Groovy Grub is No More…

I have to begin this post with some sad news… (Don’t get too worried- I’m using author’s license when saying “sad”).

Back in 1999 I spent a wonderful summer as a student at the University of London. To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember much about the class lessons… I think for the most part the professors were on vacation too. But what is truly worth a mention, that summer was spent forming some of the most important and strongest friendships I had in college, (and a few other not as long lasting, but nonetheless very fun friendships as well). Two of the most notable friendships that came to be during this time were with Valerie K. and Joe V.

I had known Valerie through our mutual friend Andrea for a couple of years. But it wasn’t until this trip that we became friends in our own right. Joe and I had a more unexpected start. We had a Spanish class together the previous Fall, but sat on opposite sides of the class. I honestly don’t think we said a word to each other the whole semester. The next term though, we found ourselves in the next Spanish class together as well. Out of a vague familiarity I think we unconsciously chose to sit near each other. Towards the end of the semester we starting hanging out outside of class a bit, and found out that we would both be studying abroad in London at the same time and residing in the same dorm in the Bloomsbury District.

Once in London though, Joe, myself and two other people I had known before (Greg- a friend of mine for years, and Jenn- a friend of a friend) became inseparable. We sat next to each other in the cafeteria, traveled to Amsterdam and Dusseldorf together, spent countless nights at the pub, went to a God Speed You Black Emperor show that changed my life, and yes, ate together. Our local place of choice was a falafel/kabab place right around the corner from our dorm called “Groovy Grub”.

………..

On our second day in London I dragged Jon over to my old stomping grounds in Bloomsbury. It was a textbook perfect London day- drizzling and a little cold despite the late May date. As I walked out of the Russell Square subway station, it all came back to me. The main street leading to our dorm looks the same, and different all at the same time. There seemed to be a lot more restaurants there now. I don’t remember having that many close-by options, but I was on a student budget so I might not have explored some of the restaurants. That day, I had a one track mind though- I wanted to get a falafel sandwich for lunch and I knew just the place. But alas, it wasn’t to be. As I turned the corner to go to where Groovy Grub should have been, I was greeted by a sign above the window advertising an Indian restaurant. Indian food is delicious, but I was feeling nostalgic. So, Jon and I headed to the pub across from my old dorm where Joe, Greg, Jen and I downed many pints, and ordered two more for old time’s sake. We sat there and watched a soccer match with the “lads”, had a meat pie and then continued on with our day.

(On a side note- the computer lab where I opened an e-mail account because I was having trouble opening my “pilot” MSU account abroad was still there.   I remember sitting there and registering with a brand new e-mail server that I had just heard about called “hotmail”. Weird).

London was awesome, as usual. I had a bit of a culture shock though being back somewhere where everyone was speaking English… I was glad to get reintroduced to the concept before heading back to the States.

Jon and I were pretty desperate money-wise by this point so we stayed in a hostel farther out in London than I had ever been before. It was in an area called New Cross. The hostel had gotten decent reviews online when we booked it, but after staying there I feel pretty confident in saying it was the dumpiest place we stayed on our trip. Blah… Community showers are the grossest.

On our way to London we decided to fly because all the Eurail seats were booked on the Eurostar and the full price tickets were more than airfare! Well… as we were going through security they CONFISCATED MY HAIR PRODUCT!!! I almost wept. Curls+humidity+no product= a very sad, fro haired Nancy. The bottle was almost gone but… it was still heart breaking. When we arrived in London I was just going to buy some mousse 90’s style but I couldn’t find any travel bottles. So, I bought a travel size of gel. Sheesh…. gel is the grossest thing ever (after community showers)! I felt like I had a sticky helmet on my head the whole time!

In London we spent most of our time chilling out and drinking… As you do in London I suppose. We did the compulsory walk to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament etc.   We, of course, made a stop into delicious Wagamamma, and had Indian food twice over the weekend as well.

And then we headed to Brussels…

P.S.

Happy birthday Katie! Welcome to our 30’s!