Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Calvary Photo Mosaic
So I know, I know...we still need to get the last few days of our trip up. We will. I promise. Sometime. Hopefully before Easter. :-)
I wanted to share a new toy I just found, or the results of it at least. Check out the mosaic of Calvary photos I made using AndreaMosaic program (http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/)
I wanted to share a new toy I just found, or the results of it at least. Check out the mosaic of Calvary photos I made using AndreaMosaic program (http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/)
I'm still trying to see how well it works, and I'm torn between the two options you seem to need to learn towards--being able to see the main image can be difficult if the individual photos are too small, but otherwise the main image is hard to see. This one is kind of middle of the road, leaning towards the main image. What do you think?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
PARIS DAY THREE
Thursday we had decided to visit Versailles, to see the palace there. This journey required first a Metro ride, then jumping on an RER (suburban train) train to Versailles. After a bit of confusion (i.e. getting on a train headed the wrong direction and then having to get off halfway there to minimize the cost of our trip—our passes were good only for Zones 1-2, so we went as far as we could then got off at the last station in Zone 2 and bought a ticket for the rest of the trip) we made it to Versailles. The palace is a bit of a walk from the station, and we came upon the palace from the main/front side, which gives you a cool view. The main gate is VERY gold-looking, and you can begin to get an idea of the size of the place from that side.
Versailles (like everything we visited except the Eiffel Tower and churches—all churches in France were free to visit) was included in the Paris Museum Pass we’d bought at the Louvre on Wednesday, so that definitely made it convenient as we went places and didn’t have to buy tickets or even really worry about the cost.
Once inside Versailles, we each picked up one of the free audio guides and started the tour. The first place we got to see (as it is located immediately beside the audio guide/information area) was the chapel. Pretty cool, and like the other French churches we saw, ornate in carving for sure, but without the (somewhat gaudy) gold paint and trimmings we saw in England. We were able to actually go IN the chapel, but could get a good view of it from the doorway and later the upstairs doorway.
Then we walked down a hall of statues, through an exhibit of photos of Versailles, and into the rest of the rooms which included the King rooms, Queen’s room and Dauphin’s rooms. Of course the King’s rooms included the Hall of Mirrors. The Hall of Mirrors is definitely room, although perhaps not as dazzling on a cloudy day like it was when we were there. We have photos so I’ll post those when I get a chance.
We saw the Queen’s Chambers, including the doorway Marie Antoinette escaped through, next to her bed. They said that when morning came that day, the guard room (immediately beside her bed chamber) was “unusually empty”.
Even the Dauphin’s chambers were extravagant, which I guess was good since at least a couple Dauphins only ever got to live there (and never lived long enough/outlived their father long enough to become king).
After the inside tours (which, honestly, included a lot less than I would have expected given the size of the building), we went outside to see about going to the summer house, but the cold mixed with the chance that even if we walked the gardens to it, the building would be closed discouraged us from that. So we heard back to Paris on the train.
We ended up back in Paris a bit earlier than we thought we would, so we set about knocking a few more things off our to-do list. First, we went to the Musee d’Orsay, where we went a bit more speedily than we had at first in the Louvre, and limited our visit to the pieces we really wanted to see (i.e. the famous impressionist pieces). I think women used to be naked a lot more, given the number of such paintings in the museum.
We headed out of the Musee d’Orsay and headed for the Hotel des Invalides (which we had passed our first day in Paris), mostly to see Napoleon’s tomb. We briefly explored some other exhibits there, like a hall of armor, but since really it was Napoleon’s tomb we were there to see, we moved on.
Napoleon’s tomb is, well, exactly what you’d expect given every caricature there is about him. It basically said he was the originator of all things good, and I was even looking for an engraving somewhere saying he’d invented the internet (as there is quite a spirited argument about this, I thought it would have been helpful if he’d just claimed that as well).
Next, we walked back up to the Seine, hopped on the Metro and headed for Les Halles, since that was the closest station to the neighborhood that included some pastry shops recommended by our tour book. Turns out Les Halles is a gigantic mall, so we checked that out a bit, then headed onto Rue Montorgueil. There, we found lots of people shopping, and we grabbed sandwiches, checked out a wine shop, and picked up some pastries for later. Walking back, we checked out an outdoor market (not too spectacular) and then headed back into Les Halles to take the train to our hotel.
