Mission impossible: London to Paris edition

To get from London to Paris, we took the train (or as my mom called it, a rocket) for a two-hour trip under the English Channel. The actual train ride was fine, although not really too exciting because I couldn’t even tell when we were under water exactly since we were just going through a dark tunnel. A lot of ear-popping though. And very cool that Londoners could be in Paris in two hours (and vice versa).

Even though I try really hard to think things out when planning a trip, my attempts at rational decision-making always seem to fail miserably.

I thought it would be good to stay in London as late as possible and take the last train of the day to Paris so we could get the most out of our time in London. However, we were too exhausted at that point to spend the entire day walking around London, so Daniela and I ended up spending two hours at the hotel lobby, using the internet (and we still didn’t book a Barcelona hotel!).

Too make matters worse, I didn’t realize that Paris was an hour later than London, so by the time we arrived in the city of lights, it was actually almost midnight, not eleven like I had expected. Needless to say, arriving in a country completely foreign to us, where neither of us knew the language at all, at midnight when the train station is empty, was not a great feeling.

First mission, I had to find an ATM since we didn’t have any Euros yet. Second mission, I tried to track down some info about the metro, but by the time I found the stop and grabbed a schedule, the metro was about to stop running for the night. Mission number trois was to catch a cab, so we found the (very long) line at the taxi stand and cabbed it to the hotel.

Even just driving through Paris at night, I already felt like now we had truly arrived in Europe. We made it to the hotel and had just enough time to run into the little convenience store next door to grab some dinner – aka toast and cheese.

Lasting impressions: London

I enjoyed London, but I can’t say it’s my favorite place in Europe. To be quite honest, it didn’t truly feel like Europe to me for some reason. Maybe it’s because they also speak English, or maybe because they use pounds instead of Euros. It just doesn’t have the same feel or atmosphere (or maybe charm) that I usually associate with Europe based on my experiences so far.

But there’s definitely still more I’d like to see in London:

• Visit the Tower of London, Tate Museum and some other remaining attractions (but NOT the London Eye – I don’t plan on ever going on there!).
• Explore other neighborhoods outside of the immediate tourist area, including Chelsea and Notting Hill, to get more of a feel for the city.
• Experience the nightlife! We were way too tired (or maybe too lame) to really party it up the few days we were in London.

That being said, I’d have to say my favorite experiences from this trip in London were the treasures collected during centuries of imperialism (i.e. British Museum), the legacy of London’s more recent history (the past 100 or 200 years, including writers like Dickens, characters like Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan) and Westminster Abbey.

Cheerio London!

Hotel review: Melbourne House Hotel

Once again, I used Venere.com to pretty much book all our hotels. As a result, our hotel in London, the Melbourne House Hotel, was perfectly nice. The location was cute, with the hotel standing on this quite, charming street (Belgrave) lined with white townhouse-like buildings.

It was a quiet neighborhood and the nearby metro (Pimlico) got us where we needed to go, not that we were very far from some of the major attractions. There were also several cute restaurants and cafes nearby (the other way from the metro stop though).

The room itself was not huge, but perfectly decent sized. Unfortunately, it was up six flights of stairs, but at least that meant we had a nice view over the nearby rooftops, to see the London Eye and Big Ben in the distance (ok, way in the distance):

Besides that, the bathroom was super clean, I had wireless internet access and the reception staff was very friendly and helpful. Overall, while this hotel isn’t right in the middle of all the action, I’d recommend it as a clean hotel not too far from the attractions at a very decent rate.

Last walking tour of London

To finish off our last day in London, we took a walking tour of some destinations I read about in a children’s book from the 50s. Hey, if they were famous attractions then, why wouldn’t they still be??

• Drury Lane: we walked down this supposedly haunted lane, which was actually very quiet and cute. I wasn’t sure at the time where the haunting came from, but thanks to my good friend Google, I’ve learned that it’s actually the theater on Drury Lane that is haunted by ghosts, but that seeing a ghost is good luck for the actors.

Drury Lane

• Olde Curiosity Shop: Apparently this shop was featured in a Charles Dickens novel, but unfortunately it was closed when we came to visit.

• Fleet Street: where all London’s newspapers used to be printed back in the Golden Age of print.
• Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese: old, well-known pub in London. According to Wikipedia, there’s been a pub on this spot since 1538, and the Cheshire Cheese was the spot for literary figures like Mark Twain.

The British Museum

We saved the British Museum for our last day in London, and ended up spending a few hours there. It was definitely impressive to see how expansive the museum’s collection was (regardless of your feelings about how the museum came to possess these artifacts). My favorite exhibits were:

1. Ancient Egyptian mummies & artifacts. No shocker here, but it was very cool to see the actual Rosetta Stone and the mummies (including the cat mummies, sorry Othello). It was, however, really annoying how crowded the area was.
2. Assyrian lion hunt. This insane, multi-room stone mural depictes lion hunts the king participated in during a time when lions apparently became over-populated and were a threat to the people (or whatever the link says). It was interesting because of the story the mural told, but also becuase I really haven’t had the chance to see much Assyrian or Middle Eastern art before. I guess that’s also why I decided to splurge on a vase from Iran in the gift shop later on.
3. Mayan bloodletting ritual. It was really interesting to learn about this ancient ritual where even women would do things like run a thorny rope through their tongues to invoke a spiritual vision. I won’t mention what the men would pierce, but you can read the link if you’re interested in the gruesome details.

