Brick Lane
London


A microvideo of Brick Lane

Traditionally a Bangladeshi neighborhood, Brick Lane is a grittier area in London, full of flea markets and street vendors. It's kind of like the Oakland of London neighborhoods. We wandered through the area, eating food from various ethnic food stands. The little, hot, Japanese rice whateverthey'recalleds were my favorite. Nom nom.

Some kid playing carrom in the market

After filling our bellies with fried things, perusing the local crafts, and playing a quick game of carrom (which I dominated, by the way), we set off for a drink in a nearby pub called Commercial Tavern. Good drinks. Good atmosphere.

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Bike tour of the sights
London


Buckingham Palace

Sunday was spent biking all over London with my friend Jackie. We started with a quick tour of Hyde park. The weather was nice by London standards so there were plenty of people enjoying the greens. We biked along the Serpentine and out the corner gate to St. James park.

Stopping shortly at Buckingham Palace for a breather and a few pics, we quickly mapped out the rest of the tour -- to Westminster Palace, over the Thames, meander to Tate Modern museum for a quick visit, then onwards to meet up with our friend Jenny in Brick Lane.

The Palace of Westminster

And so we did. It began to drizzle a bit by the time we got to the museum, and our quick visit gave us a chance to dry off and immerse in the galleries. More than the installations and pieces in the gallery, the museum itself struck me. Formerly a power station, the building preserved its massive scale when it was transformed into Tate. There are places where you can still see some of the old power station machinery.

The lobby of Tate Modern

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Finsbury Park
London


Originally a woodland area, Finsbury park was born as the woods were gradually cut back during London's boom in the 19th century.

I arrived in Heathrow in the early afternoon, and my friend Jenny had already invited me to a birthday party in Finsbury Park. A quick tube ride brought me to entrance of the park. I wandered in, still a little dizzy from the whirlwind of airports and undergrounds.

The wide expanse of green in idyllic weather, laughing, kids on skateboards smoking by the tennis courts speaking unintelligibly, kites, kids, laughing. Like Valium.

My gait relaxed and I kicked on my pink shades. Not really knowing where this party was in such a large park, I wandered around for a little while and found myself naturally gravitating to the sound of a drum circle.

From Finsbury Park, 26 April 2008

Listen:

Typically, everyone in a drum circle wants to be a soloist and it sounds like garbage. I won't say this circle defied the trend completely, but their groove made me happy enough to sit in an empty seat behind a djembe and rock out with 'em. I love dropping ostinato in drum circles, perhaps because no one else does. I think it helps bring the whole thing together. In the pic above, you can see the empty seat, the djembe, and the rest. Listen to the audio, too -- that was taken right before I sat down.

These kids joined in, too.

After some more wandering, I met up with my two friends from Cornell, Jenny and Jackie. We headed over to their friend's birthday party for some delicious cake and beer and laughing and kazoos. Beautiful first afternoon in London.

Amelie, the birthday girl, is pictured here in the pink shades.

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