We’d decided to try the Eiffel Tower again, but on the way home decided it was too foggy for it to be worth it, and the weather hadn’t been any better than the day before so it was likely to be closed again.
Versailles (like everything we visited except the Eiffel Tower and churches—all churches in France were free to visit) was included in the Paris Museum Pass we’d bought at the Louvre on Wednesday, so that definitely made it convenient as we went places and didn’t have to buy tickets or even really worry about the cost.
Once inside Versailles, we each picked up one of the free audio guides and started the tour. The first place we got to see (as it is located immediately beside the audio guide/information area) was the chapel. Pretty cool, and like the other French churches we saw, ornate in carving for sure, but without the (somewhat gaudy) gold paint and trimmings we saw in England. We were able to actually go IN the chapel, but could get a good view of it from the doorway and later the upstairs doorway.
Then we walked down a hall of statues, through an exhibit of photos of Versailles, and into the rest of the rooms which included the King rooms, Queen’s room and Dauphin’s rooms. Of course the King’s rooms included the Hall of Mirrors. The Hall of Mirrors is definitely room, although perhaps not as dazzling on a cloudy day like it was when we were there. We have photos so I’ll post those when I get a chance.
We saw the Queen’s Chambers, including the doorway Marie Antoinette escaped through, next to her bed. They said that when morning came that day, the guard room (immediately beside her bed chamber) was “unusually empty”.
Even the Dauphin’s chambers were extravagant, which I guess was good since at least a couple Dauphins only ever got to live there (and never lived long enough/outlived their father long enough to become king).
After the inside tours (which, honestly, included a lot less than I would have expected given the size of the building), we went outside to see about going to the summer house, but the cold mixed with the chance that even if we walked the gardens to it, the building would be closed discouraged us from that. So we heard back to Paris on the train.
We ended up back in Paris a bit earlier than we thought we would, so we set about knocking a few more things off our to-do list. First, we went to the Musee d’Orsay, where we went a bit more speedily than we had at first in the Louvre, and limited our visit to the pieces we really wanted to see (i.e. the famous impressionist pieces). I think women used to be naked a lot more, given the number of such paintings in the museum.
We headed out of the Musee d’Orsay and headed for the Hotel des Invalides (which we had passed our first day in Paris), mostly to see Napoleon’s tomb. We briefly explored some other exhibits there, like a hall of armor, but since really it was Napoleon’s tomb we were there to see, we moved on.
Napoleon’s tomb is, well, exactly what you’d expect given every caricature there is about him. It basically said he was the originator of all things good, and I was even looking for an engraving somewhere saying he’d invented the internet (as there is quite a spirited argument about this, I thought it would have been helpful if he’d just claimed that as well).
Next, we walked back up to the Seine, hopped on the Metro and headed for Les Halles, since that was the closest station to the neighborhood that included some pastry shops recommended by our tour book. Turns out Les Halles is a gigantic mall, so we checked that out a bit, then headed onto Rue Montorgueil. There, we found lots of people shopping, and we grabbed sandwiches, checked out a wine shop, and picked up some pastries for later. Walking back, we checked out an outdoor market (not too spectacular) and then headed back into Les Halles to take the train to our hotel.
We’d decided to try the Eiffel Tower again, but on the way home decided it was too foggy for it to be worth it, and the weather hadn’t been any better than the day before so it was likely to be closed again.
HOME
Well, we're finally back, and both back at work today. I know we've not posted daily updates, but we have them (in progress) I promise! I'll try to get them up by the end of the week. Thank you all for your support!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
PARIS DAY TWO
Louvre. Louvre. Louvre. That was the extent of our plan for Wednesday, our first full day in Paris. We knew it would take a while, but boy, I don’t think we really know what we were in for.
We got up and started the day with breakfast at the hotel. They actually have quite a nice spread, and Chris was happy to partake of the individual packets of Nutella which he expertly spread on croissants . After getting such a nutritious start, we trek to the Metro station and headed to the Louvre.
It took a bit more doing to get the Paris Museum Pass than we’d expected, but not much. The pass will let us get into a wide range of museums unlimited times for four days (you could pick different numbers of days), and it was yet another chance for me to use my French. Neither that experience nor my Metro ticket ordering had fully put me at ease about my French, though, and I spent the morning at the Louvre, in the back of my mind, being anxious about having to go to Le Grand Velfour (the fancy restaurant we’re having lunch at Friday) to confirm our reservation.
