London

London-

Day 1-really night 1 because we arrived so late. Flawless plane trip and then tube to our hotel. Got to walk around a bit and see the city. We were staying right next to Hyde Park so our neighborhood was great. Had a drink or two at the bar and fell fast asleep.

Day 2- we walked to Buckingham Palace first thing and then on to do the rest of the “must see’s” in London. I must say, after this much traveling together Nate and I have perfected indulging our differences when we visit new places. He loves to see the major sites and me, not so much. But he has developed this system of stopping by each site, taking some great photos and moving to the next. This particular day we saw the palace as I said before. Nice enough but a big “yard” that was really just like a gigantic concrete driveway. I would think that the queen would certainly like a yard or even a small garden. Anyway, then to Westminster Abby (very beautiful, I love seeing historic churches) and St. Margaret’s Church, Big Ben, J, Parliament, 10 Downing, Scotland Yard, Piccadilly Circus (Times Square Junior) and Trafalgar Square. Nate then indulged me by walking down Bond Street to longing gaze in the windows of department stores where I could not afford a key chain. That evening we were recommended an English pub called Audley. Cool place with a fireplace. Nate had to of course, try fish and chips. We then headed to a bar that looked very similar called Marlborough. Stayed for a while and met some friends from London who we chatted it up with for awhile. Mostly about George W. and music. I love the people here. They took us dancing at some after hours bar called The Moose. Cool chill atmosphere upstairs and dancing downstairs. Old skool MJ and other good stuff. Stumbled home late in the evening.

Day 3- we took some time to actually walk thorough Hyde Park today. It reminded us a little of Central Park and was really beautiful. I love seeing lovely green spots like this in the middle of a concrete jungle. I had been dying to go to Harrods and we happened to be going when they opened after their holiday break for the “biggest sale of the year” This was a bit of a nightmare. Security was ushering in the herds and there was not an inch to move. A woman with very bad manners, not to mention breath (that’s how close we were) shoved me out of her way for some heinous sequined handbag at 35% off. We finally made it to the food halls and it was indeed impressive. Any delicacy that you could want was here. So many indulgences. We bought petit fours and crème brulee and got out. Lunch was at Wagamama. I am convinced that this is the best food for the best deal in London. We both loved our lunch of noodles and such. That evening we decided to take advantage of our hotel’s indoor pool. They have a spa downstairs with an indoor infinity pool. It was beautiful and you were given fruit and slippers before or after your swim. It’s hard for us not to get tired of eating out so we went to the downstairs of Marks and Spencer and bought wine, a baguette, goat cheese, pate, little sandwiches and chocolate. Had a lovely picnic in our lovely hotel room that evening.

Day 4- slept in (which seemed to be our theme on this trip) and went for a morning swim. We asked to find an Internet café and were told that it was in the subway. Forgetting that their subway system is actually called the tube, we later realized it was in the upstairs of a Subway restaurant. This day we walked a few miles to Notting Hill. We both loved this area where we strolled the markets and I found some beautiful things. A gorgeous mother of pearl cocktail ring, a jeweled hair comb and a scarf. All at small prices. We had lunch at a pub. That evening we met our dear friends Kristen and Ian who live here, and two of their friends, James and Duncan at a great pub called Fetter and Firken. They took us on a pub-crawl, mostly in the rain and we had the best time. Nate and I had a super late dinner at an Indian restaurant of lamb, nan, rice and quite and array of sauces, that was fantastic.

We both loved London but don’t really know exactly how to explain why so much. The people were great and the buildings were very cool. I think that one of our favorite parts was discovering neighborhoods by walking around the city.