London 2013 - Day 7

The last full day! I feel melancholic about it. London is great, so much more we could do!

We started off the morning by going to Canary Wharf: the Manhattan of London. It took forever to get there because there was a "person under the train" so our line was down all morning. We tried to take a bus part of the way instead, but 3 went by without stopping because they were too full!!

We got there eventually, took a few pictures, had breakfast then turned around; it was just too cold to linger.

We made it to HMS Belfast, but it was a half ass visit because again, the cold wind mean it was too difficult to stand on the deck and hold an audioguide in your hands!! So, we stuck to the inside parts.

We had lunch nearby and my husband went downhill fast, he plummeted into a full sweaty shaky cold, so he went back to the hotel to sleep which meant I had the afternoon and evening to myself.

I was tempted to go to Mme Tussaud's, but a little ashamed or embarrassed too! It's such a "touristy" thing to do... yet, I am a tourist after all no?

I decided I had to EARN it and do something more cultural first, so I went to the British Library to see the Magna Carta, Guttenburg Bible, Handel's Music Sheets, and Da Vinci's notes etc first -THEN I took the bus over to Mme T's. The line ups were so long I just skipped it - I'm secretly relieved!

So what to do? Too early for supper... I decided on The London Eye, what the Hell!! (I say that because I rode it already in 2005). When I got there, the line up looked DAYS long! When I asked a guard just how long, she told me 25 to 30 minutes!! HOW??? This was extra incentive to do it. Just to see how this could possibly not take hours!

I'm stunned by how quick it went! Less than 10 mins in line to buy the ticket, and you would NEVER believe that if you saw the line!

Waiting in line was ok, the wind died down and the sun came out - I took this as a sign. The line never stopped moving and she was right!! It only took 30 minutes!! Unbelievable. I'm glad I did it again, it was fun.

It was 4 o'clock by the time I was done, too early to eat right away, so I decided to walk to the Indian Resto I spotted in soho for diner. A last walk through of London.

No idea what I ate for my appetiser because I told the waiter I'm a wimp and don't like spicy food. I showed him what I thought I might like on the menu, and he told me I'd find it too spicy. Ok fine, I went with his suggestion instead - no problem! He did not steer me wrong, it was DELICIOUS!
Same thing for the main course, I wanted some Spinach & Lamb dish but he told me I'd prefer the Lamb Korma. DID I EVER!!! So good! The sauce was so delicious, I ordered a second naan bread to have more!! (and I noticed the next two tables ordered Lamb Korma too. Either we are all wimps, or it's a local favourite... I think I was the only tourist).

So that's it, vacation over. If my husband is up for it we'll go see the Peter Pan Statue in Hyde Park tomorrow morning, but he was so sick today I think all he'll want to do tomorrow is "go home".

London 2013 - Day 6

This was a pretty miserable day weather wise: it SNOWED!!!

Our trip to Highgate Cemetery ended up taking all day, so we didn't do anything else. By the time we got to Highgate Station, it was about 9:45AM and we hadn't yet had any breakfast! It took us a lot of time to find Highgate Village, and when we finally got to the cemetery, we were told we had to book an appointment in advance! ARGH.

Because of the lousy weather, we were lucky and 2 spots were still left on the 1:45PM tour. My guide book touted this cemetery as "over the top Victorian Splendour" so we decided to do it. We noticed a nice French restaurant in the village so we though we'd lounge around there for a few hours then take the tour.

The lunch was worth it, the tour was not. I think we are just spoiled by Père La Chaise in Paris and Monumentale in Milan... by comparison this one was pretty ordinary.

While we were having lunch, we noticed looking out on the terrace that a few flurries were falling!!! By the time we were half way done with the tour, it felt like a blizzard. Big heavy flakes that accumulate on everything!! My feet were freezing, I wish I had my winter boots!!

We got back to Central London by about 3:30 and my husband was not well, all this cold weather is taking its toll, despite the fact he brought his heavy arctic parka.

We wanted comfort food and an early night so we went out for Italian and were back at the hotel by 7PM. (It was the first bad meal I had all week! We went to a chain we knew from our trip to Scotland. We had a great lunch at the outlet in Inverness, this one in Leister Square sucked big time!)

Last full day tomorrow. If he's in shape we'll go to the Docklands in the morning, then try again for the HMS Belfast and Indian Food for lunch. If I'm on my own, I'll do something indoorsy like a museum or something... we'll see!

London 2013 - Day 5 part 2

Have to make this one brief, it's almost Day 6!!