But that aside, we started walking through the Louvre, well, at the very beginning. We saw the ancient stuff, some of the famous paintings, a bunch of other stuff…starting at the bottom and working our way up. Until we got halfway through. And both just ran out of steam. I mean, a couple hours into the Louvre and only halfway through? We decided to head out, knowing we could come back another day.
So we headed next to Le Grand Velfour, not far from the Louvre. I’d even checked out a few words I needed to use in the handy phrase book. And, much to my surprise and joy, I apparently adequately accomplished the task, and as Chris and I walked out, a rush of ease swept over me. Okay, now I know this is silly, and honestly, people in Paris have thus far been super nice. But I just don’t want to be a horrible, rude American who thinks everyone should speak my language and expect people in their own city/country to act like they would in my city/country. So really, I was quite relieved!
At this point, we headed to the Arc de Triumphe, and went to the top. Let’s just say the stairs at the Covent Garden station have NOTHING on the nearly 300 steps at the Arc! After resting a moment after reaching the top, we headed out to the top deck, and BOY what great sights! It had been snowing all morning while we were at the Louvre, and though it had stopped when we left, once atop the Arc, it almost seemed like it was snowing UP the Arc because of the wind.
Our tour book said the views from the Arc were the best around (with apologies to the Eiffel Tower) and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true. After all, it’s located in the center of the city, with something like twelve roads heading off it. The views (and hopefully our pictures will even begin to capture the views) were just incredible.
We hung out on top there for a while, headed down a few steps to visit the (disappointing) gift shop then headed back down all those stairs to street level. Once down, we started heading for the Eiffel Tower…and it started snowing AGAIN!
Now when I say snow, even though it wasn’t sticking too much, it was pretty big flakes, and fairly think stuff. And you know what we discovered? It IS possible to lose the Eiffel Tower in snow! We got a couple blocks off track before we got back going in the right direction, all the while getting covered in snow! It was really pretty though…oh and we did check out another store on the way…it purported to be a drug store, but like Monoprix, it was a kind of one-stop-for-everything sort of place, from awesome looking pastries to clothes and fancy stuff of all sorts. It was all we could do to not load up on all things pastry-ish!
We finally reached the Eiffel Tower, we decided that because the snow was creating near white-out conditions, it wasn’t going to be a good use of money to go up then…so we kept walking…and jumped on the Metro at the next station and headed back to the Louvre. We were determined it would not get the better of us!
So, back again the same day, we started where we left off…and kept going and going and going. Boy there is a lot of stuff in there, and the building itself is pretty awesome. I must admit, having seen most of the big stuff already, we went a bit faster from this point on. The Louvre is just amazing. But one thing I thought was really cool, though, was that when it had started snowing in the morning, with all the beautiful things in the building, we saw so many people (including ourselves) standing at the windows taking pictures of the snow. Even at the Louvre, God’s work is still more beautiful!
In the morning we’d seen the antiquities (though we also saw a few more in the afternoon) and such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa, and in the afternoon we got to learn more about the history of the Louvre itself. As a warning to future monarchs…given the longevity of the British monarchy, I would suggest doing as they did and NOT as the French monarchy did. DON’T BUILD ALL YOUR PALACES TOGETHER. Spread them out. People have a short memory. The British monarchy had a sort of crazy habit of using then leaving (fairly) empty small to medium palaces (I can’t believe I now think Hampton Court Palace is MEDIUM sized!). The French monarchy built (as it seems to me) fewer but larger palaces, and all that money and extravagance in one place? Craziness!
As we finished the Louvre (which I still can’t believe we did, and think they should have a t-shirt that says “I saw the whole Louvre in 1 Day!)” we decided to grab a quick dinner. Yes, we ate at the McDonalds in the Louvre. Yes, I know there’s something very uncouth about it. But it was yummy. And fast. And after eating, we decided to try once again to go up the Eiffel Tower since the sky had cleared again.
So, another Metro ride and bit of a walk later, we were back at the Eiffel Tower. This time, however, though it was supposed to still be open for a few hours, the signs said it was closed. This was disappointing but not surprising given that by now, the snow that had fallen had melted and then frozen, and the wind was really strong and cold, so I can’t even imagine what the conditions were like at the top. Our plans once again frustrated, we walked BACK to the Metro, stopped again at the Monoprix, then headed back to our hotel.
