Morocco

Day 18 : London (side-jaunt 2)

The Cowles do London.

 

In true Brian and Marisha style we took a flight to Paris and ended up in London.  We had no plan for this. Our Plan shifted on the one hour flight from Casablanca to Paris.  So when we landed in Paris, we jumped immediately onto the Eurostar to London.  I tried to get Brian to ride on the top of the speedy train Like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, but all I got was a blank look and  "...Moorish....".

We are SO not-prepared for either city, as the original climate we planned for was Morocco-y: hot and a little less hot. We were cold. And it was wet, a far cry from the weather we planned for for Morocco or Spain (another option). We were winging it and facebook'd (exactly what facebook is great for) our long lost friends Sean and Fleur - who we met in 2005 on our Inca Trail Hike to Machu Picchu. Five days sweating, stinking, peeing, eating and sleeping together really makes the best of friends out of people.

Our message read something like this:

"Hey, we are in London.... get ready. Oh, this is Brian and Marisha ....your long lost best friends ever that you totally love and wish you could live near and think of us fondly ...often...I mean all the time. See you tomorrow. oh - Were do you live????"

We proceeded to spend 2 nights with them... and now know it's probably a good thing we do not live near each other, it would be bad....just bad.

Then we made another email connection. To a childhood family friend Lisa Z who we also messaged:

"Hey, we are in London. Give us your address we are coming over. Hope you have wine."

We hopped all over London for a few days. And we promise not to bore you with London pictures everyone else has already shown you. So we will not post many of the usual haunts and hopefully more of the odd-ball ones.

 

Backbacks. On the Eurostar headed to London. Currently trying to convince Bri to do some Secret Spy role playing.
Nerd Alert! The London Train station - me: "Oh my God. I am at the Harry Potter train station? - I am a dork?" Brian : "Um, if I see Harry Potter I'm gong to kick his ass for making stupid movies". (rude)
Nerd Alert 2! Can we can we???? Brian: "HELL....NO. ....."
The quintescential London telephone booth shot. We tried to get the 'ole London telephone booth shot.... Except this one smelled like pee pee.
Great Subway Art. We call this "Girl strangles cat" and its great.
Super hip graffiti. Silver paint on an old abandoned building. ...sweet.
(Camdentown) Problem solved. Oh Lookey. The Polish food stall! My Peeps, my Peeps.
Into the back alleys of Camdentown. A super cool and a MUST see if you ever go to LondonCamdentown. Our favorite spot in all of London. Tattoo shops, artists, mohawks and super fantastic people watching.
London China Town. On our way to see Sean and Fleur for dinner and a long night of drinks. ...just like we saw them yesterday.
The Brangelina of London - Shleur. Or Flaun?
The Pier at Brighton. rides, games - like a not Ghetto Coney Island.
Look close. We dont know who this guy is but we LOVE his friends for doing this to him!
Ok - Now we're talking'. I so Miss My Tasty Freeze in Upstate NY! This is a cruel joke.
Leaving London.... We don't look very sad here, but we are.
For the cousins... Brian said "This is just for you. Do not be jealous, just bask in their glory".
London Calling. Me.... at the Harry Potter Train station Kings Cross. oh, Brian was here too but he hates Harry Potter so whatever.
Our Ghetto ass hotel. We have stayed in better places in 3rd world countries that cost $7.00. The stair was sooo crooked because the building was about to fall over onto its side.
More chips. Brian calls them "Chippies". But again, we love to sample weird chip flavors even tho we don't even eat chips at home. Chicken flavor. yummy
Buckingham Palace. Yes, please ring the Queen and inform her that the Cowles' are here. She lost the bet and owes us $25 bucks. Don't courtesy invite us because we show up.
We Love this stuff. This kind of shot is just cool. It says LONDON much better than a Big Ben shot.
Camdentown. This shot is exactly why we love Camden Town. Great food stall seating. This is where we'd be all the time if we lived here.
Overlooking the food stalls in Camdentown. Food stalls from every nationality make it super hard to choose what to eat - unless of course you eat them all.
(Camdentown) Where else do you do if you see a giant horse head. They have these statues all over because this entire building was the old horse stables. Its massive and now little shopping stalls.
"Reunited and it feels sooo good." All we need is our Inca Trail guide yelling at us to hurry up and catch up to the rest of the group
Day trip to Brighton. They have a great little boardwalk with shops and bars...a little chilly so the crowds were down.... Brian trying to play in the sand but its rocks.
Hmmmm...? Found this in a tourist shop....Hmmmmm. Maybe we will pick this up for Ryan and Sara for Chrishtmas. Shhhhhhhh
Dear god someone help Him. It's the start of the Shrimpocalypse.
(Brighton) Our new friend Pauline and her dog Patch...who was running amuck at this point. We met Pauline at our little sunbreak happy hour.
Jackass Tourists. We heart London! A huge shout out and Thank you to Sean and Fleur for making us feel like total locals. Thanks for the heads up on the hottest fashion trends.

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