I know I'm late. I have an excuse though- I was watching the England match last night. What a victory for England! After everything they had to put up with from the Columbian team, they more than deserved it.....Anyway, I'm back and it's time for part 2! Enjoy guys.
Wednesday 13th
Today was the day we were going to see The Book of Mormon. Matthew wanted to see this show for a while after hearing great reviews. The musical was created by the same people that created South Park so it had to be good, right? I'd booked the tickets a while back for Matthew's birthday as I found I could get a good deal on disabled access tickets when I booked direct from the Prince of Wales Theatre. The guy on the phone who arranged it all for me was really helpful so I'd recommend going direct. You can see all the booking information on their website.
Before the theatre though, it was time to head to the surprise activity. Matthew had been teasing me for a while about this and said he wouldn't tell me until we got to London. Bear in mind that this was now day 3 of our holiday, my patience was wearing thin. As I've said before, I simultaneously love and hate surprises because I like the thought of being pleasantly surprised with something, but I also like to know what's happening and where I'm going. On the Wednesday morning, Matthew said that we could be going on the tube to Monument station which was the nearest to the surprise. So with that, we packed up our stuff and headed out to Aldgate East station.
We soon arrived at Monument and came out of the dark tube station into the intense heat of the sun. It was at this point that Matthew told me where we were going- The Sky Garden! We'd both been up to the Sky Garden before, but today was going to be quite a day for it being as sunny as it was.
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| Mulie and the view of London |
Like with most places now, a bag check was a part of getting in. Airport style security is a sight that you get used to when you go to tourist hotspots anywhere now it seems which while I understand to a point, it's a bit sad to think of why we have to have them. Once we'd got through security, we waited for the lift that would take us up to the viewing floor and the Bistro. As the doors opened out to the viewing floor, a cacophony of noise from the cafe and all of the other visitors greeted us, along with the light coming in from the sun. The viewing platform outside was very busy with everyone making the most of seeing sunny London. We also headed out to take lots of pictures of the skyline and the scenes below us. It's easy to lose track of time up there just staring out to London and wondering what is going on in the buildings surrounding you. We took lots of selfies and then headed indoors to look at all the plants and to get a view from the other side of the building. Me and Matthew both posed like wannabe models by the window and also took some silly photos of our hands around the Gherkin. You can imagine what our intentions were there. I'm sure lots of people before us had done it and it was funny seeing what angles we could get. Once we'd exhausted all the angles of the Gherkin and auditioning for Britain's next top model, it was time for some lunch.
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| He really should quit he day job and consider modelling |
For lunch, we planned to go to the Darwin Brasserie. It was a little expensive but we figured that as we were on holiday, we would treat ourselves! Matthew would later live to regret this frivolous decision but I will tell you all about that later on in the post. We were sat right by the window so we could watch all the other visitors wandering about downstairs and also admire the skyline view. I chose steak and Matthew chose pork. The food was quite nice and I enjoyed eating with a view. Matthew's face was also OK to look at. After polishing off our lavish lunches, it was time to head over to Leicester Square for our afternoon theatre show.
Leicester Square was busy with tourists as per usual and whilst walking over to the theatre, we noticed the red carpet being rolled out in preparation for the Ocean's 8 premiere. I of course stopped to take a few cheeky snaps, while Matthew had steamed on ahead without telling me! After a short phone call wondering where each other was and what I was doing in the first place, we reunited outside the theatre. There was a queue to get in but it was fast moving so we were in and sat down relatively quickly. Thankfully, the leg room was just how the guy on the phone said it was. Plenty of room for Matthew to stretch out. Matthew had never been to many theatre performances as he has always been wary of the leg room (or lack of) so I was very happy that he was able to have a seat where he didn't feel trapped or self conscious about his leg.
The show itself was very good. Funny, clever, very rude in places but the story all came together well and me and Matthew were glad we saw it. When I say rude, I really mean that. The C word, casual racism and blasphemy feature heavily, so don't go taking your young children or your deeply religious grandma. They might not survive the show. Having said that, I honestly do recommend you go and see it. If you're a fan of South Park or any of that type of dark, satirical comedy, this show is definitely for you.
After the show, we wandered about Leicester Square in search of Caffe Concerto. We'd been in there before from our last visit to London and really fancied a sweet treat. As a little treat, we ordered a luxury cream tea for two. Scones, miniature cakes, miniature pastries and a delicious cup of hot chocolate (I don't really like tea). To say we were full up afterwards was an understatement. We payed up and left to head back to our apartment. My uncomfortable foot wear issue was also finally solved by a lovely pair of cushioned purple and orange Asics trainers that I bought for £25 from the next door Sports Direct. It really was a day of luxury and lavish spending.
