Lady Simmons Travels

April 14th
It’ a sunny cold day of April, we fly over a sea of clouds waving under the red and grey wings of the plane.
We are on our Lufthansa plane, no comparison with Ryan Air which bothers you with advertisement and forces your legs in a “circus” weird position.
Dropped on, we suddenly forgot our everyday life at work, all but creative and witty.
We’ll take the tube to Notting Hill Station and reach the Gate Hotel, in 6 Portobello Road.
At 15.30 be have an appointment at Milners Hairdressing in 18 Leight Street, Bloomsbury to have great British haircuts! Their website has a cute introduction, so we couldn’t miss it:

“Milners has been situated and trading in Parkway, Camden since 1994 and we are happy to announce that we have now relocated to Leigh Street in Bloomsbury. Although still in the London Borough Of Camden, we are now situated in an eclectic area of modern and period buildings that make Bloomsbury so interesting. With the added advantage of Euston, Kings Cross St Pancras and Russell Square stations being so close.
We are a small independent salon that believes in offering a personal service to all our clients and putting the needs of our clients first. We are an un-pretentious salon with friendly staff offering great cuts and colouring.
With our retro Belmont chairs and calm lighting it becomes a relaxed environment, no stark lighting! making it very different to the high street chain salons”.
Moreover, Bloomsbury was once Virginia Woolf poetic corner …so I feel less rocker (not going to a Camden Town hairdresser), but deeply literate, indeed.
Now landing!

AFTERNOON
London is astonishing in this time of the year. Me and Silviett Jones know her by heart, but many spots are uncovered and still new, surprising us with hidden poetry.
As planned, we went to the “independent salon”, and we had so relaxing and funny time with Meghan and the other girl working there. So nice the ladies, so nice the cuts! Silviett Jones looks cute and British, I look like (well, in my happiest dreams) Joan Jett of the Runaways, that was my rocker purpose…!
I promised to Meghan, who is rock n’roll kind Canadian girl with deep blue eyes, to sent her a cd with my favourite rock tunes….
Then, from Bloomsbury to Notting Hill, having a bit of shopping time, especially British stuff, such as Mind the Gap magnets and so on…
In a vintage clothing shop called Retro Clothing (20,28-34 Pembridge Rd) I found an old original Alfa Romeo Alfasud plaque at £6! immediately bought, of course.
Silviett Jones is a perfect travel mate, so helping and caring about my poor aching shoulder (have some impingement syndrome since I took a bad bad fall on the snow 2 years ago) taking my bags.
Finally we are “at home” in the Room 8 of the Gate hotel, which is so nice, with a big bathroom and a HUGE bed, so comfortable and clean.

Note for the travellers: use the Oyster card to travel around, you will save a lot of money.

April 15th
Both woke up so early (6.40 London, 7.40 CET time), the excitement of being in our “mother country”? Or perhaps because Silviett Jones took her Boots vitamins “Probiotic Multi Vitamin” containing almost ALL THE VITAMINS in the whole world?
She went running, while I’m having my toilet waiting for the breakfast to come (they serve it in your own room here, but BE CAREFUL! It lacks of caffeine! But Starbucks is 30 meters near in Pembridge Road)
Great day in London. In the morning, shopping in Camden Town, so beautiful on Friday without hordes of tourists…
Had nice lunch at a Chinese restaurant sitting on some old restored Vespa converted in table seats. Then, the smelly atmosphere of Borough Market, a place of temptation and lust…we had a gorgeous Raspberry cheesecake (me) and a Strawberry cheesecake (Jones) in the Southwark Cathedral garden, very gothic indeed except for the people, relaxing and having their little break in the city.
Must be interesting having lunch there instead of Rivalta premises (where we work, an industrial, ugly district near Turin, so shabby and sad).
An infinite variety of people and languages, the tube iron smell melting with spicy foods and the Thames vapours…feel so comfortable here, never a traveller. I feel UK is my home.
Especially when in on a pub door near Borough Markets I saw this writing: “Part of the weekend never dies”…so witty, almost Shakespearean.
From Borough market we walked to Bank End Street, from Shakespeare’s Globe to Tate Gallery and on the Harry Pottering Millennium Bridge (I’m a rocker, I’m a geek, I’m a nerd) to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