Chris’ feet are the worse for wear at this point, and we seem to be going through the range of European tools for blisters—and all this walking isn’t helping either of us—but it gets better each day, and rest is always welcome in the evenings!
We got up and started the day with breakfast at the hotel. They actually have quite a nice spread, and Chris was happy to partake of the individual packets of Nutella which he expertly spread on croissants . After getting such a nutritious start, we trek to the Metro station and headed to the Louvre.
It took a bit more doing to get the Paris Museum Pass than we’d expected, but not much. The pass will let us get into a wide range of museums unlimited times for four days (you could pick different numbers of days), and it was yet another chance for me to use my French. Neither that experience nor my Metro ticket ordering had fully put me at ease about my French, though, and I spent the morning at the Louvre, in the back of my mind, being anxious about having to go to Le Grand Velfour (the fancy restaurant we’re having lunch at Friday) to confirm our reservation.
But that aside, we started walking through the Louvre, well, at the very beginning. We saw the ancient stuff, some of the famous paintings, a bunch of other stuff…starting at the bottom and working our way up. Until we got halfway through. And both just ran out of steam. I mean, a couple hours into the Louvre and only halfway through? We decided to head out, knowing we could come back another day.
So we headed next to Le Grand Velfour, not far from the Louvre. I’d even checked out a few words I needed to use in the handy phrase book. And, much to my surprise and joy, I apparently adequately accomplished the task, and as Chris and I walked out, a rush of ease swept over me. Okay, now I know this is silly, and honestly, people in Paris have thus far been super nice. But I just don’t want to be a horrible, rude American who thinks everyone should speak my language and expect people in their own city/country to act like they would in my city/country. So really, I was quite relieved!
At this point, we headed to the Arc de Triumphe, and went to the top. Let’s just say the stairs at the Covent Garden station have NOTHING on the nearly 300 steps at the Arc! After resting a moment after reaching the top, we headed out to the top deck, and BOY what great sights! It had been snowing all morning while we were at the Louvre, and though it had stopped when we left, once atop the Arc, it almost seemed like it was snowing UP the Arc because of the wind.
Our tour book said the views from the Arc were the best around (with apologies to the Eiffel Tower) and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true. After all, it’s located in the center of the city, with something like twelve roads heading off it. The views (and hopefully our pictures will even begin to capture the views) were just incredible.
We hung out on top there for a while, headed down a few steps to visit the (disappointing) gift shop then headed back down all those stairs to street level. Once down, we started heading for the Eiffel Tower…and it started snowing AGAIN!
Now when I say snow, even though it wasn’t sticking too much, it was pretty big flakes, and fairly think stuff. And you know what we discovered? It IS possible to lose the Eiffel Tower in snow! We got a couple blocks off track before we got back going in the right direction, all the while getting covered in snow! It was really pretty though…oh and we did check out another store on the way…it purported to be a drug store, but like Monoprix, it was a kind of one-stop-for-everything sort of place, from awesome looking pastries to clothes and fancy stuff of all sorts. It was all we could do to not load up on all things pastry-ish!
We finally reached the Eiffel Tower, we decided that because the snow was creating near white-out conditions, it wasn’t going to be a good use of money to go up then…so we kept walking…and jumped on the Metro at the next station and headed back to the Louvre. We were determined it would not get the better of us!
So, back again the same day, we started where we left off…and kept going and going and going. Boy there is a lot of stuff in there, and the building itself is pretty awesome. I must admit, having seen most of the big stuff already, we went a bit faster from this point on. The Louvre is just amazing. But one thing I thought was really cool, though, was that when it had started snowing in the morning, with all the beautiful things in the building, we saw so many people (including ourselves) standing at the windows taking pictures of the snow. Even at the Louvre, God’s work is still more beautiful!
