London
Trip Start
Sep 10, 2009
1
2
8
Trip End
Oct 08, 2009
London, England, United Kingdom
Friday, September 18, 2009
This morning we left Paris early and headed to London by train. I spent the two hours on the train writing out this Paris blog.
When we arrived in London at Kings-Cross St Pancras station we noticed by chance a small sign advertising that Georgio Locatelli and Richard Corrigan would be doing a cooking presentation that evening at the station at 6pm. It sounds weird having foodie presentations at a train station, but the station is pretty big and has lots of niche markets, deli's and restaurants. Min was pretty excited about the two chefs being there that evening so we made sure to go back there to check it out.
Next we headed for our hotel
buckingham palace
. We stayed at the commodore hotel in Lancaster Gate, Central London so getting around was very easy and quick. After dropping off our bags we walked up the road to the next station to meet up with another fat tire bike tour. Doing a bike or walking tour on the first day of arrival in a new city is a fantastic was to get a feel for the sights you may want to see. We had an hour to spare before the tour started so we decided to start our London adventure in typical UK fashion by having a full english breakfast. The breakfast was yummy though I cant remember the last time I had eaten baked beans! The bike tour took us through green park, hyde park, st james park, buckingham palace, westminster abbey, parliament and big ben, trafalgar square and the princess diana memorial. when we cycled past buckingham palace the timing was great because we managed to stop and watch the end part of the changing of the guard. At trafalgar square we stopped off at a pub for lunch. I was so thirsty and dehydrated that I ordered a WATER! at my first UK pub visit. I decided to continue trying the typical UK foods so ordered the fish and chips for lunch. It wasnt the best lunch so figured pubs might not be the place to get the best traditional fish and chips from.
After the bike tour we quickly headed to our hotel to check into our room, change quickly before heading out again back to kings cross to see the Georgio Locatelli and Richard Corrigan food presentation
buckingham palace
. The presentations were great and you could taste test the plate of food at the end. We didnt bother with the taste test. This is where the locals turn into nasty seagulls and put their fingers into pasta dishes to taste it. The way some people behaved over a bite of free food was quite gross.After seeing the food show we caught the train to shephards bush station and wandered around aimlessly looking for the hotel Tammy was staying in that night. Tammy was arriving at 9pm and we agreed to meet at her hotel at 10 to sort out how we wanted to spend the weekend together (Min and I had no phone and limited access to internet so it was easiest to just meet up for an hour). We planned to suss out where the hotel was, then go grab some dinner before meeting up) After wandering around aimlessy through shephards bush looking for the plaza hotel (because I didnt write down the address) we found a dodgy internet cafe where we did a quick google maps search to find the hotel. Once we knew where it was we decided to pop into an italian restaurant close by for a quick dinner before catching up. When we met up with Tammy conveniantly she was next door to a pub so we popped in for a quick beer and a chat to sort out the logistics of where/when etc for our next day of travels before heading back to our hotel.
Saturday 19th Sept
We started off the day with a visit to the british museum which has lots of egyptian, roman and greek artifacts
bike tour
. We spent most of the time in the egyptian section where we saw lots of mummies including one that was unwrapped. We also saw that one family's burial had religious conotations to the god 'Min' hehe.After the british museum it was around lunch time so we headed over to borough markets which is a fantastic food market. Here we walked around drinking sangria and taste testing so many yummy foods such as a large variety of cheeses and olives, meats such as chorizo, nuts and sweets, chilli sauces, olive oils etc. After wandering around taste testing we decided to get some lunch (even though we werent hungry by this stage at all). One of the most popular foods here is chorizo, rocket and roasted capsicum on a toasted bun so we stood in the largest queue to try out this famous sandwich ... im not a big chorizo fan but I have to admit it was pretty good.
After borough markets we headed over to tate modern which is a modern art museum. Im blaming Tammy for picking this tourist attraction. Lets just say the art is very strange and modern. It was a good laugh though. After tate modern we accidentally walked the longest way possible to a metro station only to find it was closed, our feet were killing us and our moods changed from being a bit cranky to laughing non stop about how sore our feet were. We eventually made our way to St Pauls Cathedral where we popped inside for a little bit before jumping on the metro at St Pauls station to head back to the hotel. Tammy also went back to her hotel and we agreed to meet in another 2 hours after resting and showering for dinner.
For dinner that night we decided to head over to soho
police on horses
. We caught the tube to oxford circus and did a bit of late night shopping as we headed over to soho. I also went into the seemingly fammed top shop on oxford street. The clothes there arent that great, more teeny style, but apparently the shop gets really busy during the day. Thankfully it wasnt too busy at night.For dinner we found a pub in soho where I had traditional bangers and mash with a beer. We also ended up having a few jugs of cocktails after dinner. Was a fun night.
