tanja

My three-week stint as a Northeastern Englishwoman somehow came to an end, and my colleagues in Newcastle gave me a fantastic bye-bye bash. They bought me a Geordie dictionary and the Newcastle version of Monopoly. They then took me to a bar where they managed to get me so loaded, I somehow dropped my new phone into the toilet, lost my Newcastle monopoly game, and nearly didnt make my flight to London the next morning owing to a dreadful hangover. But I literally got my shit together and arrived two hours late for my pre-booked ticket to the Wireless Festival (after having thrown up on the plane twice - the egg-and-mayonnaise sandwiches they served everybody on the plane didnt help). I bought a new phone in Duty Free that I will return when I come back to Heathrow on Wednesday, but its working for me in the meantime. At least the SIM card didnt drown.

After dragging a 70-pound suitcase up four flights of stairs (no elevator hotel too old), I collapsed in my tiny little hotel room in London and didnt wake up until Sunday morning. It was too damp for the festival anyways.

By Sunday I was well enough to take advantage of the continental English breakfast after all, it was included in the price of the room. Then I went off to the London Eye. Great experience, great view, highly touristy but worth it. I didnt pose for the ridiculous picture they were taking of everybody as we were about to disembark from our capsule, though. Instead, I hid in the back.

The flight was followed by a 40-minute cruise of the Thames, which was much fun and certainly not as arduous as the three-hour version of the Tyne River Cruise though both were relaxing in an odd way..

I then moved toward the Victoria & Albert Museum, where I was fortunate enough to meet the mighty flaneur - a character who defies journal-worthy description but is rather a novel in progress. I had a nice time with him so nice I left behind my camera to ensure I would get it back before I left for Zagreb. In the meantime, we played Pac Man in our socks and talked and talked. He took me for a ride on a double-decker bus, where we sat on the second level in the very front. Later he took me on the Underground. I can truly say he lived up to his name, though not just idling and loafing about, as the dictionaries say, but discovering and wandering and growing into a lovely being himself.

Monday was more work-related foolishness. My boss took me out and got me good and drunk during lunchtime I couldnt believe it when he headed back to work afterwards, after consuming at least 6 pints of heavy lager in less than 90 minutes. I headed for some drunk shopping at a charity shop, but before I knew it, I was almost as ill as my last day in Newcastle. I still managed to meet flaneur to retrieve my camera and also say a proper goodbye in the Underground on the threshold of opposing trains. It was quick and friendly and as with YUSHi, I knew it was because we would somehow meet again. I meant to meet with allyn, but before I knew it, I was back on a plane, eating either fish sticks or chicken nuggets I couldnt tell. At least now I have quite a few reasons to return to London.

Now in Zagreb, Im being fed and comforted by relatives. Friday Im off to the Mediterranean for four nights, then Im seeing the White Stripes play in a slaughterhouse back in Zagreb. Wednesday my whirlwind trip to Europe will be finished, and all these memories will appear to belong to someone else. I miss SG and having it readily accessible, but I'm eager to post more pictures & share more memories of my trip to the Adriatic Coast. And then I will be ready to make new ones upon my return.