Overall, I really liked the museum – not to mention that it’s FREE – but it was super annoying that photos were allowed. I realize people want to remember what is likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and taking a few shots of really meaningful displays is fine, but in the end it seems like tourists are just focused on snapping shots of everything instead of enjoying the experience of looking at the actual exhibits. Not to mention that it causes havoc at popular exhibits (i.e. Egyptian mummies) where everyone’s just pushing and shoving to take a shot. Trust me, your photo is not going to come out that great, so if you really like an exhibit – just go buy a book about it with photos! Ok, that was my little rant.

London, day 3: feeling the pain

Day three was rough. Our bodies were definitely feeling the pain from our hardcore sightseeing, walking and stair climbing in London. I can’t even describe how sore we were. Just picture us hobbling through this entire day:

We got up “early” to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We arrived 45 minutes early to get a good spot at the gate and waited. And waited. And the tourists crowded in. And it was HOT. The crowd grew and closed in around us, and you know how I feel about people. So after getting a couple photos of the guards who were waiting to be relieved, and standing and sweating in the crowd for a good 20 minutes, we called it quits. Rick Steves (or Steven Ricks as Daniela calls him) said the actual change was not that exciting anyways.

Tired Buckingham Palace guard waiting for the new guards to arrive

Luckily, as we were leaving, we came across the little parade that escorts the new guards coming to replace the current guards. I’m pretty sure this was actually the most exciting part of the whole ceremony anyways.

Parade escort for the new guards

Next up we headed towards Westminste Abbey, but first Daniela asked a policeman for directions:

To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect at Westminster Abbey, but it was really cool. The church was so jam-packed with tombs, monuments and ornate pieces. The cloister was really peaceful, and seeing the tombs of Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton was cool, but my favorite part was definitely Poets’ Corner. It was full of tombs of so many literary giants.

Next we walked up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square again, and on the way we met another guard:

We went to visit the National Gallery, which was free (woohoo). There were some interesting pieces, but not my favorite museum in the world. Then again, we were so physically exhausted that I probably wasn’t in prime museum-visiting mode.

We tried to relax by heading to Hyde Park. Unfortunately, that really only resulted in more walking. It was a nice park, though, with a big lake in the middle, surrounded by benches, a trail, cafes and even a mini beach. You could even rent paddle boats and paddle your little heart out in the lake. While our hearts were up for it, our little tired legs were not, so we just lay down on a bench for a tiny bit. I love visiting parks, they are for sure the most relaxing, free activity you could take advantage of in any city you’re exploring.

We set out on one more mission before we left Hyde Park: to find the Peter Pan statue. We found it!

Since we were in the neighborhood, we also decided to stop by Harrod’s in Knightsbridge. I definitely felt like I was dressed too bummy to even step into the store! And sadly, even though they were having a big annual sale, I still couldn’t afford anything! The joys of being unemployed, I guess.

London, day 2: more walking

Our second day in London got off to a bit of a late start, but let’s blame that on jet lag, not laziness. We did even more walking to check out London’s main sights:

• Picadilly Circus: I wasn’t too impressed, it was just a busy intersection.
• Leicester Square: contrary to what I was saying, it is pronounced “Lester Square” not “Lie-chester.” Anyways, this is the kind of square I love: lined with restaurant, nice park in the middle and just a fun, charming atmosphere.
• Soho: nice neighborhood that seemed to have a lot of cute little spots, most of which were of course closed during our walk. We did, however, happen to come across this adorable cupcake shop, so we had to stop for a quick snack:

• Tower of London: after more walking, we decided to do some more official sightseeing. So we walked towards the Tower of London, but didn’t go in, although I’d like to next time I’m in London. Instead, we skipped ahead to…
• Tower Bridge: one of the famous bridges in the world (I know this thanks to an informative exhibit in the bridge about the great bridges of the world).

Tower Bridge

• South Bank: having crossed the river over the bridge, we walked down along the south bank of the Thames River, which is really new and nice. We crossed back over at London Bridge, which is just an ordinary bridge, contrary to what you might think based on it being featured in the classic song.
• The Monument: don’t ask me why, but for some reason we decided to climb 311 steps to get to the top of this column. It was a ridiculously exhausting trip up a very narrow, spiral staircase. And climbing up spiral staircases is one thing that totally freaks me out. Luckily, I narrowly avoided a panic attack, and ironically, going down the stairs is not nearly as stressful. While the climb up was memorable and there were nice views from the top, I don’t know that the entire experience was that impressive. At least we got a certificate for climbing those stairs.

