Londy-town Day 2

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!!?

Saturday was the Rock n Roll tour Kurt surprised me with! I popped out of bed as if it was Christmas morning...we walked past Buckingham Palace towards the tour pick up and waited patiently for the excitement to begin. The morning tour had 6 of us total. It turned out to be the perfect size because we were able to get on and off the bus more and our tour guide, Bruce, was able to show us more sites from our favorite bands. We started in Soho where "British Rock" originated and snaked through side streets where different band members lived, saw some hang outs, studios, offices, etc. I was in awe!!! I wish I could be a rock historian...I am a little sponge when it comes to rock history.

During the morning tour, the sites were spread out. We traveled to North London where we saw some theaters, houses, hangouts, venues, and more studios. We drove by a school where Bruce was explaining that a particular band asked the children from the school to sing on one of their albums...then he pulled the bus over and blared "Another Brick in the Wall". We were at the studio where Pink Floyd recorded some of the The Wall and stored their equipment. I could just picture several vans and buses loading equipment in and out of this building for shows. Amazing!

We traveled on to where Ray and Dave Davies [The Kinks] grew up. Across the street from their house is a pub where they played. We took a pit stop at the pub and inside was a huge collection of Kinks memorabilia.

This was my favorite...where can I get a couch like this?

In the afternoon we went to more "glamorized" locations such as Abbey Road, Apple Records, more homes and (sadly) death sites. (It was a little weird to visit locations where some people passed, I could have done without it...) One site and story that will stick with me was the hotel basement that Jimmy Hendricks passed away at and joined the "27 Club". I already knew that he overdosed but to be at the location and hear a play by play put a slight damper on the day...a real Debbie Downer! But it's all part of the history, right?

After the tour finished, the tour guide (Bruce) asked if I would wait a few minutes. He finished thanking everyone for taking the tour and walked over to me. He asked if we had any plans for the night because he had 2 extra tickets to a concert that night. We gladly accepted! It was a neat concert...2 bands that started in the '70s and do shows every once in awhile. I don't remember the name of the opening band...they were entertaining to say the least. The headliner was Caravan and they rocked! We have been looking for a vinyl ever since...

Since Bruce drove us to the venue, we had NO idea where we were! Luckily a train station was nearby...unfortunately, the main train we always took was out! It made a fun trip hopping on and off trains all night. But it was fun to people watch! There were some interesting people in London, folks!

PICTURES WILL BE POSTED SOON

Londy-town! Day 1

We landed in London around 11:00pm on Thursday and hopped on a bus to take us to our destination. Around 1:30am, we finally arrived to our Hostel. Once we walked in, we immediately realized why it's only $18/night.....long story short, we checked into a hotel the next day.

Some of you may think "A hotel? Big woop" but let me tell you all a little something about our Ireland home: No. Hot. Water. The only hot water we have is out of the electric shower. Oh ya...I've grown to enjoy the icy cold water in the AM to wash my face. There is nothing more refreshing than having Noxema icicles on the tip of my nose.


Back to the hotel....WE LIVED LIKE KINGS!!! Hot water in the sink! A shower that doesn't sound like a jet engine! It was heaven. Plus the hotel was half a block from Buckingham Palace. What up, Queen Liz! On our first day, we took a subway into the city center and looked around. We were too late to join any tours and really didn't have a clue what to do...I saw a poster for "Rock of Ages" that looked pretty cool and decided to find the theater. In London, there aren't a few theaters that feature a few shows...there are tons of theaters that feature one show each. There is a bad ass theater on every corner decked out for their particular show. We bought our tickets for "Rock of Ages" and were a little skeptical since it was a musical and we had never heard of it. We ended up with killer seats for cheap because we had our student ID's...thank goodness I kept my IU card - it has saved soo much $$$! We walked down to our seats and couldn't believe the atmosphere. It was amazing - smoke machines, 80's rock ballads blaring, people roaming the aisles selling beers, neon signs...it was like stepping back in time. It felt like a rock concert in the 1980's complete with panties and bras strewn across the stage set, beer ads, XXX signs, etc. It was awesome! The show was pretty neat, too. It's a story about a boy from South Detroit and a small town girl (get it?) anyways, the story line unfolds through all of the '80 rock songs that we all love and sing along to. It's comical and I loved it for the music and Kurt loved it because there were strippers that danced the entire time.....I don't know if he even knew there was a story line but hey, he enjoyed the show! :)

First Anniversary!

Kurt and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary on October 2nd. We had a relaxing day and went to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. After dinner, our waitress brought out a cake with candles. Kurt had surprised me with a lemon cake (my favorite!). We think the waitress thought it was my birthday, hence the candles. We decided to make a wish for our 2nd year and blew out the candles :)

On top of the surprise cake, Kurt surprised me with a trip to London! He bought tickets for a rock n roll tour, which was on my list of things TO DO while I'm over here. I couldn't be more pumped!!! I will get to walk across Abbey Road, see some venues and hangouts of my favorite bands (Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Queen, Beatles, The Who...) AH!! I could just swim to England I am so excited. I have marked down some places I want to visit on our own time just in case the tour doesn't take us by. I can't get enough of learning rock history so to see some of the sites that I read about is a dream come true!

We leave this Thursday and will return to Dublin on Monday...check back for pics and posts because I plan to go overboard :)