Mind the gap!

Tonight, another first. My first time eating Chinese takeout on the London Underground. More on that later.

Today at work, we had a customer come in to deal with a few specific artifacts. They heard we had our video expert Dan in town, so they came to take advantage of that. The day went well and we got some good feedback from them as well and improving a few points of their system. They had to head out a little before 4:00, however, to catch a plane. We decided to leave a tad early and head into London for the night. A good plan, but it is hard to leave early. Dan, while having tested many an English brew in the previous days decided to sit this one out. So it was for Martin, Andrew, Paul and myself to hit the city. We buzzed up to Reading and took the train into Paddington Station in London. From there, we went via the Underground to Covent Garden. This is a nice area of London with some higher-end shopping and a pretty good scene. We went to a little bar names Punch and Judy which had a nice balcony overlooking the square. The weather had been great all week, and while not the sun we enjoyed previously, it was still warm and dry. It was nice to be up there and watch the goings on. The two girls walking by drinking straight out of the wine bottle and then screwing on the cap. The bums across the street in their sleeping bags reading the paper as all Brits love to do. And what could be more English than the thatch roof gazebo a worker was taking down nearby.

After having a couple of beers here and dodging the 'shot girl' giving out double shots of tequila, we decided to head on. Martin had a great idea for the next place, so we all fell in line behind him. After a couple circles, we found the bar. Locked up. For lease, if anyone is interested. Looked cool with its South African theme. We then had to pick the next bar at random, but it proved to have some fine Ales.

Now, the thing of mystery happened. London. It is one of the biggest cites in the world. What happens there at 11:00 PM? The city shuts down. The lights in the bar come on and they kick you out. I guess the clubs are open later, but I'm a little past that. 11:00? Wow.

We decided to press on and get some chow. We thought Italian at first, but ended up in Chinatown. We walked into a restaurant that was rather full, but their sit down service was done. Take out for us! We get our bags of "Very Authentic Chinese Food" (yes, that is what the sign said. Very authentic. Not just regular authentic) and start the trek back. Well, by the time we hit the tube, we were starved, so the containers came open. The picture above is of Paul and myself, courtesy of Martin's camera phone.

Back to Reading, and another first for me: a ride in a classic English cab. The thing is roomy in the back. A bench seat for three and two jump seats for a couple more. With the jump seats up, I could probably do Pilate's in there. It also had this clean vinyl smell that reminded me of an old VW bug, but in a good way. The driver, as Martin would say, "didn't spare the horses". We were whipping around the post-midnight land at high speed. I believe a couple round-abouts were taken on two wheels.

This certainly goes in the 'good nights' column in my ledger.