You know how we spent the morning: at St Paul's. I enjoyed it very much... but is it ever expensive!! In 2005 it was 8£ and I baulked. This year it's 16£!!! At least the audio guide is included in that price.

I was impressed with it, it was a iPod concealed in a black plastic case - I wonder how many get stolen??

I took my time at that price; we stayed an hour and a half - I was please since in 2005 I felt like I rushed through it.

After that, it was lunch at the OXO Tower: amazing.

Then we went to the Clockmakers Museum. It was informative and small- good mix.

After that, the British Museum. UGH HATED IT!!!! so many people! Worse than the Louvre in Paris. I think it's due to a combination of it being free and the cold weather, but it was so packed that you could not really see anything properly. We essentially just went in, saw the Elgin Marbles and left. I was underwhelmed.

Supper was fish & chips in Leister Square, delicious but I have trouble digesting that much fried food in one sitting!!

After supper we went to see a play QUARTERMAINE'S TERM staring Rowan Atkinson (a.k.a. Mr Bean). I got a kick out if seeing him live, but the play was not as funny as advertised so in the end it was just OK.

Only 2 full days left I can't believe it!! Kew Gardens is off the list because its just too cold for that kind of activity... I'm not dissapointed, now we have something to come back to!

Tomorrow we have Highgate Cemetery, HMS Belfast and lunch in an Indian Restaurant planned. After that, we'll see!!

London 2013 - Day 5 part 1

Having lunch at the OXO Tower Bar, it's so great I have to share with you!

We spent the morning at St Paul's Cathedral, and now I am busy admiring it from afar while I have some delicious bites of meat & cheese along with some excellent wine.

The perfect activity on a cold day!!

London 2013 - Day 4 part 2

Pictures of Day 4:

This app does not let me post and label pictures individually, I hope doing it this way makes sense!

• 1 Buckingham Palace
• 2 & 3 Lunch at Café Florian at Harrods
• 4 & 5 Random shots of "the City"
• 6 Repelling down The Shard
• 7 Resto by the Thames
• 8 View from our table
• 9 Our shared app.

London 2013 - Day 4 part 1

Yet another busy, productive day! I think to say we walked for about 8 hours today is a reasonable estimate.

We started with Westminster Abbey as planned - very nice, but it annoys me that its all "no pictures allowed" especially since we all know the reason is because they want to make money off the books!!!

After that, we walked down Pall Mall to see St James Palace and Buckingham Palace again.

The plan was to have lunch in the Food Hall at Harrods, specifically at the cheese counter, but it does not exist anymore!! BOOO! So we went to Café Florian instead and it was delicious!! No regrets! (I was told that there are something like 20 restos at Harrods)

After lunch, we explored the financial district and the area around St Paul's, but because we had nice blue skies today I wanted to take advantage and stay outside. It was still insanely cold with the wind, but we did have a few moments of actually feeling the heat!!!

I did not particularly want to go up to the visiting platform in The Shard because its too expensive, but we wanted a sit down break by then, so we decided to go over anyways to see if there was a bar or a restaurant up there; that would make it more worthwhile. Turns out they don't yet.

The walk there was still enjoyable, and my husband was blown away watching the (we presume) window washers repelling down the side!

From there, we made our way to the waterfront near the HMS Belfast and City Hall. There was a really nice looking resto there with a panoramic view over the Thames of the Tower of London & Tower Bridge. GORGEOUS!! I suggested stopping there for a drink and sharing an app to tie us over until supper which we planned to have at a pub.

We loved the view so much, we ended up staying for supper!

We still made it to a pub for a nightcap, and not just any pub! An old Victorian era bank turned into a pub... it was awesome.

Sadly, since my iPod takes such lousy pictures, you'll have to wait until the "official" pictures are done!

Tomorrow, we have St Paul's Cathedral and the Clockmakers Museum on the agenda. The rest will depend on the sky conditions!! There is a resto in the OXO Tower I'd like to try for lunch... We'll see!!

London 2013 - Day 3

It's so cold!!! It's the wind making it bad, 6 - 7 - 8 degrees can be nice, but not with wind like this. BRRRRR

Today we went to Hampton Court (home of Henry VIII about 30 mins away by train) in the morning and The Museum of London in the afternoon; a very nice day!

Supper tonight was at Hard Rock Café. I have mixed feelings about it: a little tourist cheesy but I reconcile it with the fact that we're here for a week so it's not forcing something better off the list AND its a bit of a tradition since we've done it in 6 other cities.

