Ivan and Jen do Europe

Ivan, Lil Dave and I got a train to the city on July 26, 2010.  We had sandwiches at Pret a Manger.

We really wanted to see Inception, but it wasn’t play until 5 pm.  So, Ivan thought we should just pick a movie. 

We went to see City Island.  It’s about a family that live in City Island who have a lot of secrets.  It was interesting.  We thought it was a good movie.

We walked around.  It was time for dinner so we walked to Masala Zone.  It’s a great Indian restaurant.  Ivan and I each had a grand thali with a chicken curry. 

It was tasty food.

Then, we walked to The Comedy Store.  We met up with Neal and his friends James and Tom.  It was King Gong night.  It’s where regular people go up and try out their comedy.  They have to last 5 minutes.  They can get gonged off if they’re not good.  It was a pretty funny show.

We went back to the hotel and used the internet.

– City Island poster from IMP Awards

On July 25, 2010, Ivan, Lil Dave and I went to lunch with Ivan’s parents at The Harvester.  Ivan had salmon with peri peri sauce.  I had chicken breast with peri peri sauce.  Lil Dave had a banana kebab with a honey sauce.  The food was tasty.

We said goodbye and thanks to Ivan’s mum.  Ivan’s dad gave us a ride to the train station.

We checked in to the Britannia International Hotel.  It’s a nice hotel in Canary Wharf.  

We used the internet for awhile.

We got a train to the city,  We met Ivan’s brother Neal at Hi Sushi Izakaya.  We decided to do the all you can eat sushi.  Lil Dave got special banana sushi made for him. 

We ordered so much food including miso soup and chicken yakitori.  The food was alright, nothing special at all.

Ivan, Lil Dave and I went to The Comedy Store.  We saw the hilarious improv with the Comedy Store Players.  It’s always great to see since it’s never the same.  Paul Merton is definitely the funniest one.  Ivan and I would love if Las Vegas had great comedy clubs like The Comedy Store.

Ivan, Lil Dave and I got a train to London on July 24, 2010.  Ivan’s mom made us sandwiches.  We ate the tuna sandwiches on the train.

We walked to Covent Garden and checked out the shops.

Lil Dave went to see Toy Story 3.  Ivan and I went to see Get Him to the Greek. 

We heard that it was a hilarious movie.  It was funny, but we thought it would be funnier.  Sean Combs was really funny.  It got a bit sappy towards the end of the movie.

We had dinner at Satsuma.  Ivan and I shared tofu steak.  I had yaki soba with chicken and vegetables.  Ivan had udon noodles with chicken and vegetables.  Lil Dave had yaki soba with chicken and he added bananas on top.  It was tasty as usual.

We went to Tower Hill.  We joined the Jack the Ripper walking tour.  I used to be obsessed with Jack the Ripper.  I used to read all about the case online years ago.  I found it very fascinating that the murderer was never found.  We had a great guide who was funny.  We saw three of the murder sites.  It was very interesting to hear the theories and the stories about the gruesome murders.

– Get Him to the Greek poster from IMP Awards

Ivan, Lil Dave and I had lunch at the house on July 23, 2010.

We chilled for awhile in the house.

Ivan, Lil Dave, Ivan’s family and I went into Southend to go shopping.  I bought clothes at Primark.

We walked along the seafront. 

We saw the longest pier in the world.  Then, we walked back to the car and drove back.

We used the internet.

We got into the car headed towards dinner.  It was a 45 minute drive to Woodham Mortimer.  We had a reservation at 7:30 pm at The Hurdlemakers Arms.

Everybody ordered.  It took over an hour for the potato and leek soup to arrive.  It was busy in there, but we couldn’t believe how long it took.  Dinner came 20 minutes later.  Lil Dave had a nice banana tart.  Ivan and I shared a vegetarian lasagna and a tartan tart.  The tart was really good. 

The food was good, but the service was super slow.  It was definitely the slowest service we’ve ever had in a restaurant. 

Ivan’s dad drove back to the house which didn’t take as long as driving there. 

Ivan, Lil Dave and I chilled in Southend on July 22, 2010.

Ivan’s mum cooked up lunch.  We had tasty veggie burgers.  Lil Dave put bananas on his veggie burger.

We used the internet and relaxed.  My throat was hurting.

Ivan’s brother Neal came to stay at his parent’s house for two nights.  We had a good dinner made by Ivan’s mom.  Ivan and I had salmon dishes.  Lil Dave had a banana sandwich.

Later on, Ivan, Neal and I walked to Parsons Barn. 

We had a few drinks and chatted.

Ivan went into London on July 21, 2010 around noon.  I woke up at 2 pm. 

I got ready.  I took the train to London. We went to get a frozen yogurt at Snog.  I’ve been thinking about these tasty treats lately.  It was delicious!

We walked around more.  I was getting hungry.  Ivan wasn’t hungry since he had a big lunch at Busaba Eathai.  I had a spicy noodle dish with chicken at Wetherspoon’s. 

We walked to the Victoria Palace Theatre.  We sat down to see Billy Elliot. 