April 16th
Slept sooo well in this huge bed. We woke up (guess?) early as at 9.00 we had to catch the train to Norwich in order to attend the Vintage Wedding Fair. Me and Jones are dreaming of becoming business girls and wedding planners with guts and style.
Not because we love weddings, but because we’d like a creative job. So Norwich was a perfect start point.
Norwich revealed more interesting in terms of style, history and hidden cute places as well as curious shops . We stopped at the local Saturday market having a coffee and poppin’ around also in a “Vintage, Retro Clothing and Collectables” market held in a Church on our way to the fair.
Then we passed through the Norwich Mall (a 5 floor shopping centre) and found so many cute shops going to the fair, included a fifties style one, called Daisy & Lola’s in 3 Lower Goat Lane, where Silviett Jones wore a very sexy black dress (come to the dark side…we have cookies!).
Then finally we reaches St. Andrews’ Hall. No words to describe the fair.
So many beautiful, creative, innovative wedding ideas, and dresses (I wore a gothic one, but didn’t buy it because I’m not going to marry!) and suppliers, and cupcakes and marvellous everything!
It was mostly focused on a vintage-style kind of wedding, more floral style than rock or gothic (as I hoped!), but I can read and see about that on Kat’s excellent blog Rock n’Roll Bride, where Silviett Jones knew about this fair, making me so happy with the surprise of a this travel.
After the fair we stopped in a curious kind of organic restaurant, held by two cute, gentle, tattooed ladies to have something to eat. Everything was fresh and healthy and they made everything to make us happy. The best chicken sandwich of my life!
Norwich proved to be a place of artistic expression, so creative and unexpected! Many independent shops and artists. It is also involved in the Norfolk Opens Studios an event to “see art, buy art, meet artists”.
Before catching the train back to London, I bought a copy of Classic Rock Magazine at the station, and Jones ate a blueberry muffin.
Friendship it’s quite a miracle: enjoying time together, loving and respecting each other being so different. It always strikes me.
Back at the hotel, I got a bit sick for my IBS, so decided to stay “at home” watching the catastrophic movie “The day After Tomorrow” while Jones walked out to eat some Japanese food in the city centre.

April 17th
Wonderful day, apart coming back to Italy.
The last ride in the tube, taking pics and enjoying the breathtaking Hampstead, with its elegant buildings and peculiar atmosphere.
We walked around, visiting the Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, a chocolate shop, the Hampstead Butcher & Providore shop, a cute vintage market in which I found a nice lady making candles in antique teacups, a gorgeous pub called the Freemasons Arms, Keats House and the park, where we had a sandwich enjoying the lake view with ducks and swans.

Both in silence, feeling at home and sorry for leaving.
Have you ever had a place in the world you feel like home, even if you weren’t born there?
I always thought your home is the place where your heart feels happy.
We came back to the Gate Hotel, had some shopping and took the tube to Heathrow.
I’d like to thank my friend Silviett Jones for this wonderful present and for her precious friendship, and for this wonderful London Calling attitude our souls share.

The Cure - Apart
Skunk Anansie – Hedonism
Skunk Anansie – Nothing but
Skunk Anansie – Because of you
Tears for Fears – Mad World
The Clash – London Calling
Cat Stevens – Wild World
Bob Marley – everything’s gonna be allright
Frankie Lymon - Why do fools fall in love
The Marcels - Blue Moon
Prince – Purple Rain
The Cure – Friday I’m in love
Tracy Chapman – Baby can I hold you
Alice Cooper – Poison
The Coors – Radio
Modena City Ramblers - Ninnananna

USEFUL LINKS
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx
http://www.gatehotel.co.uk/
http://milnershairdressing.com
http://www.booths.co.uk/
http://www.camdenlock.net/
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
http://www.cathedral.southwark.anglican.org/
http://www.starbucks.com/
http://www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com/
http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/
http://www.themall.co.uk/my-mall/norwich/default.aspx
http://wwwdaisyandlolas.co.uk
http://www.standrewshall.co.uk/
http://www.vintage-wedding-fair.co.uk/
http://www.nnfestival.org.uk
http://www.rocknrollbride.com/
http://www.rosslynhillchapel.com/
http://www.hampsteadbutcher.com/hampstead/butcher/index.asp
http://www.antiqueteacupcandles.co.uk/
http://www.freemasonsarms.co.uk/

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YAAAAAAAHNNNN. Hate Silviett Jones for making me get up so early.
I'm more an afternoon person, love to get up later. Anyway I'm in my my bathroom trying not to wake up Crash, almost ready (I've still my pijiama on). She will pick me at 7.10, so I must hurry actually.
Song of the day Alice Cooper, Poison (I seem Alice Cooper without make-up this morning, moreover Silviett Jones had a dance show when she was little, dancing this tune).
I'll try to connect for UK. See you later...navigators!

So everything's finally packed. As usual, put too many things in my luggage, but I prefer to feel safe and have all the things I should need.
Called Silviett Jones for the ultimate IMPORTANT details ("I bring the toothpaste, you bring the shampoo"), she has just packed everything.
Here we go, London's Calling!
We both went in London so many times, and be both feel UK as our home.

Last time I've been there with my love Crash, and we left from Turin to Scotland by car. But that's another story, I'd like to share with you.
Now, shower done, luggage done, let's see some episode of Star Trek with Crash and do some nice and proper sleep.

No work tomorrow, we're on holyday! Silviett Jones will pick me with the Jones-mobile (a Yaris). We are leaving from Malpensa airport.
It's the first travel we do together.

-2.
On Thurdsday 14 we'l take our flight to London. Both have been in London many times in our lives. We started as collegues, but we're friends.
For my 40th birthday, she made me this astonishing present: a trip to London.

So here we go, today we prepare out luggages, I've got my beautiful sterling pounds, me and Silviett Jones are happy to go. I must record a tape (yes, a tape! Silviett Jones has an hi-fi in her car that still plays tapes! Gonna make a hot ' 80 playlist to keep out travel on a "teen" mood with a bit of rock).
Keep updating!