Sunday 20th Sept
Today we started the day with a visit to westminster abbey. The road around it was blocked off and every now and again these important people in big black cars would pull up outside the abbey and head inside. Turns out westminster abbey was closed that day and they were doing some service in there to commemorate war victims (I think .... cant remember the name of the day).
After our very short visit to the outside of westminster abbey we headed over to parliament and big ben and did a tour of the inside
trafalgar square
. Its more flash on the outside than on the inside.Next we headed over to trafalgar square where we watched some people playing a big game of chess, took some pics in front of the lion statues that were modelled of a picture of a lion and grey hound dogs (their hind legs look a bit funny) and checked out who was occupying the 4 quadrant and performing on that hour. In trafalgar square there is a big statue in 3 corners. The fourth corner doesnt have a statue because they ran out of money when building the square. These days for a certain time during the year people can register for an hour on the empty corner pillar. The hourly performances run 24-7 during this time and most are a bit strange. One girl was just writing sayings on a white board and then rubbing them off. Another guy was dressed up like fred flinstone and was just jumping around to music. Its all a bit of a laugh really.
We had lunch at a nice bar near trafalgar square, where I tried the fish and chips again (and this time I think I was onto a winner) and also had some beers and cocktails - because the cocktails were 2 for 1 lunch special :).
After lunch we popped into the national gallery which is behind the square to take a look around
westminster abbey
. Its basically a non modern art museum similar to the ones we saw in Paris. After the national gallery we caught the tube to camden to check out camden markets. This place was highly recommended by friends and the lonely planet guide but were not too sure why. I bought a hat here because I wanted to buy atleast something. We didnt stay very long at the markets so we ended up having time to visit the national portrait gallery which is next to the national gallery. Im glad we came back to see the portrait gallery because I really enjoyed it.
We then headed back to shepherds bush where we had an early dinner at the same italian restaurant we went to on Friday before seeing Tammy off.
Monday 21st Sept
After racing all around Paris and London for a week and a half we were exhausted. We got an early wake up call from my mum this morning after staying up late to sort out car insurance details over the phone to Australia. After chatting with mum we fell back asleep for a bit and ended up sleeping in till 10 and missing out on our yummy hotel breakkie. We decided to have an easy day so we headed out to a local laundromat and washed all our clothes for an hour then caught the tube to tower hill. There we had a pub lunch before going to see the Tower of London and the beefeaters!
The tower of london was pretty cool though I couldnt believe I brought a battery-less camera with me so couldnt take any photos
westminster abbey
. There are free tours that you can go on, where a beefeater takes you around and tells you tales of treason and torture ... it sounds grim but our beefeater was pretty theatrical in his story telling so it made for a pretty entertaining tour.After tower of London it was getting close to 5pm so we headed back to our hotel to shower and change before going out for the night with Darren. We met Darren at piccadily circus and he took us through china town to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. We then walked to covent garden for a few drinks, where I tried pimms. After drinks we walked back to leicester square for some dessert at hagen-daaz (which in London and Paris, is not just a ice cream store, but is like a dessert cafe. Yummmm.
Tuesday 22nd Sept
Tuesday was our last day in London. We decided to take it easy today by avoiding all things touristy. For Min that basically meant "no more museums!". We checked out of our hotel and decided to spend the day shopping. We hit harrods first to check it out and I really wished I wasnt wearing my daggy comfy pants! Harrods has a pet accessories section which is so funny. Diamonte collars for 100 pounds!, expensive doggy beer and treats, trendy doggy clothes and luxury dog beds (and prams!!!!) for over 400 pounds. I wish I could have gotten the hot pink fluffy dog bed for the miss wendy poo, she would have loved it. Squeaky rubber dog toys were pricey too, not sure how they can charge so much for a squeaky toy, and they werent worth buying for Rupie considering he just eats them.
min on bike tour
After harrods we pretty much wandered all over central london, catching the tube here there and everywhere (Bond, covent garden, leicester square, charring cross, oxford circus, piccadily circus). We found some great clothes and Min also bought a new camera, and again we had to buy another bag to carry all our new gear around.
By the evening we went to a pub for an early dinner, I got the roast of the day, where I tried yorkshire puddings (theyre not that great). Then headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags before heading to Gatwick airport via tube and train. When we got to gatwick airport we checked into our 'Yotel' accommodation which is tiny capsule accommodation (Japanese style) situated in the airport terminal. I have to say I had my doubts, but that accommodation was so cool, I loved it. Granted though its only suitable for no more than one night. Our flight was early the next morning so it was handy sleeping at the airport and we got to check our bags into the flight the night before.
Wednesday 23rd Sept
Today we got up at 4.15am for a 6.30 flight to Munich. Gatway airport was packed by 5am. After a few delays with the security checks we were on our way.
