Friday’s weather was okay to join the guys from work for a run. I used to join them regularly back before doing the marathon, but I haven’t done any running since the ‘main event’. Being the first run in just on 3 months I was rather surprised at just how much fitness I hadn’t lost and was able to maintain a comfortable pace with the others. I didn’t realise just how long or how far we were going to go, and before I knew it we’d reached Canary Wharf. A pleasant enough run along the banks of the Thames and the back streets nearby, but by the time we returned to work (in just under an hour) we’d covered just over 10.5kms.
Friday night kicked off with a London edition of the Havana Club parties that have been a bit of an institution in Melbourne for some time now. Added to the mix was the ‘Tropical’ theme despite London’s cooler climes, and a midnight euphony on the roof. Excellent setup with the venue of the party in an apartment with almost no neighbours and rooftop access, so it was pretty much two parties in one. DJ n lights going full gas with Big Wednesday and other surf movies projected onto the wall all added to the great atmosphere. 
The midnight euphony, which by definition is a mass unchoreographed sound, was something that whilst being a bit different was good fun. Part of the invite cited that you needed to bring an instrument in case you’re wondering what was used to make the ‘sound’.Great to catch up with a few folk that I’d not seen for a bit (as I’d been away for a few weekends or they’ve been in Australia), as well as meeting a few new folks. A fun night all round.
Saturday began at a more leisurely pace (ignoring the few hours of Saturday that were still part of Friday night). The afternoon saw myself joining Matty, Simone and Bubs at the Battersea Power Station for the last weekend of ‘tours’ before the developers begin their plans for redeveloping the surrounding area. The tour was free, and you took yourself on it by just following the path laid out between the wire fencing. Basically it took you around the outside of this old defunct structure with two ‘visits’ inside.
Recognise it? I’d seen the station originally on the album cover to Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’, and then from the trains from Waterloo when going to and from Portsmouth, Reading and Salisbury. It’s certainly a lot larger close up - well, bigger than I thought. Quite impressive really, and the plans for what the developers are going to do looked interesting. Will be good to head on down for the ‘after’ of this ‘before’.From Battersea Power Station we headed across town to where Simone introduced us to what she called “
London’s Best Restaurant for Duck”. Now for me, duck isn’t something that’s high on my meat list even if I have had it several times so I wasn’t too fussed. However, I’ve not had better duck anywhere, and that’s not just in London, so I’d be confident to say that duck has just gone up a few places on my ‘to eat’ list. The salt n pepper squid was certainly up there too with the best I’ve ever had making this one restaurant that I will be returning too. Worth the distance travelled to get there!Because the day was nice n sunny, I’d decided to ride to the power station - why travel underground on such a glorious day?!
Answer: Because of how your legs will feel on Sunday after a 10km run followed by 45kms by bike...
Feeling a little sore on Sunday morning made the perfect excuse... erm... reason for just relaxing in the morning sun with breakfast, coffee n book. Lovely jubbly.
However, it was time to get the legs moving again, so a leisurely half hour walk down to Finsbury Park was in order to go to Rise. Rise is London’s biggest free music festival, and it was far larger than I thought it would be! So is Finsbury Park for that matter.
The first of the six main stages that I came across was the African Village (left). Even though I’d just arrived, it was worth hanging out there for a bit as the music and mood was excellent. At the change of artists I moved on through the throngs of people, past some food stands to the London Underground stage. This was more of the ‘urban’ sound or really just more DJ and electronica music. At that point in the afternoon it was quite cruisey so again I stuck around for a bit.
My curiosity had been piqued by the plumes of smoke I could see further down the way along the alleyway of food and drink stalls, so I moseyed on to discover that these were Jamaican chicken stalls, and had massive queues for them.
After grabbing a drink it was on to the next stage, which was the main stage. I was just in time for a band called the Aliens. One of the guys at work had mentioned them as the only band he recognised, and I can see why. They were excellent. Very different as they crossed several genres and never really stopped between tracks, but never played anything I didn't like. Dunno who the next band was, but they were good too, so I stayed there for a bit longer.
Once the “host” returned to the stage to talk, it was time to head out and explore the rest of the festival. Such an amazing range of folks everywhere too, and such a cruisey atmosphere - none of that obnoxious wasted lot you encounter at other music events like the Big Day Out and others.
Anyway, after passing all the sideshows and rides, I found an even cruisier stage and crowd at what was a funk/soul/jazz styled sound. Nearby there were a few ‘community’ stalls if that’s what you call them, all with their message against slavery/poverty/human rights/vegetarianism/etc...
Again, after a while I moved on to the next stage, which was called the Big Dance. Dance music? Nope. This one was literally a massive dance class, and the current dance being taught was Indian. Five Indian women were in a line out the front, while dozens of people were behind them on the platform. One woman with the microphone who talked/walked through each couple of steps while the group followed. Then they’d put them all together. Quite entertaining for those of us watching and it looked to be quite enjoyable for those participating. Aerobics Indian Style?
The next stage was a hip-hop one, so my interest in stopping here was short. It was back to the main stage for me, via the decent sized market that was at the back of the crowd there. Extremely diverse range of products on offer from many nationalities. A quick stop at the nearby food stalls for some Jamaican cuisine (read: shortest queue) and drink and it was back to the grass n crowd of the main stage to relax and enjoy the music for a while in the sun.
The good part about having such a good range of music available at an event like this is that when a crap act hits the stage, you can just go listen to someone else. Like changing the station or cd by using your feet, so back to the African Village I went to chill out for the remainder of the day...
My curiosity had been piqued by the plumes of smoke I could see further down the way along the alleyway of food and drink stalls, so I moseyed on to discover that these were Jamaican chicken stalls, and had massive queues for them.
After grabbing a drink it was on to the next stage, which was the main stage. I was just in time for a band called the Aliens. One of the guys at work had mentioned them as the only band he recognised, and I can see why. They were excellent. Very different as they crossed several genres and never really stopped between tracks, but never played anything I didn't like. Dunno who the next band was, but they were good too, so I stayed there for a bit longer.
Once the “host” returned to the stage to talk, it was time to head out and explore the rest of the festival. Such an amazing range of folks everywhere too, and such a cruisey atmosphere - none of that obnoxious wasted lot you encounter at other music events like the Big Day Out and others.
Anyway, after passing all the sideshows and rides, I found an even cruisier stage and crowd at what was a funk/soul/jazz styled sound. Nearby there were a few ‘community’ stalls if that’s what you call them, all with their message against slavery/poverty/human rights/vegetarianism/etc...Again, after a while I moved on to the next stage, which was called the Big Dance. Dance music? Nope. This one was literally a massive dance class, and the current dance being taught was Indian. Five Indian women were in a line out the front, while dozens of people were behind them on the platform. One woman with the microphone who talked/walked through each couple of steps while the group followed. Then they’d put them all together. Quite entertaining for those of us watching and it looked to be quite enjoyable for those participating. Aerobics Indian Style?
The next stage was a hip-hop one, so my interest in stopping here was short. It was back to the main stage for me, via the decent sized market that was at the back of the crowd there. Extremely diverse range of products on offer from many nationalities. A quick stop at the nearby food stalls for some Jamaican cuisine (read: shortest queue) and drink and it was back to the grass n crowd of the main stage to relax and enjoy the music for a while in the sun.
The good part about having such a good range of music available at an event like this is that when a crap act hits the stage, you can just go listen to someone else. Like changing the station or cd by using your feet, so back to the African Village I went to chill out for the remainder of the day...
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