In the morning we’d seen the antiquities (though we also saw a few more in the afternoon) and such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa, and in the afternoon we got to learn more about the history of the Louvre itself. As a warning to future monarchs…given the longevity of the British monarchy, I would suggest doing as they did and NOT as the French monarchy did. DON’T BUILD ALL YOUR PALACES TOGETHER. Spread them out. People have a short memory. The British monarchy had a sort of crazy habit of using then leaving (fairly) empty small to medium palaces (I can’t believe I now think Hampton Court Palace is MEDIUM sized!). The French monarchy built (as it seems to me) fewer but larger palaces, and all that money and extravagance in one place? Craziness!
As we finished the Louvre (which I still can’t believe we did, and think they should have a t-shirt that says “I saw the whole Louvre in 1 Day!)” we decided to grab a quick dinner. Yes, we ate at the McDonalds in the Louvre. Yes, I know there’s something very uncouth about it. But it was yummy. And fast. And after eating, we decided to try once again to go up the Eiffel Tower since the sky had cleared again.
So, another Metro ride and bit of a walk later, we were back at the Eiffel Tower. This time, however, though it was supposed to still be open for a few hours, the signs said it was closed. This was disappointing but not surprising given that by now, the snow that had fallen had melted and then frozen, and the wind was really strong and cold, so I can’t even imagine what the conditions were like at the top. Our plans once again frustrated, we walked BACK to the Metro, stopped again at the Monoprix, then headed back to our hotel.
Chris’ feet are the worse for wear at this point, and we seem to be going through the range of European tools for blisters—and all this walking isn’t helping either of us—but it gets better each day, and rest is always welcome in the evenings!
EUROSTAR AND DAY ONE IN PARIS
Tuesday dawned in London, and it was time to head out. We had reservations for a 9:30 am Eurostar train(through the Chunnel). A quick hop on the Underground and we were at the St. Pancras (yes, I know it sounds like pancreas) station to catch the train. Tuesday, though was also the day of the most messed up Underground service, so it’s a good thing we’d planned lots of time (hoping to get there early to grab coffee) because we made it just in time.
Getting through security, etc. for the Eurostar is certainly easier than for flights, and we could see how the train is a great convenience—also, many passengers used their cell phones during the trip, which is good, I’m sure esp. for business travelers. It was cold yet again in London, but we didn’t see any snow actually having stuck on the ground till in both the English and French countryside.
To be honest, we both expected (okay, maybe just me) more of a noteworthy experience in THE CHUNNEL. But nope. Just a tunnel. We weren’t even really sure we’d gone through it till we decided we were in some long tunnel and otherwise seemed far enough from London to have needed to go underground for any other reason. The France countryside was pretty, though I’m sure the sights in February hardly equal the look of it in the spring.
One other thing was hadn’t anticipated was our ears popping…not surprising now thinking about it, but yeah, I guess going under that much water isn’t a normal occurrence for our ears.
We arrived into Paris via Gare du Nord, and knew the first thing we wanted to do was get our travel pass for the Metro. We hadn’t planned on getting a pass, having heard that the one-for tickets were best, but we found we used the London pass so much that we sprung for it. I can’t tell you whether it was worth it financially, but the ease of it is certainly nice.
After a long wait in line, and my first use of all the French I learned (then kind of forgot) in school, we had our passes. I was determined not to use English unless necessary, so we’d fortunately picked up a French phrase book as a refresher while in London. Nice too, Chris has also found he remembers more French than he’d thought, though I still have ended up doing much of the “business” French.
We figured out which line to take, and before too long (though it is a bit of a trek on the Metro) we got off, and walked the couple blocks to our hotel. We were all set to check in, drop off our bags and head back into Paris when, much to our surprise, we were told they had no record of a reservation for us! Mon Deu! Long story short, what we think happened was, since we’d booked through EasyHotel, they in turn use a travel agent who in turn is the one who contacts the hotel. EasyHotel, though they confirmed with us, never finalized the reservation with the travel agent (who had record of an attempt to make a reservation but never a confirmation). Fortunately the hotel has a room (which they ONLY had because they’d had a cancellation. They gave us a deal on the price, though it’s still more than we’d first expected. Oh well. Chris is going to get it all straightened out with EasyHotel.
