Sunday, October 18, 2015

A whirlwind weekend.

I'm not usually one to celebrate birthdays, but there are one or two memorable years where everything aligns and my friends go all out to throw me an amazing bash. When I was 20, my roommates at University threw me a surprise party, when I was 25, my friends had 25 drinks waiting for me to ring in the day (surprisingly, I didn't die of alcohol poisoning.)

And this birthday certainly joined those epic celebrations as one of the most memorable. First, on Thursday, a dream came true as I was able to attend a taping of the Graham Norton Show here in London. I've been trying to get tickets for a year now from the production company and attending other show tapings to try to get access to a priority ticket and a few weeks ago, I was told I had them. But I had no idea that we would have such amazing luck as the usher pulled my friends and I aside from the lineup and told us if we were really well behaved and didn't take any photos, she'd sit us in the VIP section right by the stage. We were 8 feet away from Graham and his guests Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Dawn French, Chris O'Dowd and Rod Stewart. My friends and I felt like we were in some weird dream - an hour and a half taping went by so quickly as the guests were hilarious and chatty - I didn't want it to end. London Bucket List item checked off my list - and in such an incredible way!

We were right in front of the stage - where that silver cylinder is which is the lever for the Red Chair. (Inner girl scream.)

The celebrations then continued Friday. Having never been to the Royal Academy of Art in London, I thought why not #TreatYoSelf and my friends to a guided tour around the stunning gallery. Having not read up on anything about the tour, I thought it would have been your standard walk around, but we lucked out with one of the museum's most experienced guides, Nigel (having done tours for over 11 years) and he gave us special access to rooms you would never see as a regular visitor to the gallery. One of the most impressive rooms was a lecture hall in which Charles Darwin read his Theory of the Origin of Species for the first time in public in the 1800s. We also saw an original incomplete Michaelangelo, which was acquired by the museum for £1.50 in the 1800s, which is perhaps the cheapest anyone has ever paid for that master's artwork. For an hour tour that stretched into an hour and a half and free entrance into a paid exhibit, it has become one of my favourite galleries in the city, mostly thanks to the talented and knowledgable Nigel Crenshaw. I tip my hat to you Nige.

Friday was a nice reunion of sorts for me as I hung out with people I worked with back in Canada. I wrote in my last post that I'm hopefully transitioning out of the advertising industry, but if anything would keep me in it, it would be the great people that I've made friends with and continue to be friends with even though it has been ages since we've worked together. I think I've met up with at least 5 - 6 former colleagues here in London and have always been excited to show them around. And hey, a five minute wait at Patty & Bun here in London was just the cherry on top of that cake! (A five minute wait NEVER happens).

And finally, Saturday completed the three days of boozing one should have for any birthday. My best friends here in London decided they were going to plan a day and surprise me with a bottomless champagne brunch at the Villandry Grand Café and a tour of the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich. Surprisingly, with that much alcohol, my liver and my stomach strangely was able to keep up with the level of consumption and we were able to have a great tasting and educational stroll around the roaring machines in the brewery.

I'll take one of everything.

For someone who is looking to get into possibly doing something in travel and tourism, I was impressed by the professionalism of our tour guide Dan and the team at Meantime. Sadly, there were some rowdy lads that were really ruining the experience for all those who paid for a tour. They dealt with the situation really well and I thanked them during the tour for doing the best they can. And with that, we were able to get some nice product at the end of the tour. Yes - "samples."

I'll be keeping my birthday weekend memories close for a while, perhaps for the next few years when I have low key birthdays. I'm grateful for friends and colleagues who spoilt me rotten this weekend and spent time planning these past couple of days for me.

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