Now, you may remember me earlier telling you about the Bistro at the Sky Garden. I will say now that while neither of us blame- or can even prove that this was their fault- what happened did have very strong links to what Matthew ate at the Sky Garden Bistro. When we got back to the apartment Matthew was complaining of stomach ache. It had been hot, and not to mention we'd just had a luxury cream tea platter for 2 about an hour earlier, so I thought nothing of it and told him to just rest, drink and hopefully it was just post-food belly ache. As the night wore on, it was becoming clear that Matthew's stomach ache was not going away. Maybe it was trapped wind? I felt a little helpless at this point and as we said our goodnight's I thought nothing more of it.
Until 4am. I was abruptly awoken by the sound of retching and sick splatters. Matthew was being sick. It wasn't until I fully came to and walked over to the bathroom that I realised the full gravity of the situation. The bathroom sink was full of sick and Matthew was bent over pale as a sheet and clammy. He was just starting another round of vomiting so I knew that I had to hop to it quickly and clean up.
Now, you may remember that the resources in the apartment available were thin on the ground to say the least. And also, I wasn't anticipating having to clear up sick so I immediately took to looking in all the kitchen cupboards with the sound of vomiting in the background. My searching came up with pretty basic resources. I found one paint stained rubber glove (I don't know how paint got on it, that was how I found it) and a very shallow bowl like thing. By the time I went back to the bathroom with my kitchen cupboard haul, Matthew had just managed to pull his head up from his marathon chundering. I told him to go and sit on the bed and drink some water. I had also put the shallow bowl by the bed just in case. I know it was shallow, but it was the only thing I could find. It was that or a wellington boot. Now however, it was time for the marathon clean up. I stretched the single rubber glove over my right hand, put a dish cloth in the other and stared into the now full-to-the-brim sink full of sick. It wasn't draining. None of it was draining. Shit. The sick was full of pork bits and tomatoey bits. Sorry for the graphic detail, but this night was intense. Weirdly I wasn't phased by anything here; the smell or the sight of it, I just wanted to clear up and for Matthew to feel better. If being the chunder dragon meant he felt better, then so be it.
With the realisation of the lack of drainage sinking in (ha- see what I did there) I got to work trying to figure out what the blockage was as we'd not put any plugs in at all. Yes, this is where the rubber gloved hand really got down and dirty. I put my hand into the sink of sick and went in search of a mystery blockage. Nothing but sick bits. Once I dug down a little further I thought I could feel something in the pipe. That must be the blockage! Now to get all this sick out of the way. As my rubber gloved hand resurfaced, I turned to Matthew who at this point looked on wondering what he could do to help and said we'd have to condemn a mug from the kitchen. My plan was to scoop all the sick from the blocked sink, to the toilet cup by cup. There was nothing else for it.
20 minutes later and most of the sick was transferred over and I could finally figure out the issue. Me and Matthew had spotted drain rods in the wardrobe when we checked in and saw it as an omen. Maybe the universe knew something. Matthew by this point had recovered enough to try and help with the drain rods. So, picture us two sick-covered, naked and prodding a blocked drain with a drain rod at gone 4am. Unfortunately, the drain rod proved fruitless in the battle against the blockage, but after a bit more poking with my rubber gloved fingers, I sourced the blockage and bought it to the surface. A strange black rubber thing. I don't really remember what it was, it was very early and all I wanted to do was take off the rubber glove and hot wash everything in existence.
By the time I finished clearing up it was around 6am. We did try to get back to sleep but it was hard. Matthew still didn't feel 100% normal, neither was I after that. I was also on guard in case Matthew started vomiting again. Thankfully he didn't but the next day we were both feeling a bit rough.
So the lesson here I guess is be mindful of what you eat. Not that Matthew could've even known when he was eating that he was going to be bringing it all back up hours later, but just as general advice, make sure your food is cooked and that hands are washed blah blah blah..... Did you hear that the NHS is 70 tomorrow?
Anyway, that's all for part 2. I know it was only the Wednesday's coverage, but I figured you might be traumatised after the sink of sick story. Matthew is a lot better now thankfully. I will be back very soon with part 3 but for now, have a great evening!
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