Not a great way to start our time in Paris. I was, admittedly, kind of a grumpy, unhappy camper at that point. On top of that, I of course wanted to get in touch with EasyHotel IMMEDIATELY and I couldn’t get the internet to work first thing. Patience is not my greatest virtue, to say the least. Chris, wonderful husband that he is, gently suggested we head out, which we did, and on our (albeit late) first foray into Paris, we walked by the Arc de Triumphe, the Champs Elysee, Palais Royale, Seine, ate dinner at a place recommended by our friends Steve and Jennie, then hit the Monoprix near the restaurant before heading back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, I caught up on some much needed (okay, need is perhaps an exaggeration) internet time, Chris and I watched a movie we’d previously rented in iTunes, and then Chris discovered that for many of the shows, you can select either French or English (he’d thought he was doomed to a week of CNN and BBC News!).
All in all, it was (as are most of our first days in any place) a bit overwhelming, but a really cool day. We went to bed excited to wake up and start really getting to know Paris!
Getting through security, etc. for the Eurostar is certainly easier than for flights, and we could see how the train is a great convenience—also, many passengers used their cell phones during the trip, which is good, I’m sure esp. for business travelers. It was cold yet again in London, but we didn’t see any snow actually having stuck on the ground till in both the English and French countryside.
To be honest, we both expected (okay, maybe just me) more of a noteworthy experience in THE CHUNNEL. But nope. Just a tunnel. We weren’t even really sure we’d gone through it till we decided we were in some long tunnel and otherwise seemed far enough from London to have needed to go underground for any other reason. The France countryside was pretty, though I’m sure the sights in February hardly equal the look of it in the spring.
One other thing was hadn’t anticipated was our ears popping…not surprising now thinking about it, but yeah, I guess going under that much water isn’t a normal occurrence for our ears.
We arrived into Paris via Gare du Nord, and knew the first thing we wanted to do was get our travel pass for the Metro. We hadn’t planned on getting a pass, having heard that the one-for tickets were best, but we found we used the London pass so much that we sprung for it. I can’t tell you whether it was worth it financially, but the ease of it is certainly nice.
After a long wait in line, and my first use of all the French I learned (then kind of forgot) in school, we had our passes. I was determined not to use English unless necessary, so we’d fortunately picked up a French phrase book as a refresher while in London. Nice too, Chris has also found he remembers more French than he’d thought, though I still have ended up doing much of the “business” French.
We figured out which line to take, and before too long (though it is a bit of a trek on the Metro) we got off, and walked the couple blocks to our hotel. We were all set to check in, drop off our bags and head back into Paris when, much to our surprise, we were told they had no record of a reservation for us! Mon Deu! Long story short, what we think happened was, since we’d booked through EasyHotel, they in turn use a travel agent who in turn is the one who contacts the hotel. EasyHotel, though they confirmed with us, never finalized the reservation with the travel agent (who had record of an attempt to make a reservation but never a confirmation). Fortunately the hotel has a room (which they ONLY had because they’d had a cancellation. They gave us a deal on the price, though it’s still more than we’d first expected. Oh well. Chris is going to get it all straightened out with EasyHotel.
Not a great way to start our time in Paris. I was, admittedly, kind of a grumpy, unhappy camper at that point. On top of that, I of course wanted to get in touch with EasyHotel IMMEDIATELY and I couldn’t get the internet to work first thing. Patience is not my greatest virtue, to say the least. Chris, wonderful husband that he is, gently suggested we head out, which we did, and on our (albeit late) first foray into Paris, we walked by the Arc de Triumphe, the Champs Elysee, Palais Royale, Seine, ate dinner at a place recommended by our friends Steve and Jennie, then hit the Monoprix near the restaurant before heading back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, I caught up on some much needed (okay, need is perhaps an exaggeration) internet time, Chris and I watched a movie we’d previously rented in iTunes, and then Chris discovered that for many of the shows, you can select either French or English (he’d thought he was doomed to a week of CNN and BBC News!).
All in all, it was (as are most of our first days in any place) a bit overwhelming, but a really cool day. We went to bed excited to wake up and start really getting to know Paris!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
More Pictures
One of a set that is perhaps one of the most expensive tapestry collections EVER. As you would expect, it has faded over the ages, as you can see. What we couldn't photo was the rare opportunity we had to see the tapestry lit in full color thanks to the work of experts. It was only supposed to be displayed through the end of 2009, but the light exposure was less intense than expected, so it is continued (only a few times a day for 6 minutes) till October.
Chris and I at the base of the Millennium Eye in London. We saved 40 pounds by taking a picture here and not on the Eye. Good deal I say, good deal!
