A few years ago, a daring girl from Leeds decided to ditch
the chill of England and head for the sun of Miami…and a few years later, a
pasty girl from Tampa decided to ditch the sauna-like climate of Miami and head
for England! [WHAT WAS I THINKING?!]
In short, OHAI AGAIN, EMMA!
I was invited to Leicester (that’s pronounced effectively as
“Lester”) by the lovely Emma who mentioned that there would be a really cool
music festival going on featuring bands from the area sponsored by Oxfam. Name?
OXJAM. (C wat they did thar?) Anyway, it was all of £10 and she knew one of the
bands playing. Off I went for my first weekend trip!
I arrived (late) Friday night to delicious (and cheap!)
Indian food---that’s right, parents and Nikki, INDIAN FOOD. I will admit to
steering clear of the curry that once infested my clothes and going for a lamb
and fruit dish whose name I can’t remember but whose taste I surely won’t
forget! Emma resides with some gents whose Warhammer goods and assorted geekery
remind me an awful lot of these four brothers I know…
Forget Friday night, though—Saturday was the main
attraction. Emma woke me up with porridge (read: oatmeal…but better because it
has an English name), honey, and fresh banana and we set to walking. [Side note: that’s the other thing we did an awful lot of—walking!
It really is remarkable how you can get away with not owning a car in most
areas in the UK.]
Leicester felt somewhere in between the charming and tiny
Buckingham and the large and sprawling London. It still possessed charm in most
places we went, but it just didn’t feel as HUGE and impersonal as London did.
It was a nice change for a weekend! I got to see the University of Leicester
(with all its mismatched menagerie of architecture), walked past a well creepy
graveyard with some remarkable monuments, and made it into town to buy our
Oxjam tickets.
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| Grand Hotel IS grand! |
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| View down from the Grand Hotel |
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| OHAI MAP IN THE SIDEWALK |
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| I are thar. |
Since Polaris wasn’t on until 3:30, Emma took me to the mall
for some shopping! [EXCITEMENT!!] The Brits have also decided that even though
it’s not yet Halloween, it’s time to decorate and sell Christmas things anyway!
For once in my life, I’m not arguing. I picked up some
a-dorable presents and marked some stores to be hit for more Christmas presents
that I can just buy in Milton Keynes.
Emma also introduced me to a chain of kaiten (conveyor belt)
sushi restaurants in the UK—I haven’t had this stuff since La-La Garden (say it
with me, DK House residents: RA-RA GARUDEN)! The £1 glass of water aside, the
food was yummy [すしはおいしかった]!
I also got my mochi fix which pleased me sooooooooooo much. For those unfamiliar, here’s the breakdown on
how kaiten sushi works:
Polaris, though not my normal cup of tea (HAR HAR), turned
out to be really good! They reminded me a little bit of Therion but they still
maintained their own style. Great show, guys!
Our next stop was a completely
different style singer named Elizabeth Cornish. I thought she was really,
really great! I can’t say I minded the switch from thrash metal to an acoustic
folk singer, haha.
After that, we putzed around the venues checking out the awesome street art
...some works in progress...
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| In progress! |
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| A little while later... |
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| Just before the sun went down. |
...and listening to
various artists. By far, the highlight of the night was this (just watch):
Just…think on that for a while. :P
In more news of the strange...
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| Just be confused with me. |
...I finally saw that that Top Gear episode featuring a road
trip through the South. My response: “Oh dear lord…”
And now, to more food talk! Emma introduced me to my very
first scones (with jam! NOM NOM NOM), blue (yes, that’s right) eggs, and made
me the most delish bacon and egg sandwich. I’m drooling just thinking about it…
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