311 stairs to get to the top of The Monument

 

I had really wanted to watch the England-Germany World Cup at a pub with the locals, but we missed it thanks to our “Monument-al” mission (hardy har har). Then again, that may have been a mixed blessing since England lost, so the fans were not too happy. I don’t know if you’ve been around a bunch of rowdy, drunk, English, but trust me – you don’t want to make them angry!

After eating a much-deserved meal, we headed to the hotel for a nap. By the time we got up and out it was kind of late (10 p.m.) and at that point, Argentina had beat Mexico in the day’s second World Cup match.

As we headed back to Leicester Square for dinner, we saw a crowd of Argentineans at Picadilly Circus, who climbed onto a monument and were chanting, singing and taunting a relatively smaller group of Mexicans. It was an interesting scene to say the least….

Argentines celebrate their World Cup win in Picadilly Circus

We ate at a restaurant at Leicester Square, and although the meal was good (it must have been, since I completely cleaned my plate) it was definitely over-priced.

All gone...

As we all know, a full Agatha is a happy Agatha. And also a sleepy Agatha, so we called it a night to get some rest for another busy day.

Lesson learned: London metro

I’m all about the metro. I love having a set map that tells me every stop clearly and a mode of transportation that is not dependent on traffic. But I also learned a few things about the London metro.

1. Wear your walking shoes. The London metro, and many European metro sysems actually, has got some long connections at transfer points. Sometimes it’s a mission just to get up to the street! Take into account an extra 5-15 minutes for your commute up and down hallways, stairs and escalators.
2. Pass on the Oyster card. Contrary to Rick Steves’ advice, a metro employee told us (under strict confidentiality since the metro promotes and wants you to buy the card) that the Oyster pass isn’t really worth it for tourist. Go for the one-day pass if you’re really going to be using the metro that much.
3. It’s hot. It is freaking hot on the metro. And being confined in a hot metal box underground = lot of sweaty people. And you know what, you’re going to be one of them, so deal with it!

With these key learnings, go ahead and experience the London Tube yourself!

Day 1 in London: Agatha & Daniela’s walking tour

We didn’t let our exhausting flight across the pond deter us from exploring London on our first day/evening. But first things first…food! We stopped by a pub for our first meal in London.

First pub dinner in London

After dinner, our romantic stroll continued along the Thames River, past the Tate Museum. Then we crossed over to the South Bank and walked along the river trail (which is a very nice & romantic walkway) to catch our first glimpse of the London Eye and Big Ben.

London Eye & Big Ben

As we approached the London Eye, that was as close as we needed to get to that attraction. There would be no sky-high trips on a frail metal wheel for us! Instead we crossed back over the river to walk past Westminster and Big Ben. There, I took one of my masterful self-pictures of us:

Big Ben

We then continued down Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, and we were quite pooped at this point!

Pooped!

Although we were exhausted, for some reason we kept walking! We ended up heading back towards our hotel through St. James Park. Finally, we gave up and just hopped into one of London’s cool black cabs to take us the rest of the way. Of course, our day wasn’t complete without the six-flight climb up to our hotel room!

Reunited and it feels so good

Since Daniela and I took separate flights over to London, we had a brilliant idea to just meet at Heathrow airport. Just the largest and/or busiest airport in the world. What could go wrong?

Well first of all, as I was getting ready to board my flight in Chicago, I got a call from Daniela that her flight was delayed and that she was going try and switch flights last minute. So as I was flying over on Aer Lingus, I didn’t even know when she’d end up arriving in London or on what airline or what flight. At least my Aer Lingus flight went quite smoothly. Those Irish sure are a lively bunch!

I was hoping to tap into free wifi at Heathrow, but appartently airports do not provide that service! So my dumbass uses a credit card to call my mom on a pay phone and find out Daniela’s updated flight info. I knew it would be expensive, but not till I checked my account online did I see that my five minute conversation cost $32!

Anyways, the original plan was that I would arrive at London first and wait for Daniela at her gate. We agreed that I would not have flowers or balloons for her, nor a sign with her name on it. I did, however, picture us running into each others’ arms as soon as she came out.

Unfortunately, that did not happen. Having gotten Daniela’s updated flight info from my mom, I sat down by the gate that said “international arrivals” and waited. And waited. After an hour and a half, and way past her scheduled arrival time, I finally got the bright idea to confirm with the information desk that I was in the right place. Sure enough, I was not. Apparently, Heathrow has international arrivals coming into various terminals.

So I trek over to the correct terminal with my heavy-ass backpack, my purse (aka second, smaller backpack) and a mini suitcase. I almost died! After wandering around that terminal, and finding out Daniela’s flight had arrived even earlier than scheduled, I called it quits. Obviously we had missed each other.

I trekked it over to the Metro, and after several failed attempts to buy a ticket, I was finally successful! A hot, sweaty and exhausting train ride later, I finally arrived at our hotel, and luckily Daniela was there too. We were finally reunited (six flights of steps later)!