London Day1: NFL Shopping and CEROC!

Started early as I had to meet up at 9am with the Browns to catch the train down. :) And after the last problems we had with National Express to London I really wanted to make sure everything is sorted ... Fortunately, Nikki & Dave reserved a table so I was able to go online, keep in touch with DH and check FB etc.

Trip was quick and uneventful, and we arrived in London without troubles, put up some money on the Oyster Card and off to the hotel we went (President Hotel at Russell Square).

After checking in we decided to go to some of the official shops for NFL merchandise ... and were thoroughly disappointed! The space the shops (Reebok & Footlocker) had set aside for the merchandise was about half my kitchen!!! :o You'd think they'd push the sale a bit more, considering the influx of foreigners coming from America and mainland Europe for the "International Series" game!!! :( Only a couple of jerseys of the main teams (not even all), no kids sizes, no female cut jerseys ... nothing. :o Caps were not that many either. I think the best shop for variety was the smallest!! Reebok down Neal Street. Yet we didn't find anything and just decided to go shopping on Sunday in the Merchandise tent. :o

As for the "official game Merchandise" ... I wasn't impressed with the logo/graphics at all... :( So didn't buy anything. Think I'll get the obligatory mug though, but that's less than a tenner anyway. ;) Oh... and the program. So, around £20 for merchandise.

Today's Dinner/Food: King Prawns with Avocado and Marie Rose Sauce plus Spaghetti Carbonara courtesy of The Spaghetti House. :)

After a little detour for traffic (Central line had an "incident" before we arrived at Oxford Circus) we arrived back at the hotel go get changed and go back out ... to my "initiation to CEROC". :) To be fair, I wasn't 100% too sure about going, but then decided I would anyway, in the worst case I could sit on the side and watch the Intermediates (Dave & Nikki) do their bit. ;) And Sharon and I had planned to meet up there and try it together. ;) Actually... it was Sharon who talked me into it when I wasn't too sure whether to go! ;)

The format was 45 mins beginners from the start - which caused a problem as Sharon had traffic trouble and we were both not aware that there was a strict timescale. So I told her that she shouldn't rush to come and meet me today as she would miss out on the beginners class anyway. However, I did text her the details of her closest Ceroc place, which is just around the corner from her train station I believe!! :D Think she's trying to talk her BF into it. :)

Soooo... my first Ceroc class... Was feeling a bit weird ... I used to do Ballroom & Latin American dancing in my teens, when it was "in" to do it (i.e. from age 14 - 16). Did 5 classes and totally enjoyed it! :) However, I wasn't 100% sure what Ceroc actually is ... even though Nikki & Dave explained it to me on several occasions as "Modern Jive". Anyway, Nikki was my first partner which was fun. :) At a Ceroc class you line up in pairs but after each learned step you change partners ... apparently so you don't get bad habits from your partner or pass on bad habits. ;) Good idea really.

In total I learned 5 (?) moves and it was fun!! Was a bit worried as the teacher was only explaining what the men had to do ... and I didn't know my footwork etc, and had to remind myself not to lead (at the dance classes in my teens I had a couple of not very natural dancers (I know ...kind words for numpties!! ;) ) so I just naturally took on the leader role. ;) After the beginners class Nikki told me that there just IS no footwork. You just do your steps. And one of the "Taxi dancers" who did the refresher with us beginners while the intermediates learned 3 more steps explained that "the woman doesn't move - the man moves the woman". Interesting concept, needs a bit of re-training from me, but that should be ok. :D In between the beginners class and the refresher for beginners there was "Freestyle". And I had some intermediates dancing with me (apart from Nikki - DAVE, you still owe me a dance at some point! LOL) - and I quite prefer that, as they really do LEAD ... beginners are of course not sure what to do and you really don't want to push/pull a member of the opposite sex you never met in the first 5 mins of meeting. ;)

Definnitely think Sharon would have loved it, and I loved it too, so will go to the Ceroc in Edinburgh (yeah, N & D - another convert!! ;) ). Not sure if Doug will come along - I know he will try it at least once, but given his history of dancing and having to lead I am not sure if he would enjoy it ... and if you enjoy it it's more fun. We'll see.

... I never realised how much I missed my dancing until now (Ceilidh doesn't count and even that I haven't been to in quite a while)... :o

Right ... off to bed now ... tomorrow is more shopping - I found a quilt shop online in Kew (Tikki Fabrics) so we'll go there in the morning and meet up with Sharon. Then it's time for Hotel Chocolat (N & D never been to one! Uh oh! ;) ), a cuppa and chat at Caffe Nero's and in the evening "WICKED" !!! :D