New Thing #81 - L/S/I, Day 2 - London

Sunday, May 12, 2013

We arrived in London around 8:00am, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to nap or relax. We had a lot to do in a short amount of time, and I wanted to see as much as possible. At this point, I had been awake for roughly 22 hours straight, with only a few intermittent naps on the plane. I decided to power through to the best of my ability, which can be incredibly difficult for someone who doesn't drink caffeine. There are parts of this day that I honestly don't remember at all. I got to a point where I was so tired that entire conversations are a blur to me. This must be how doctors feel after coming off a 36-hour shift.

So, a little back story on where we would be staying in London. Brenda's cousin, Melissa, had met a dashing British bloke while vacationing in Las Vegas years ago. No joke, he was there with his friend, and she was there with her sister. They met, started long-distance chatting/dating, and she eventually moved over there to go to school. Now, they're married, and expecting their first child in July. They were gracious enough to open up their home to us for the first leg of our journey. They even put off putting the nursery together since we needed the space to sleep. They were awesome hosts!

And Melissa's neighbor, Terri, is a taxi driver and she volunteered him to pick us up from the airport. I really like having that option pre-planned rather than having to hail a cab in a foreign country. It just makes me feel safer about where we're going and who's picking us up. And, at least this guy would speak English, as opposed to our Italian driver in Rome. Since we were early, we didn't expect him to be waiting for us, but we searched the arrivals gate for Brenda's name scrawled on a piece of paper in the crowd. We didn't know who to look for, so we just started at one end and worked our way around. Terri popped up out of nowhere and said "Brenda"?

We had no idea how he knew it was us, but he said he was looking for 3 young girls, and he took a stab that we were who he was looking for. He was a nice guy, and very chatty. Very. Chatty. And we couldn't understand half of what he was saying. His accent was pretty thick, and I'm not even sure he stopped talking long enough to breathe. Well, there goes my theory that we'd have a better time being in English speaking locations this time around.

Funny side note: when we got to the parking garage, Terri opened his door first, and then popped the trunk to throw our suitcases in. Nikki and I proceeded to the back seat, and Brenda made her way to sit in the passenger seat. Except, she went to the right side of the car. Which, is where the driver sits. She thought that Terri had opened the door for her, but she completely forgot that they drive on the oppostie side of the car over there. Needless to say, it was pretty damn funny.

The location we were staying at was Blackheath, a suburb southeast of London proper. Since Heathrow is on the far western side of London, it was going to take us awhile to get to their house. We had a nice 45-50 minute car ride, where Terri talked our ears off - about our stay in London, where else we were going, as well as all the places he's traveled to and lived in his life. He's quite the jetsetter, and I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous of all of his travels. Although, he's single, probably in his late 30s, early 40s, and still lives with his mom, so I can't be too jealous of him.

We ended up driving through central London, and had our first views of the River Thames (pronounced Tems), the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. He was zipping in and out of the streets so fast, that I swear I got whip lash just trying to see all of the sights. There was so much to see, and I was incredibly excited to start our trip asap.

Back seat again. Ready for London!

Driving on the wrong side was very difficult to get used to.

One of many bridges along the Thames.

Drive by of Westminster Abbey.

More Westminster

Houses of Parliament & Winston Churchill statue

The London Eye

Let me take this moment to point out that driving in London is B.O.N.K.E.R.S. Straight up bonkers. I knew that driving on the other side of the road/car would be weird, but there are so many roundabouts and trippy intersections, that I couldn't keep straight who had the right of way when or where. I was so confused after the first 10 minutes, that I just gave up trying to figure out where the hell he was going. And I pretty much gave up trying to figure it out for the entire trip. It's a good thing we decided NOT to try to rent a car anywhere. We may never have made it home.

