Roller Disco…Really?

One of the great things about Europe is that everything is so close, so a trip to London can be planned in a day. For instance, Kim, my co-worker, and I found out on Wednesday that we needed to be in London that Thursday and Friday. I quickly called my buddy Greg in London to see if he was around Friday night. The answer was yes, so the flight was booked returning on Saturday morning. I was informed though, that Friday night we were going to roller disco as part of Katie’s (Greg’s New Zealand roommate) going away party. I packed accordingly.

After work on Friday I hopped on the DLR and some how made my way from Canary Wharf to Greg’s house in North London all by myself. I was so impressed! I found Greg in the kitchen cooking fajitas and I knew the night would be good…I hadn’t had good Mexican food in four months! After dinner, Katie, Caroline and I decided to get ready, with the help of Susie’s (another roommate) closet. I chose leggings, leg warmers and chunky red jewelry to go with my mini skirt and off-shoulder sweater. Yes, you read that correctly, I was wearing not only legging but LEG WARMERS!! My friends at home would disown me.

All decked out in our outfits we headed to the bar. Roller disco turned out to be an old warehouse by Kings Cross with three roller rinks; in three different rooms with different music and you wear roller skates the entire time. Good in theory until you put on your first pair of roller skates since you were 12 and add in a few alcoholic beverages. My first few laps around the place were unimpressive to say the least. Two double vodkas later, I was on my way. Unfortunately, no matter how competent and comfortable you may feel, there is always some schmuck behind you who is less coordinated and more drunk…at some point you are going to get taking out. I somehow avoided all collisions, but the rest weren’t as fortunate. Helen was taken down twice by the same guy. After three hours and countless laps, I became a believer in roller skating and would definitely recommend it to anyone who happens to be in London on a Friday night.

On a side note: while the trip from Canary Wharf to Greg’s house was flawless, the return trip to London City Airport was a complete disaster. I ended up missing my flight due to maintenance on the DLR (my flight also happened to be the last flight out of LCY for the entire day). Thankfully I was rebooked onto another flight later that afternoon out of Heathrow. Not so thankfully, was the price I had to pay for the car service to get me there. As much as I travel and think I am competent at getting around, this trip and Italy would beg to differ.