To Infinity and Beyond!

(Cue In OBB music of Austin Powers)
London Baby!!!

I decided to splurge on a two-week vacation in London and rendezvous with Bahar, my friend from Turkey who knows the city by heart. Since we had loads of time, we decided to spend our Sunday doing something crazy, we decided to be fangirls for a day. We are both big fans of “Le” Benedict Cumberbatch and we heard that he is in town getting ready for the Richard III production.

Since I am the newbie in London, I followed Bahar’s lead. Our fangirl destination is supposedly a pub that is usually frequented by Le Cumberbatch: The Stag at 67 Fleet Road in Hampstead London. I have never been to an authentic London pub before so this place was a treat. Watching the Brits in their own habitat, I am fascinated with the fact that the first thing people did was to congregate at the bar to order their drinks for their noontime lunch. This was not the habit in my country, people don’t get booze after Sunday church, so I was totally transfixed with this social behaviour unraveling in front of me. I decided to join in the fun and ordered beer from the tap and some tasty beef roast which is what the place is known for. Sadly, there was no sign of Mr. Cumberbatch.

After a satisfying lunch, we decided to continue our search in the somewhat labyrinthine but utterly enchanting Hampstead Heath. A beautiful park full of lush trees and interesting foliage which at certain spots gives you a breathtaking view of the London cityscape. Did Bahar and I catch a glimpse of Mr. Cumberbatch? Again, we did not, we knew that this was a pipe-dream anyway but it did add zest to our trip.

Our fangirl day did take a truly surprising and unexpected turn during our Lunch at The Stag, my 2014 fangirl was a tad bit disappointed but my 90’s fangirl self was pretty satisfied when I saw from the milieu of people at the bar - Sporty Spice, Mel C. in the flesh ordering her drink of choice. Seriously what were the chances of that happening! I did not take a selfie with her, since I respected her right to a nice quiet Sunday afternoon but I was definitely a happy camper.

P.S. Bahar and I found out a couple of days later that he who is named Benedict Cumberbatch visited the Stag a day after we were there. Our search will finally end this August 2015. After lining up for hours on end online, Bahar and I are going back to London to watch Shakespeare’s Hamlet… guess who will be playing Hamlet :) and that my friend is what we call CLOSURE!