Another Birthday Weekend Away

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And guess where? Yep, you got it. London. We have actually been trying to make this trip for almost four months with many complications arising as Pranvera tried to get a very overpriced visa so we could go and visit her best friends from grad school and I could see dear friends whose wedding I attended in New Zealand several years back. Visa in hand and a birthday celebration to boot, we hit the airport for a nice 3 hour direct flight to London's Gatwick. Amazingly there were not delays other than the fact at customs, many of the passengers did not speak English so Pranvera was running from one agent to the next helping all these Kosovars pass through customs mostly to see their Diaspora family. At one point 2 other people needed translations so in my 6 year old Albanian I helped them pass through the big scary guards. We were both quite proud of our good deeds.

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While waiting for luggage the 'sticker shock' of London hit me right in between the eyes as I purchased our roundtrip half-hour train ticket to the city for two persons: $126USD. But the smooth ride and Swiss-like punctuality, priceless:-) Two hours from landing we were at her friends apt who had most graciously vacated to her fiances for the weekend so we could have our own place in the most perfect neighborhood, Angle. After many hugs and introductions we all headed out to get some food. As we walked from pub to pub trying to combine some good food with authentic tap poured beer (don't get much imported draft in Kosovo), I was quickly reminded that London closes down early. No pubs were serving food after 10 so we eventually found ourselves at an awesome Thai restaurant which allowed me to check off my first culinary objective of the trip. Happily disappearing into my Disco Duck dish, listened to the old Harvard gang catching up on old times as we were joined by yet another classmate of Pranvera's. Very nice to finally meet many of the people I had heard so much about.

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Before too long we finally found ourselves at one of the later night pubs (most had already closed) with a pint in hand. Guinness thankyou. And it was perfect. Aside from losing an hour we held on as long as we could before we had to call it a night.
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Saturday started out as a slow 'us' day with typical cold grey sky outside. While Pranvera slept in a bit I hit the streets to search for a couple extra birthday gifts and some fresh fruit for breakfast. Was even able to grab an ultra healthy wheat grass and fruit shake right off a street vendor. We don't get that back in Pristina. Other things that immediately reminded me I was in London:

1. If you don't look right you might die stepping into the street.
2. Somebody can be looking right at you speaking English and you have no idea what they are saying.
3. No one parks on the sidewalks.
4. There is no mud anywhere, except in the parks where it should be.
5. Many pubs are closed by 11 but plenty of binge drinkers have enough time to get sick in the tube anyway.
6. Skies were constantly gray with rain.
7. Such terrible fashion that Kosovo looks good.
8. Prices, prices, prices.

We finally emerged from the apartment to spend an afternoon with her friends eating the most excellent meals, coffee stops with plenty of sweets, wandering around the quaint neighborhoods and breathing in relatively clean air. Wonderful!! However we parted ways early enough to take a rest before going out for our big birthday date night. I had gotten tickets for us to see 'Wicked' and we just loved it. I am a fan of theatre and musicals and it has been so long since I have seen a production on this scale that we truly ate it up. Pranvera also really enjoyed the story since everyone seems to know the story of the Wizard of Oz. Afterward we headed to Piccadilly to get a nice Indian dinner in the pouring rain. Afterward we were hoping to hit a bar/club for some nice music and dancing but as it turned out we were in kiddie club central and the cues were already forming in the rain with over sized bouncers and girls wearing next to no clothing on a cold winter night??? The one bar we could have easily entered had 2 poles on the bar and I noticed male dancers doing their thing to a mostly mail audience. Since it was her birthday I offered to join her if she desired. Once she stopped her laughing a very clear decision was made we were too old for this crap and to return to our neighborhood and see if anything was still open (not) or just crash.

If it was only that easy. We had to wait for several tube trains since the first ones we wanted were full. The subway was just packed with all the people coming into the city to go out. Outfits of kind imaginable from every corner on the planet. This is one thing I really do like about London. I believe it is the most multi-culture city anywhere with every ethnicity mixing we others. Eventually we arrived at the nice apt and fell into bed before having to wake up to meet my friends for our next day's outings.

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John I met almost 10 years back as we hiked a volcano in Indonesia. After only 3 days of hanging out and beating him in many games of chess (at least that's how I remember it) little did we know our paths would cross at least once every other year with many many emails in between. And that eventually I would be invited to celebrate his finding someone willing to put up with his Kiwi antics and attend their wedding in New Zealand. Since they both live and work in London I try to see them anytime I pass through the lovely city. John is only my second pre-Kosovo friend to meet Pranvera and we got a total thumbs up from them both. Tanja and Pranvera hit it off as John and I chilled out catching up on old time. First we polished off the most excellent Eggs Benedict with 2 killer cups of coffee (which I NEVER drink so I was wired). We then hit the city to walk a bit with John (as a former guide in London) show us all the back alley paths and hidden history of London. As we made our way across the Millennium bridge we spent the next several hours in the Tate and observed the most beautiful rainbow when the rains stopped. It was so nice to see a bit of culture and to be reminded of what it would be like to live in a developed city. SO much to do...

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Wanting to let John and Tanja have a bit of their Sunday to themselves we broke off to explore the National Art Gallery (where I learned that she and I even do museums that same way avoiding many of the portraits and moving onto the landscapes but moving relatively quickly the whole time) and a large bookstore where we gathered several books we wanted to look through while having a late in their cafe but as soon as we arrived they closed it down. A bit disappointed we left to return to the apartment for a rest but this time opted for the cheaper and traditional doubledecker bus to make it home (better than the $8.20 fare price for the tube). After a quick shower we met both Pranvera's friends and mine for a birthday dinner celebration. We all went to the most perfect small French cafe where we each dove into an excellent red wine, various steaks, salads, fish and my steamed mussels!!! I don't believe any food was remaining as the lively conversation transitioned into coffee, dessert and then making our way to the same pub as the first night to nestle near their fireplace for a final nightcap. All our friends got along great and for a moment it seems as if we were all one big happy family living in one big happy city. But alas, we had to wake up the next day in one of the worst storms London has had this year to train ourselves (delayed) back to Gatwick and with 10 minutes to spare board our plane back to Kosovo (miraculously on time). Of course it all went way to quickly but at least we can say we rang in Pranvera's birthday in style!!!