guests. It is a part of the low budget airline chain EasyJet and offers “affordable accommodations” in some of the larger and pricier cities throughout Europe. As a single and someone booking a hotel for a Saturday night in London at the last minute, I was able to book a sleeping pod. It was essentially a closet fit with a double bed and a small en suite shower room. The décor was a giant orange wall with Easy Hotel stamped on it. I supposed this was in case you forgot where you were. The description was accurate and warned that this would not be for the claustrophobic. While ridiculously small it offered a comfy bed, clean sheets and towels and air conditioning! All in all a success and I don’t know why more people don’t position the toilet directly under the shower – built in seating and convenient for storing toiletries.
My Sunday travels brought me to Brighton beach. The weather was amazing and I parked my bum on a chair on the beach for hours and dedicated myself to a stressful combination of people watching and magazine reading. Brighton has the charm of Europe with a sprinkle of Atlantic City on top so it was a nice comfort for the day as I was feeling a bit home sick. I attempted an outdoor lunch but a seagull had different plans for me and stole it. A young man who witnessed the theft asked me how I felt about a swan stealing my lunch – I asked him how he felt about getting that far along in life thinking a seagull was a swan.
I did a swing by Jamie Oliver’s store to see if he wanted to grab a drink or make me lunch since mine was stolen, but no luck.
Since there were no sleeping pods to be found in Brighton, I booked at a bed and breakfast named Motel Schmotel. Of course the name caught my eye during my research, but it got amazing reviews and did not appear to be the type of stuffy B & B that I usually steer clear of after a few weird Vermont experiences. Motel Schmotel is run by some really awesome people and they served me the best breakfast I have had in the 6 months I have been in the UK and delivered it right to my room. The fab location was not only a block from the sea front but also a block from where Rufus Wainwright happened to be performing the final show of his European tour. I of course was obligated to go. No way to be that close to Rufus and not go say hi.
Overall my travels were great and I got to spend some quality time with myself and chill out a bit. Now if I could, I would like to break up with myself for a little bit. Too much alone time is driving me crazy. I’m looking forward to heading home next week so that I can annoy friends and family instead.
I experienced an exciting milestone this week. It has taken 6 months but the man at the coffee shop in the train station has finally remembered my order. We’re still working on my name, so for now as I approach we wave and smile and I answer to “yummy, yummy, delicious latte”. I don’t know – could be a new nickname for me. It has a nice ring to it. I’m not sure if that would fit on the Easy Hotel registration form though.
See you in a week!
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