Ahhhh, Ottawa London direct. I refuse to fly through either Toronto to Montreal to get to Europe – why add unnecessary time to an already arduous trip? I was lucky to get put right up at the front of economy. Unfortunately the families with young kids were also up front. I mostly drowned out the sound of several screaming babies around me by putting on my headphones and sorting tunes in Serato. YEEEEAHhhhh ragga jungle! At this point it really kicked in that the hectic previous few weeks were behind me and I was headed once again to europe to see friends, play some wikked shows, see some sites and chill out – braaap!!

Upon arriving at London Heathrow I was pretty sleep deprived and in a bit of a zone. People never look that great after they’ve come off overnight flights and are suddenly in a mad customs lineup with nasty flourenscent lights blazing over head. Especially the sketchy family arrangement a few rows in front who got yanked out of the line by an agent – yikes! I opted for sunglasses. I never get worried about passing through customs, but was happy when I made it past the border guard and got the first stamp in my new passport – I wonder all the places where this one will take me?!

Instead of training and tubing it, I opted to pay a few pounds more for a dot-to-dot, a little mini bus that takes tourists straight to their hotels. Takes a little longer, but also takes the guesswork out of sorting out where exactly it is you’re going with heavy bags. Again luck was on my side, and I got dropped off straightaway at my friend Roya’s flat in Queensway. She had left her keys with the porter. Lovely to be able to wind up in a friend’s flat instead of in some hotel since I’m already in those so much for work. Got online briefly, had a quick chat with her flatmate Robin then passed out on the couch. I think at that point I had been up for something like 50 hours.

Niky and I met up at about 3 in the afternoon. In choosing London, I didn’t pick the chillest place to start my vacation. Oxford Street is apparently one of the busiest districts in the world. Niky and I did a little window shopping, and headed for Soho, where got some sandwhiches and beer. Regardless of the hustle and bustle, it was nice to relax and chat with one of my girls and not have to worry about being anywhere in particular or sticking to a schedule. Went to see Nicky Blackmarket at BM Soho. Got some awesome new tracks and listened to some dubs he had just had cut. Discussed the merits of vinyl versus digital. He even had some wisdom about crying babies on planes. Love that Nicky Blackmarket!

For dinner we met up with my old old friend Alexis. It was one of those surreal kinds of experiences that made perfect sense. Back in the day we were in girl guides together. We determined that we hadn’t seen each other since the B52′s and Violent Femmes concert at Wonderland in 1992. But as is the case with any friend with whom you’ve been a shit-disturber, we clearly hadn’t missed a beat.

Currently teaching secondary school in a rough district in north london, she said she’s been called every name in the book. It’s not unusual for the kids come stoned to school and a surprising number of them are illiterate. We had an interesting conversation about welfare systems and how the kids she teaches basically aren’t motivated to do well in school since they know the council will take care of them. She’s going to teach in a public (aka private school) in zone 2 next year and can’t wait. Sad she’s leaving those kids behind but at the same time, completely understandable.

We could have gone to see Alix Perez that night but opted to head home and get some rest to shake off the sleep dep/ jet lag.

Next day, our plans to go to the Chelsea Flower were dashed since the show was sold out. This was a bit of a bummer since it’s apparently an amazing horticultural exhibit. Niky and I opted for the British Museum instead. I was sure glad we did. The rennovation of the British museum is quite stunning – the old greco-roman buildings have been enclosed in a massive glass structure, not unlike the entrance to the Louvre in Paris. The soft marble underfoot and the clear ceiling several stories high gives the impression of timelessness and indeed, the British Museum’s collection must be one of the finest in the world.

We saw the tabula rasa (the stone that enabled scholars to decipher hieroglyphics) checked out the ancient egyptian mummies and statues, ancient greek vases, and a really beautiful chineese exhibit. The only display I didn’t like was these crazy stone reliefs of an Assyrian lion hunt. I thought lions were the animals of kings, but the Assyrians were pretty ruthless and would round up the lions, release them into an amphitheatre for the king to chase and kill them from a chariot. Lovely.

After the museum we headed out to Camden for a little more shop shopping. Didn’t buy that much, but interesting to see it since I’d never been there before. Made me think a little of Amsterdam with its canals and also a lot about punks, new wave and and the like. Drank some more beers then got some dinner at a lovely pub.

After dinner we headed down to the Embankment station to meet Julien, a friend from France working in advertising and Birte, a friend from my Master’s class originally from Germany. She works for the City of London in its sustainability department. She said they’ve got a roman amphitheatre behind glass one basement boardroom of their offices. Whole different perspective on sustainability when one considers the long view over thousands of years! Drank some wine had some nice conversation about our respective adventures since we’d last met up then all parted ways about 11pm. I had a plane to catch in the morning to Estonia and although London had been great, I was looking forward to striking out to new and exciting places.

I’ll be posting blog updates on this site as we make our way around Europe, so be sure to check back on this site!