Day Eight: Edinburgh to London

Its a five and half hour south from Edinburgh to London by train; I elected to travel this way rather than fly so that I could see more of the country - and what a lot of countryside I saw! Rolling hills, steep cliffs overlooking the North Sea, a glimpse of the York Minster, determined sunbathers in folding chairs in their back yards, fisherman sitting beside streams, a flock of white swans on the river just outside Peterborough, and a line of nuclear reactors just south of York...

I got into London at 5.45 and rang my friend Rick, an up and coming theatre director and musical theatre fan who I met about eight or nine years ago when he was visiting London (he was recommended to contact me by friends who at that time were running Club V, a club very much like my club Q + A; I didn't know him from a bar of soap at the time, but we got on really well and have stayed in touch ever since via e-mail). Rick gave me directions to his place in Brockley, a suburb on the fringe of central London, and I successfully navigated the Tube for the first time ever: I was rather proud of myself I have to say, especially as it was the middle of peak hour!

I arrived at Rick's, found the key under the doormat, dumped my bags, had a quick wash and change, and then headed back onto the train system clutching the map and London A-Z Rick had left out for me. I met up with Rick and his boyfriend Edvard on Old Crompton Street, the gayest district in London, where we caught up over delicious tapas at a Spanish restaurant called Cafe Espana.

Then we headed off to Popstarz, a London gay alternative club located in an old theatre in Kings Cross called The Scala. There's four floors: the main alternative room in the central theatre space (where the music was, surprisingly, very much akin to what Pete, Helen and I play at Q + A with only a few songs I didn't recognise thrown into the mix), a trash floor (cheesy 80's and etc), a chillout room, and a funk/rnb floor. I had a ball, although I wish I could have grabbed a few hours sleep before we arrived: either that or that I'd managed to score some speed so I could have made a big night of it! There was the usual mix of cute boys, annoying queens, and everyone in between. Of course, I just admired the cutest guys from afar; I'm hopeless at picking up in clubs and very rarely actually attempt it. Knowing my luck they were straight anyway... ;-)

We left at about 2am. Bed. Snore.....