It’s about a boy who becomes interested in ballet.  The story also shows the hardships of  the people in Durham, a Northeast England town, during a mining strike.  The dancing and the singing was amazing.  What an awesome musical!

I was really tired on July 20, 2010.  I kept waking up during the night. 

We checked out of Hostal Pitiusa Residencia.  We stored our backpacks in their storage area.

Ivan and I ate salmon and goat’s cheese paninis for lunch.  Lil Dave had a banana and honey panini.

We walked to the beach.  Ivan floated on the water on his float.  He went really far.  He likes reading newspapers and magazines while he’s on the float.  I laid down on a lounge chair.  I slept for a few hours. 

I read a few newspapers like the Daily Mail.

We walked back to the hotel to use the internet.

We had dinner at Soleado.  This restaurant overlooks the water and is even closer than Marco restaurant.  We had a great view of the sea. 

We started off with a tasty fish soup.  Lil Dave had chicken stuffed with bananas.  Ivan and I shared a salmon dish and a smoked salmon, avocado and chantilly.  The food was average. 

We walked back to the hotel and used the internet.  We got a taxi at 11:45 pm.

We arrived at the airport.  We were flying back to England.  There were three flights to London: Luton, Stansted and Gatwick.  The Luton won was delayed for 2 hours, our flight to Stansted was on time and the Gatwick flight was canceled.  So, Easyjet was trying to get as many people from the canceled flight on our flight.  The rest were given a free night’s stay in a hotel and they would flight out the next morning.

We boarded our flight at 1:15 am.  The flight was 2 hours and 15 minutes.  We arrived at 2:30 am. 

We were picked up by a private car.  He took us to Ivan’s parents home in Southend. 

We got there and were very tired.  It was time for bed.

Ivan and Lil Dave were up already when I woke up at 3 pm on July 19, 2010. 

Ivan and I both had tasty salmon, avocado and cream cheese sandwiches for lunch.  Lil Dave had a banana and chicken sandwich.

We used the internet for awhile.

We walked to the beach at 7 pm.  Ivan and I chilled in the water.  The beach is great here in Ibiza town.  

We walked to Marco restaurant for dinner.  The restaurant is overlooking the sea.  We started off with a tasty tomato soup.  Lil Dave got a banana paella.  Ivan and I got two paella dishes: seafood and vegetarian. 

The paella turned out alright.

We walked back to the hotel.  We watched Lee Evans on the laptop and then it was off to bed.

Ivan, Lil Dave and I checked out of Playa Bella Apartments on July 18, 2010. 

Ivan started searching for a hotel.  He wanted us to stay in Ibiza town. 

We jumped in the cab headed towards a hotel.  We checked in to Hostal Pitusa Residencia.  Our room had a fan and a balcony.  Ivan opened all the windows to let in some air.

The guy at Reception recommended a restaurant nearby.  We walked to Rickyssimo.  I got a plain tuna and egg sandwich.  Ivan got a tasty smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese sandwich.  We also shared a goat’s cheese salad with chicken.  Lil Dave got a few banana tapas.

We walked along the beach to check it out.  It’s a really pretty beach.

We walked back to the hotel.  We all used the internet for awhile.

We started getting ready for the night.  Lil Dave stayed in since he was tired from being at the beach all day.  We got the bus to San Antonio. We got free wristbands for the club Amnesia which included transportation to the club and back to San Antonio.

We walked to Bay Bar for dinner.  We started off with a goat’s cheese and mango salad.  There was great chill-out music playing.  Then, we shared a vegetarian pizza and a very tasty chicken skewer.  The chicken skewer came with potatoes that were really hard.  Ivan thought they were cooked once and then re-heated.  We had a good meal.

We got the free bus to Amnesia.  The event was The Foam Party.  We danced for awhile to awesome trance music.  There was a popular Spanish group in the other room.  That room was really crowded.  At 6 am, foam started pouring from the second level onto the main floor.  It got into my eyes and it tasted like soap.  It was our first time being in a club with foam.  It was really cool, but I couldn’t stay on the dance floor.  It really hurt my eyes.  Ivan was there for a little while.  But, the foam starts to bug you after awhile.

We were thinking about getting the free bus back.  There was a huge line though.  We got a taxi back around 7 am.

I slept in until 1:30 pm on July 17, 2010.  Ivan and Lil Dave were already awake.  

We had lunch at the cafe again.  I had a tuna and boiled egg sandwich.  Ivan had a chicken and avocado sandwich.  Lil Dave got banana and peanut butter sandwich.

We used the internet for awhile in the Playa Bella reception area.

We walked to the beach.  It was good to relax and have an easy day. 

We went on our floats in the water.  I chilled and read my book.  The beach is nice here.  But, there’s a lot of hard surfaces in the shallow water.  

For dinner, we went to Relish.  Lil Dave had a nice banana and salmon dish.  Ivan and I started off with a spicy thai fish cake and a brochette with mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and pesto.  Then, we got a cajun chicken salad and the wonderful salmon dish. 

The cajun chicken salad wasn’t as good as last time.  The meal was really great.

We walked back to the hotel.  Ivan and I were thinking about going out.  But, we were so tired that we fell asleep right when we laid down.