Originally Posted April 9,2011
Part 1
Friends, parents, time itself, coming and going in but a fleeting moment. Weeks flying by in the winds of lasting memories. Memories made and shared by close friends. Memories created and eternal through the bond of family. New faces dawned the city of London, unfamiliar and unaware. Though their voyages took on their own place in time, one common denominator was present, and his feelings of appreciation are hoped to have fallen on reminiscing thoughts. A timeless friendship shared their voyage with laughter, a sharpie pen, and an extremely timely camera. A family, restored after months and miles, shared a voyage filled with sights of wonder, English countryside, food, drink, and questioning the legitimacy of formal invitations. These memories will be everlasting, and ones fortunately shared.
After tuxedos and Moet created the basis for a story of epic proportions, on was one noble travelling gentlemen to the next stage of his journey. The green covered mountains, a certain dry stout, and Gaelic chants of St. Patrick calling his name. A country to see, a bus delivering the views, strangers becoming friends, Guinness to be drank, mates in study joining in tardy manner, a city in celebration, a celebration to be remembered. O, and there was Guinness.
As is the happenstance with cases of happiness, it was to be followed by the dreads of reality. This reality came as the result of weeks in procrastination; schoolwork had reared its ugly head. It has been a historical and bitter rivalry, but in the end, dates of due were satisfied. Yet in this struggle arose events unforeseen. Curry was enjoyed in a week titled as such, and another rivalry was settled through the speed of goats. Every little bit of this month and a half has been lived. As a traveling gentleman finds himself sitting in a park on the Champs-Elysees, he will relive this journey with you, and tell of future travels…
Sorry that it has taken me so long to write a new entry, but there hasn’t been much sitting still lately. Much has happened, so I will do my best to let you know everything I’ve been up to. Due to the sheer length of this post, I will be breaking it up into two parts. I’ll post the first part now, and the second part in a few days. This way I can really build up the hype. Expect a cliffhanger.
I left my last post with the trip to Amsterdam with Ted. That trip was only half of Ted’s stay, so we were able to enjoy another few days together showing him around London. I did my best to give Ted a London experience, so we covered all the majors. Watched a football match in a pub, did the touristy classics (Big Ben, Tate Modern, Tower Bridge/Tower of London, Portobello Market, etc.), had a couple nights out to pubs and clubs, all that jazz. But what we didn’t plan was Strongbow Black and Ted experiencing University for the first time. For those who don’t know, Strongbow Black is a much more potent version of Strongbow cider, and was proved as such through Ted’s “nap”. The story can remain between friends, but lets just say when eyes are drawn on eyelids and the person doesn’t wake up, hilarity ensues. Had a great week with my dear friend Ted and I thank him again for making the long trip over the pond.
After a few short days alone, my parents arrived for their visit. Naturally this was a much classier trip involving hotels, restaurants, and good wine. As opposed to the cement floors, take away sandwiches, and Strongbow Black of my previous week. Again I found myself as the tour guide, but I was happy to show them around. Caught a Toronto Raptors game while they were in town for the weekend, went to the theatre (Billy Elliot), and took a day trip to the countryside to visit an old colleague of my dad’s. However this week’s real story came on an unassuming Sunday evening. Following a recommendation, the three of us went to Dukes Bar, which is a classy martini bar in London where Ian Fleming (author of James Bond) is a regular and where the term “shaken, not stirred” was coined. As we were enjoying our drinks, here began a chain of events I will never forget. Guy walks in, buys champagne for everyone in the room (7 people, but still, these are 250 pound bottles of bubbles, lets talk about it), one bottle becomes three, conversation is had, then comes the invite…”Hey Peter, you’re living in London, maybe you’ll want to come to the Charity Ball this Thursday,” said the extremely rich stranger. “….yes, yes I would,” replied the confused, yet extremely handsome and charming young man. We eventually left the bar with a word document for an invitation and instructions to get a tuxedo for Thursday. Dukes Bar was followed by an incredible meal at a famous London restaurant, Rules, where we spent the whole night trying to figure out if this guy from Dukes was legit. By the end of the night, we still had no clue. Even Google didn’t seem to know. Yet after some e-mails the following day, Peter de Vooght was to find his name inscribed on the guest list for The Charity Ball. The quick trip with my parents came to an end, and we said our goodbyes. I really did enjoy our time, parents; glad we were able to put it together. Thanks so much for everything.
Would Peter be able get a tuxedo in time? Will something happen involving a tuxedo shirt and a faulty iron? Ireland, curry, goat races, and much much more in the next installment of…. The Traveling Gentlemen.
Hope everyone is well, take care.
No Regrets.
Pete