We finally made it to a sleepy little neighborhood with adorable row houses and met our hosts, Melissa and Aaron. After introductions, we quickly freshened up, and headed out for our first tour of the trip. It was incredibly sunny out, so I didn't think to bring my rain coat. I did, however, take my umbrella, but it was great to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. We started walking toward Greenwich, which is Blackheath's neighbor to the east. It was a beautiful day for a walk. Well, except for the biting wind. I hadn't expected it to be so windy in London. I was wearing a lighter fleece, but it did little to keep out the wind. The sun was being a punk making me think it was actually going to be warm out. Sadly, I was mistaken. What an a-hole.

Greenwich Park was beautiful, and Melissa said that on the few days a year that it actually gets warm enough to wear shorts, the park is so crammed with people, you can barely see any grass remaining. I just don't think I could live like that. I know I can complain about St. Louis summers, but at least I get to wear skirts and shorts and tank tops for 4-6 months. I can't imagine waiting through months of dreary rain and chilly temps just for a few short days of glorious summer.

Anyways, I'm getting off track. Greenwich Park was beautiful and would be a great spot for a summer picnic. Greenwich itself was absolutely adorable, and I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Look how pretty the sky was. Very deceiving. Especially considering what happened a few hours later.

Edge of the park heading into Greenwich.

Hill overlooking the University of Greenwich

Melissa went to school here.

Looking so European and not touristy at all.  Ha! ;-)

Bit windy.

Self-explanatory

Looking at the Greenwich Meridian line through a fence at The Royal Observatory.

Greenwich is also quite well known for being the home of the Greenwich Meridian - where east meets west and They Royal Observatory. It essentially splits the east from the west like the equator splits the north from the south. It's also the center of our system of time zones. Of course it's not the only place the prime meridian runs through, but it's probably the most famous.

So, in order to see the line itself and get a photo, it cost money to go inside the gate. We decided it really wasn't worth it, so I just used the zoom on my camera to say I was there!

Down past the clock and around the corner, we found a not-so-secret gem. The line extended past the gated area and was FREE. Yes, free. Why anyone would pay to step inside when this area was free, I'll never know, but we took advantage of the photo op.

Not sure why I was standing on just one side. Super lame.

I loved Nikki's photo so much, I had to steal it and recreate it for my own.

Behind the observatory, there is a walkway down to a garden. Very pretty!

The Observatory through the trees.

Pretty fence.

Walking through the town of Greenwich now.

 

Stopped in a candy shop!

Our first phone box!! Yes, they're called phone boxes, not phone booths.

Getting silly.

Sadly, this one was out of order.

No, really, it's out of order.

Melissa and Aaron wanted to take us on a boat tour down the Thames to get a better view of the city. They said they like to do it for all of their guests because it's a great way to introduce London to them. So, we headed down to the pier to find out when the next tour left.

Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship from the late 1800s on display. Pretty cool.

It's a pretty impressive ship.

We checked in with the cruise office, and we had some time to kill before the next tour started.

We immediately headed to the Gipsy Moth for our first beers of the trip!

Our wonderful hosts - Melissa & Aaron

Aaron and Melissa were truly wonderful, and I'm so appreciative of their hospitality. We especially liked Aaron's British-isms and his sense of humor. For example, he has an expression "shave my boat" which means to shave your face. Apparently, boat race rhymes with face, so that's why they say "shave my boat" instead of "shave my face".

...

Get it?

...

No? Well, neither did we, but we adored him anyways.

First beers in London!!! Anddddd, I had a Peroni (Italian beer). Since Melissa and Aaron sprung for the first round, and the bar was inside, I had no idea what British beer to get, so I just told them that I liked lagers. Peroni is what they brought out. I wasn't complaining, I love me some Peroni!

At this point, it was around lunch time, and we realized we were famished. The service was pretty sketchy at the Gipsy Moth, so we didn't figure we'd have time to get food before our tour left. Plus, it was pretty spendy. So, we headed to the outdoor market a few blocks away and decided to get some food there. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos here, but it was absolutely adorable. Essentially, it was a flea market with all kinds of food and art for sale: paintings, photographs, clothing, yarn animals, chicken door stops, you name it. It was pretty overwhelming and ridiculously busy, but we had a good time. I thought about buying something, but I didn't really want to carry it around for the rest of the day. And I'm so glad I didn't.