I don't hate the hotel as much as I did yesterday. The guys next door are gone and it's much quieter. I wanted an apartment hotel because I like having breakfast in the room in the morning while watching the news etc. but you can't do that here. I mentioned before that this is a room for one, and so the eating area is a little space at the end of the counter, but since there is not enough room in the bathroom for all our supplies, that space has turned into our only flat surface to dump anything! ... meaning no room to eat. So really, it defeats the entire purpose of an apartment hotel! Plus, the way they've set it up, the TV would be to your back.

Ah well. Win some lose some. We've fallen into a pattern so we're not in each others way!

We both decided we are sleeping in too much. We're on the road by about 9:30 which is late for us. The first morning was ok because we were getting over the jet lag, and the second morning was making sure I got enough sleep with my cold, but that's it now. No more jet lag, no more cold = no more burning daylight. The alarm is set for 7:30.

Tomorrow, the plan is Westminster Abbey, then lunch at Harrods food hall that we could not do on Sunday, in the afternoon we hit the financial district and the area around St Paul's.

I leave you with a tiny glimpse of a tiny portion of the lovely gardens at Hampton Court.

London 2013 - Day 2

Another great day! If you don't consider the time it took to eat and drink, we were on our feet about 7 hours if not more.

We walked our feet off! We retraced some of our steps from yesterday, but also took in Covent Garden, Soho, Buckingham Palace & The Mall, Hyde Park & the Diana Memorial Fountain which was closed for maintenance last time we were here. Knightsbridge area, Royal Mews, and also tracked down the location of the CBC studio to take a picture of the view we see behind the London correspondents.

After all that walking, my left knee if killing me now! I hope it does not linger into tomorrow!

On the bright side, my cold seems to be gone for good, thank God, because it's SO FREAKING COLD!!! I'm sure with the wind it was below 0 today. Yesterday I had to buy a hat, today I had to buy a scarf. Thankfully it's nice & dry so far.

Our first "sleep" was not the greatest. The guy next to us is SO LOUD that not only did I need Niquil to help me sleep, but I also took a sleeping pill. I asked the receptionist when they would be checking out, and she told me tomorrow. Good.

Good day food-wise. We wanted to have lunch at Harrods but it was closed so we tried an Iraqi restaurant. The food was good; middle eastern, like Turkish or Lebanese or Greek. I had lamb (see pictures below)

For supper, it was Italian; across the street from Bouji, a club known for its celebrity clientele, like Princes William & Harry in their bachelor days.

We did have a drink at a pub today, so don't worry we did have something local, but really, I can't do fish & chips every day! I need to alternate- maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow: Hampton Court in the AM, after that we'll just see where the wind blows.

Good night!

London 2013 - Day 1

I survived!!

As you know, I left home with a cold and I was worried that a lousy night in the plane would make it worse because of the lack of sleep, but it didn't! Thank God.

It was quality over quantity, I only got a few hours of sleep but they were solid ones.

We had a FULL first day! The hotel not ready when we arrived around 9:30, so we left the luggage and hit the town.

Marble Arch, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Leister Square, Trafalgar Square, over to the South Bank to admire the Eye and Parliament and Big Ben. Then lunch at Prezzo followed by a visit to the National Portrait Gallery... Then I started to crash. We had supper at a pub near the hotel and called it a day by about 5:30.

I don't like the hotel at all. I can't really complain about the room because it is modern and nice and clean, but it's a room for one. The bed is too small, not enough room to hang two towels, no where to put the toiletries in the bathroom... and the walls are crazy thin. There is so much noise, but to be fair, it's still early AND anything more decent would have been too expensive. This is London after all, let's not forget that part!!


Thank God we brought our winter coats!!! It's FREEZING!!! I had to buy a hat today... I'm amazed my cold is not worse! But I do have a fever, I can sense it.

So now, time for bed. I'll have a Niquil, read for a bit and crash. No Wifi in the room, only the lobby so this won't get posted until tomorrow morning; but because we are on the ground floor, the woman at the front desk said the Wifi might reach our room on occasion - we'll see!

No solid plans for tomorrow either, I'll be happy if we can knock The British Museum, and or, The Royal Mews, and or, The Museum of London off the list.

Bye for now, I leave you with an image of my current view lying here in bed: a TV hanging from the wall that I have to dodge when I get out of bed, and a skylight directly over the bed that looks into a bunch of other windows.

Also, a shot of my lunch. It was deeeelicious!

Good night!