Monday, April 09, 2012

{part 21}

Olsen Olsen by Sigur Rós on Grooveshark
{parts 12345678, 9 10,  1112 1314, 151617181920}

"you are the happiest-looking couple of people i've seen all day," said the monk.
"thank you," i said. "we are happy." because that was the truth and everything.
"i'm a monk," said the monk, and he was a monk indeed. he had monkish features and a stack of monk books on his arm. he told us about monk life and then he tried to convert us. unfortunately for him, we don't convert easily--we didn't want to be monks.

we ran into him again, four hours later, as we headed down into the tubes to go home. considering the size of london, i'm not convinced he wasn't following us around because, you know, we just look like we'd make fine monks. we just do.

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we politely declined his monkly appeals, and headed back down under the streets of london for one last tube run. the people down there were not as polite as the serene monk, and barclay kept one arm securely around my shoulders as we pushed through the herd.

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back through the tubes, back into the sun, back into the train station, back onto the train, back to scotland.

in that order, but not all that quick.

we'd been wandering dizzily around the city for about five hours; we'd seen some sights and spent a few dollars on a ring in a charity shop, and that was enough. i'd been feeling a little sick and we were more than ready to go back to edinburgh. we got to the station just a few minutes early, boarded and settled in for a four hour trip on the 250 km/h high-speed train. we'd get back to town at, like, 7:30, and have cheeseburgers. good plan.

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unfortunately, good plans and trains both derail when the track breaks.

i mean, our train didn't derail. we just had to sit there for a thousand years while they fixed that rascally track.

a thousand years. i'm not even exaggerating.

i know because the man across the aisle kept slamming his fist down onto his armrest, cussing at the seat in front of him and making phone calls to everyone he knew about the injustice of having to wait a thousand years for them to fix the track. he made a little scene {even though barclay and i were the only ones around to see it}, and then he made calls to his girlfriend, his mom, his friend {tom}, his other friend {we never did hear his name}, and he made a mean face at the speaker when the conductor apologized for the delay, though i'm sure the conductor was neither responsible for the delay nor could he see out of the speaker. all i'm saying is that the mean face was most likely in vain.

but, a thousand years later, the track was fixed and we were on our way again. the delay wouldn't have bothered us, except that by the time we got back to edinburgh at 11:30 pm {as opposed to the 7 pm that we were expecting}, the hotel that our things were at had given our rooms to someone else and we were given our bags and the proverbial "kick to the curb."

wahoo.

at this point, we decided to hike up the road to the bus stop, and see if we could find our way in the darkened city to barclay's uncle's house {he'd told us where the spare key was in case we needed a place to stay in a pinch. and this, i would say, was a pinch. it was quite a walk from the hotel, but we didn't have enough cash on hand to get a taxi that far, and the restaurant with the atm in it was closed. so we set off into the night, each lugging a backpack and a large suitcase and stopping every two minutes to regrip and catch breaths.

almost needless to say, by the time we hit the bus stop an hour later, the night buses had stopped running for the evening. because, you know, of course. i sat on my suitcase and laughed a little. barclay, who felt the weight of responsibility for my safety and comfort a bit more, smiled, but didn't laugh at all. we were lost and i was sick and barclay was tired and it started to rain and it was all that monk's fault, i think.

16 comments:

Caitlin said...

Aw man, what a rough freaking day. I can't believe they gave someone your room! WTF ENGLAND? Sounds like you guys were alright though...as Jack Johnson says, "it's always better when we're together."

For the record I hate Jack Johnson, it just fit.

Chess said...

Hahahaha. Of course it was the monk's fault. They're so meddly.

Suzy Krause said...

hahaha i hate jack johnson too, yet i always have that song stuck in my head! WHYYYEEEE...

Suzy Krause said...

FOR REAL.

Anonymous said...

haha...so I was looking at the first picture (you know, the one of Barclay on the escalator) and at first glance I thought the precautionary sign in the middle read "stand on the right, no vomiting" and I thought to myself, "wow...people in London must have weak stomaches if they can't even handle a simple escalator ride", but then I realized how ridiculous that was and decided that it the sign must say, "no smoking" not "no vomiting".
-Crystal

nova said...

Did Barclay grow a very long beard while you were waiting for the train stuff to get fixed?

Suzy Krause said...

haha! it totally looks like it says that! what a great rule.

Suzy Krause said...

of course! it grew right over to me and i used it as a blanket.

Sarah Rooftops said...

Oh no! What a horrible day. Does the story get better in the morning? *stamps feet impatiently*

Kara said...

i love these posts!

p.s. - enter my giveaway for a chance to win 100 postcards! who doesn't love snail mail?!
http://www.oncetherewasatree-kara.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-first-giveaway-print-runner-post.html

xx, kara

Suzy Krause said...

haha, well the day itself wasn't horrible. just the evening part was a little iffy. but thank you for feeling sorry for me! i love when people feel sorry for me. :D

Suzy Krause said...

aw, thanks kara! :)

ps: i was going to enter yesterday! i was! but it says it's only open to us residents. :( sad.

claudyayrine said...

loovee these!
especially the music <3

Suzy Krause said...

oh good! thank you. :)

Unknown said...

Hahaha--oh no how come feeling sick always happens when it is raining and dark and you are kind of stuck somewhere.

I think it was the monks fault too.

Suzy Krause said...

thank you for confirming what i think. that monk. find him for me.