At one end of the market, there were numerous food stalls with everything from fresh meat and pastries, to a crepe station. Nikki and I decided to wait for a crepe, while the other three went off in search of some meat and potatoes. I ended up with ham, cheese and mushrooms inside a buckwheat crepe. It was massive, cheap and delicious and I loved it. I could barely finish it before it was time to head to our tour.

While standing in line waiting for our crepes, a lady tapped me on the shoulder and said something I couldn't understand, other than the word "queuing". I stared at her blankly, and said "I'm sorry?" She repeated it, but Nikki and I still didn't know what she was saying. Finally, she repeated herself one last time, and I believe she said "I'm queuing behind you." I was afraid that maybe I had stepped in front of her in line, but neither Nikki or I could remember seeing her there when we walked up, so I just smiled at her and said "okay". I found out later that they don't wait in lines over there. They queue. So, basically she was just trying to tell me she was in line behind me.

Nikki was sneaky and took this one photo of the market. Her baby turtle is much less conspicuous than mine is.

At this point, London decided to be a little b*tch and turn on us. We had had blue skies and mostly acceptable temperatures all day. But when we decided to head out on the open water, it immediately went from blue skies and a few clouds, to dreary gray skies, full cloud cover and an even stiffer breeze. Well played, London. Well played.

Our tour boat.

A naval destroyer on display in the Thames. It just goes to show how large/wide this river is if a ship this large fits with extra room to spare.

Pretty big river. 

We started out the tour on the top of the tour boat. There was so much to see, and I didn't want my photos to be obscured by foggy glass. We quickly discovered this to be a terrible idea considering the ridiculous weather outside.

Braving the elements...sort of.

Cold, Brenda?

We took turns going down into the heated/enclosed area and then back up top to get different photos. The weather was definitely not our friend that afternoon.

Muuuuuch nicer inside!

All smiles now.

I missed some of what the tour guide said about some of the stuff we saw. Whether it was due to my lack of sleep or his accent, I'm not sure.

First glimpse of Tower Bridge.

So schmancy.

It's not ostentatious or anything.

Photo op!

Miraculously, we're still smiling at this point.

At the Tower of London. We'll get to see it up close tomorrow.

Tower of London

I took an exorbitant amount of photos of the Tower Bridge. You just never know which one will be frameable.

London's City Hall. Yeah, we didn't think it really fit into the skyline either. Some people call it The Onion or a Glass Testicle. How would you like to tell people you work in "The Glass Gonad"?

I still remember this part of the day. :)

Aaron was making fun of all of our photo ops, so he started to get creative with his own.

The Tower Bridge is very seldom raised. We were fortunate enough to be on the river, docked, while it was raised. This is pretty rare, so much so, that neither Melissa nor Aaron had ever seen it. Prepare yourselves for a shot by shot recreation of it. :)

Ooooooo

Ahhhhhh

More stuff on the river's edge.

Brenda looking wistful/pensive/cold/confused.

Another building known as the Wedge or the Cheesegrater.

One of many bridges we passed under.

Shakespeare's Globe - a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare's plays were performed.  We had every intention of going here, but sadly, we never made it back over the next few days.

First glimpse of the Millennium Bridge - a footbridge made famous in the Harry Potter movies (at least made famous to non-British fantasy lovers).

Dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Random columns in the river with no bridge to support.

Their bridges are so colorful.