Brad and me checking out the Tower of London. I still can't figure out how Chris took this picture since I usually have the camera!
If I had a pence for every time my husband played with the stuff and museums that they have for kids...:-)
LONDON DAY SEVEN
Our seventh and last day in London, Monday, was a late start for Chris and me as we’d been up to 3 am or so watching the Superbowl the night before. Basically, we woke up just in time to shower and say goodbye to Brad as he stopped by on his way to his flight back to Zurich. We took a slow start to the day, and made our way to the National Portrait Gallery, where we enjoyed the early paintings (especially after visiting castles where the people depicted lived or worked) then travelled rather quickly through the newer stuff.
After that, and after grabbing a sandwich each, we headed for the Britain at War museum to learn more about London during WWII. The museum was just off the London Bridge station, and we were able to use a National Rail 2-for-1 pass. The museum itself has a lot of cool stuff, and we learned a lot, but you can tell they really have little money and it’s pretty run down. I hope some day they will have a proper and well-funded museum in its place. But still, it was good to learn about what life was like for the civilians (there is another military/Churchill museum, but I was more interested in the ordinary person’s experience).
Next, since we’d decided to go to Evensong, we headed to Westminster, walked up to Trafalgar Square for coffee (and also picked up a French phrase book) and along the way passed the Household Calvary, who just then were doing a little demonstration in their yard, and seeing them realized that was who we’d seen pass the day before at Buckingham Palace.
We made it back to Westminster Abbey about fifteen minutes early, and were shown to seats directly under the lectern. Of course as we sat and waited, we glanced around. As the service started (the Abbey choir—boys—sang) it was evident that the space really is perfect for that sort of service. Chris, who had never before attended an Evensong, was awe-inspired, and all in all it was a perfect way to end out time in London. I was distracted by a Russian tourist who sat behind us and chatted throughout most of the service, but just when I was about to turn and ask her to be quiet, the Gospel lesson about the Pharisees being mean to people was read, and I thought it improper to thus berate her. Darn. So I tried to ignore her, but indeed, it was just plain rude!
After Evensong we headed back to Covent Gardens for dinner, which we took at Nags Head Pub, a place recommened in our tour book—the book has yet to disappoint us. We found ourselves sitting next to a couple of young women from Illinois, and I think all we a bit happy to find fellow Americans. We took a quick dinner, then headed back to our room to watch TV, rest, and get to bed early. Of course, we stopped at Sainbury Local in Paddington one last time.
Oh, and it snowed today in London. Nothing really noteworthy, certainly nothing major, and it didn’t even stick, but hey, it was something!
After that, and after grabbing a sandwich each, we headed for the Britain at War museum to learn more about London during WWII. The museum was just off the London Bridge station, and we were able to use a National Rail 2-for-1 pass. The museum itself has a lot of cool stuff, and we learned a lot, but you can tell they really have little money and it’s pretty run down. I hope some day they will have a proper and well-funded museum in its place. But still, it was good to learn about what life was like for the civilians (there is another military/Churchill museum, but I was more interested in the ordinary person’s experience).
Next, since we’d decided to go to Evensong, we headed to Westminster, walked up to Trafalgar Square for coffee (and also picked up a French phrase book) and along the way passed the Household Calvary, who just then were doing a little demonstration in their yard, and seeing them realized that was who we’d seen pass the day before at Buckingham Palace.
We made it back to Westminster Abbey about fifteen minutes early, and were shown to seats directly under the lectern. Of course as we sat and waited, we glanced around. As the service started (the Abbey choir—boys—sang) it was evident that the space really is perfect for that sort of service. Chris, who had never before attended an Evensong, was awe-inspired, and all in all it was a perfect way to end out time in London. I was distracted by a Russian tourist who sat behind us and chatted throughout most of the service, but just when I was about to turn and ask her to be quiet, the Gospel lesson about the Pharisees being mean to people was read, and I thought it improper to thus berate her. Darn. So I tried to ignore her, but indeed, it was just plain rude!
After Evensong we headed back to Covent Gardens for dinner, which we took at Nags Head Pub, a place recommened in our tour book—the book has yet to disappoint us. We found ourselves sitting next to a couple of young women from Illinois, and I think all we a bit happy to find fellow Americans. We took a quick dinner, then headed back to our room to watch TV, rest, and get to bed early. Of course, we stopped at Sainbury Local in Paddington one last time.
