Day One, Little Gal, Big City (and Lloyd)

Hi Everyone! So I decided to write a blog about my london (and european adventures) for two reasons:
   1. This is a super easy way to document what I do so when I'm a lonely westmount mom sitting at home in my lulus drinking green tea I can look back on my glory days during my semester abroad and be like "wow I did some cool shit" (excuse the language mama papa bub and zaid)

 2. This blog will also be an excellent way for all my loved ones to stay up to date on my quotidian activities without having to retype, text and email etc... So essentially if you love me / are interested in what's going on "across the pond" just check back here and I'll hopefully update it several times a week!!

 So we landed early this morning in Heathrow airport and for some reason Lloyd and I decided it would be wise to make the 2+ hr schlep with all our bags through the tube (pronounced chube). On this long ride we encountered a 20 something year old girl accomplishing world's longest mascara application, it was quite impressive. Meanwhile, as we were minding the gap and shvitzing from the "canned air" as Lloyd referred to it, I was becoming more and more nervous. But once we stepped outside into the theater district and drove by the university, things were definitely looking up. Although the weather is a little drab and grey, the architecture is a magnificent backdrop for the quaint little taxis and massive red double decker busses driving by. Very postcard-esque. The dorm was a little bit of an adventure... finally making it to ifor evans hall in "trendy" camden town (this is yet to be discovered but has much potential for exploration) we discovered the reception was closed which was slightly disconcerting. But in typical lloyd fashion he ventured off and befriended a jolly security guard named Marcus who gave us our keys. I wont post pictures of the undecorated dorm room because my grandmother barbara would literally have a heart attack so I'll post some later... After some light unpacking, and a few tears we p.t.f.o of there and Lloyd managed to set off only two fire alarms!! Impressive I know.

 We then checked into the legit trendy hotel MIC a few blocks away and finally got to sit for a few minutes (so exciting after travelling for 10 hours straight.) Then it was off to bustling oxford street (think st. catherine but better) where we breezed through primark and decided on a light blue floral color scheme for my dorm. When we get it set up tomorrow I will post some pictures (do not expect to be impressed but we tried). Primark is "sick" as my sister would say (think nasty gal meets forever 21), lot of cool skull muscle tanks and jackets with studded detail ... definitely will be revisiting that store in the next few weeks. We then got a "p.o.s" lil' flip phone from vodaphone and set up a pay as you go plan for 30 pounds a month. if anyone wants to text my circa 2000 samsung, my digits are +44 7771 202946. I asked the dude at the store and he said I wont receive roaming charges for incoming long distance calls. For the meantime however, before I get my iphone unlocked I will be using this little gem and accessing wifi on my iphone whenever I can so you can imessage and email me (emily.sheiner@gmail.com) like normal and I will respond with much love as soon as I can!! Apparently the internet in my dorm is off until monday :( but hopefully will be fixed promptly!!

 I also want to use this blog to keep tabs of the food and fashion and art in london, so if that stuff doesn't interest you, you can stop reading now, otherwise carry on. Food: Lunch was had at cute selfridges food bar. Selfridge is I guess our equivalent of holts or bloomingdales, a dept. store nonetheless. Lloyd and I opted for a demacus falafel wrap, some eggplant/chickpea concoction and some fatoush salad. All very delicious and not too expeez, I will definitely be revisiting their sushi conveyor belt YO!Sushi that looked like it had a ton of fresh sashimi. For dinner we walked around the corner from our hotel on Euston St. to this awesome little indian restaurant called Diwana. All veggie and pretty healthy and delicious! The service was a little rude but the food was seriously good. We started out with a cold appetizer composed of yogurt, chickpeas, potatoes and spicy sauce. Such a party of flavors and pretty adventurous for a little food puss like myself. Then for main courses we had a spinach and curd cheese dish in a thin crispy wrap and the special of the day with salad, curry, dal (lentil soup) and two sorts of dipping breads. All this amounted to 22.22 pounds (or shpitz as lloyd would say), not too shabby for such an expensive city.

Fashion: Little to report so far but upon my first observations I have seen a ton of white converse, I've never been quite a fan of chucks but they seem to be very popular here. No surprise studs are everywhere. I noticed a ton of girls layer studded clothing, like a blouse with studded detail under a studded jacket, c'est un peu trop pour moi but I do appreciate the fact they are just as acceptable in the UK as they are in Montreal. Tons of girls wear their hair in tight knots or sock buns, this is perfect because london is super windy and there is nothing worse than getting blinded by a wall of hair especially in a city where people walk on the wrong side of the street... Thanks for reading all of this!

Check back tomorrow for a day two report of #LONDONCALLING.

Cheerio,
Emily