Another glimpse of the Eye. We really wanted to go up in this, but never made it back. The weather ended up being so crappy the entire time we were there that it really would have been a waste of money.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

I enjoyed our boat tour despite the biting wind, the on and off drizzling of rain and the lack of sleep. It was a great way to hit the high points of the city in a few hours. Once we left the boat tour, we had to find a train to take us back to Blackheath. It took awhile since Melissa and Aaron were a bit unfamiliar with the area we were in. We passed one building with a red carpet and people lined up on either side of it. People dressed in 18th/19th century garb were singing and dancing outside the building. We opted to call it "Ye Olde Stompe", but had we stuck around, we would have seen that it was in fact the red carpet for the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards. They ended up being on TV later that night! Some big name celebrities were there too. Too bad we were cold, tired, wet and hungry. :(

We took the train back to Blackheath, and I'm really glad we were with locals for our first experience of using London's public transportation. It was a bit overwhelming. It probably didn't help that we were running to try to make the train before it left. We purchased single passes that printed out onto little cards that we fed into the entrance gates. It spit the card back out and opened the gates for us to pass through. We had a fairly short ride back to Blackheath, which I remember zero of. Once back there, we stopped in a pub for a few beers while we waited for some of Melissa & Aaron's friends to join us.

We all look really happy and refreshed here. I'm not sure how that's possible. My beer was delicious though, a San Miguel lager.

At this point, my body started to shut down. I think the adrenaline and exhilaration from the day had finally worn off, and now that we were just sitting down and not moving, I slowly began to fade. Entire conversations are gone from my brain. I do remember sitting there, kind of in a tunnel of sorts, seeing everyone, but not really hearing them. At one point, I think Jill, Melissa's friend, started talking to me, and asked how our flight/trip was so far. I'm not sure what I said - something about not really sleeping on the plane, blah blah blah, but at the end, I just remember saying, "I'm so tired that I might just cry."

And, then I proceeded to cry. Not tears of sadness, or happiness, but tears of sheer exhaustion. I couldn't stop them. I wasn't sobbing massively or snotting all over the place, but I literally could not stop them. My body had just said eff you, I don't want to play anymore and shut down. 

Melissa offered to take me home if I wanted to sleep, but it was only around 5:30-6, and I was afraid if I went to sleep that early, I'd be awake at 1 or 2 am. That wouldn't help the situation. I wanted to stay awake until at least 8 or later - plus, I wanted to eat dinner - so I continued to power through.

Dinner ended up being at an Indian restaurant, which just so happens to be my first foray with Indian food. Over there, they call the act of getting Indian food, "going out for a curry." Apparently, it's not uncommon for the Brits to do an all day drink, get snockered, head out for a curry, and then be home at a respectable hour. By the time most Americans think about going out for the night, Brits are safely nestled in their beds, sated with food and beer.

Our dinner venue and home of probably the best meal I had while in London. I'm so happy I didn't go to bed early that night.

We started with pappadoms, thin crispy chip-like discs that we used to scoop up delicious sauces. They come to the table whole, and you have to judo chop them to break them up. Brenda and I got the honors of breaking them. They were essentially a lot like Baked Lays.

Quartet of sauces. Can't remember what they were, but I liked 2 or 3 of them a lot. (One was super spicy.)

I went with the chicken tikka masala: marinated, barbecued chicken cooked with almond powder in a tomato based special masala sauce. This was delicious. I always equated Indian food with super spicy, but this wasn't spicy in a hot way. It was spicy in a heavenly way. I tasted lots of hints of cinnamon which I always equate to sweet dishes. I know I'm pretty late to the game when it comes to Indian food, but I'm glad I waited until England to try it for the first time.

I mixed the tikka masala with pila rice. Pretty standard rice, nothing to write home about.

We finished off the meal with some naan, traditional Indian bread, and it was buttery and delicious, and  a nice way to sop up all the extra sauce. I couldn't get enough, and probably ate too much, but it was so damn good. It ended up being our only Indian food the entire trip, so I'm kinda glad I could barely button my pants when we left.

It was finally a little after 8, and even though the meal had temporarily woken me up, I was done. I was so ready to go to bed that I nearly fell asleep in the 5-minute cab ride home. Everyone was really nice and let me brush my teeth and get ready for bed first. I think it only took me 3.5 minutes to accomplish everything I needed. Nikki and I were sharing a room, and when I laid down to sleep, she said she would be back in five minutes after she brushed her teeth. I don't remember her coming back to bed.