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).
- 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.
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….
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.
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.
Multiple Destinations 