Short and sweet 24-11-10

The Pet Shop Boys sang "Go West". So we did; to Westfield shopping centre. The Bristollian was rather disgruntled at the lack of real fields and tractors, however, was satisifed by Starbucks and "snowies" (those white chocolate buttons with sprinkles - helping us get into the spirit of Christmas!) Good times.

Westfield is HUGE; too much to see in one day. After 3 hours, we were zonked so had to call it a day. To be continued, when we have more money and more energy. Short and sweet this week, like our coffee and chocolates.

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A surprise for you all! 10-11-10

Today we have a treat in store – guest writers! (Not because we’re too lazy to write our own accounts you understand…: p) 10.11.10 saw UCL students march down from the campus past Trafalgar Square to join the masses outside of Whitehall – here’s what they had to say:

"As is often the case with plans, our one for the demo didn't quite come together. We had intended to meet in the UCL quad at around ten o'clock but instead met at eleven – after everyone else had long since left.

We attempted to catch up with the main protest and walked towards the intended start point of the protest – Horseguards Avenue. We didn't realise at the time that we wouldn't stand a chance of getting there, due to the 40000 other people also there.

As we approached Trafalgar Square, we began to hear chanting. The sight that greeted us was that of a river of students, marching unbroken from Strand onto Whitehall. Peckish, we were content to sit at the base of Nelson's Column and observe. And eat lunch.

We sat there for more than 40 minutes, as a seemingly never-ending train of students walked by. Eventually the procession reached a standstill; one can only assume that there was no more space for students between Horseguards Avenue and Trafalgar Square.

Not wanting to be standing stationary for ages, we elected to take the scenic route, crossing the river and walking parallel to the demo route, rejoining it by the Houses of Parliament, once it was in full swing. There we met an old friend (who featured in a previous instalment of this blog) and continued on the march, which by now had reached a snail's pace. The atmosphere was defiant and angry, but never violent or tense.

The march sped up somewhat as we approached the Millbank tower, which was the focus of the less savoury behaviour involved with the demo. The courtyard was filled with protesters, most of them no different to those on the rest of the march. the <vandals> had long ago gained entry to the building, although we couldn't see how. We hung around there for a while, but decided to leave as people began emptying fire extinguishers from the roof and setting off flares. We couldn't have timed it much better; as we left, we saw more riot police preparing to enter the building."

So there you have it : )

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Our Radio debut! (maybe) 3-11-10

True to form, here comes a flurry of late catch up posts – just be glad they’re in English and not Russian or French! Monopoly Wednesday this week saw a craving for baguette turn into an impromptu picnic in the autumnal splendour of Regent’s Park : D Magnifique! 

Having purchased the essential components of our picnic (baguette, jam, cheese and muffins) we trotted off to Regents Park for baguette-consumption purposes. However, on our way there, we were waylaid by a BBC correspondent wielding a microphone in our direction. Was this to be our radio debut?! So we gave a brief interview, indeed, very brief as it consisted of only 3 questions, and trundled off, somewhat shell-shocked and mind blown by the whole experience. By the way, if any of you merry bunch heard it, please get in touch, it was on Radio 1Xtra (we think).

Finding an empty bench in Regents Park is rather like getting on a tube at rush hour; nigh impossible unless you're ruthless, classy and determined. Being all of those, after ten minutes, we succeeded, only to be attacked from above! Needless to say, our pigeon-busting skills have improved immensely since arriving in London town!  The picnic was beautiful, the leaves were beautiful and the scenery was beautiful; in short, autumnal London is beautiful. We then proceeded to take artsy pictures and have a ridiculously good time unleashing our inner children. As is probably obvious to our regular readers, this is not a one off event!

And then we went home for tea.

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