Oh, and it snowed today in London. Nothing really noteworthy, certainly nothing major, and it didn’t even stick, but hey, it was something!
LONDON DAY SIX
Sunday, our sixth day in London, was an early start for us. We’d had the best intentions of going to McDonalds to get online Saturday night, but once we’d gotten back to our room and rested a bit, our laziness got the better of us. So, it was off to McDonalds early Sunday morning to grab coffee and internet before meeting Brad at 8:30 am to start our day.
That was when we really heard about the effects of the snow at home in Maryland. We’d seen a brief piece on the news, and had heard from family and friends of the predictions of snow, but when we got online Sunday morning, we finally got to see the pictures of the crazy snow!
After a bit online, including sending a message to my brother Daniel to find out how things are at Manidokan, we heard back to drop off the computer and meet Brad.
None of us really had any big plans for the day. By Sunday, Chris and I had hit most of the major points we’d wanted to in London, and Brad simply didn’t know where to start! We decided to retrace some of Chris and my steps from our first day, but this time going Speakers Corner in Hyde Park (where either the cold or the early hour meant no one was, well, speaking). We walked to Buckingham Palace, where we got a glimpse of another random act of Britishness as we saw about a half dozen ceremonial-looking horses and riders came trotting by. We checked out the gift shop for the palace, then continued on toward Westminster Abbey.
Our comfort-stop by Westminster Abbey is the Methodist Center, so we popped into their café again, and also discovered that their main Sunday service was at 11 am. So Chris and I decided to stay for that, and Brad walked down the street to Westminster Cathedral (fortunately he made it just in time for the Gospel, and was able to receive Eucharist).
The service at the Methodist Center was pretty cool. It reminded me of the church I’d attended while in Athens because of its international feel, including a large contingent of Africans (we learned later in the service this was mostly Ghanaians and Nigerians as each nation had a “fellowship” that also apparently gathers after the service on Sundays).
The worship was held in the Great Hall, which is a domed large room on the top (3rd) floor of the building, and something of a mix between a theater and church. Actually without the organ, it could easily be mistaken purely for a theater, with its theater seating on the balcony and empty floor covered with folding chairs. They used powerpoint slides projected onto the walls on either side of the front organ (which was high) and their band was a really cool mix—playing alongside a rather “traditional” Methodist choir, the band included a keyboardist, drums, and several string instruments, including two violins, and a few others still.
We started the service with a Charles Wesley hymn, and during the service sang what was a new piece for them to a reggae tune (the music director did indicate that this was something of an anomaly for them, but people seemed to keep pace well enough.
There was a baptism during the service, just after the readings I think, and it was pretty standard, though at the end they did give the godparents a candle to hold, but I’ve no idea what for. Seems to me it could be used quite well, and was a nice touch, but I just don’t know what it was for. It did find it interesting (and don’t know if this is characteristic of the British Methodist Church or just this one pastor (there were something like four pastors on dias) but the questions about whether the parents reject evil, etc., were asked AFTER the baptism proper.
There was a LOT of music in the service. Probably six or so hymns all things considered, with the sermon nearly the last thing to happen in the service. In fact, since we’d decided to meet Brad at noon, we had to leave early, still we couldn’t get out till just after the sermon (which didn’t even start till ten till noon, and ended ten minutes after). I suspect the service hit about an hour and a half all told, but we didn’t stay till the end. I quite liked the service, though.
After worship, we checked out the gift shop for Westminster Cathedral, and not wanting to pay so much money to tour it, Chris and I decided we would return the following day for Evensong (besides which, if we’re to say a church is not a building than a people, then surely the real way to “see” any church is at least while there is worship).
After that, we strolled around outside the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, then decided to try to grab some food. I’d wanted the whole time in London to try some Indian food, and so Brad was excited when we suggested it. We consulted out tour book, and headed out to Soho in search of a place called the Masala Zone. Once off the Underground there, we got to see all the shops (again, for Chris and me), but also saw a Salvation Army Band marching and playing through the streets, which was cool—both from an historical perspective since I know a bit about their (rooted in Methodism) history and also because of the great song “Life in a Northern Town.”
We did finally find the restaurant, and I must say, it was a great place. We all REALLY loved the food, and their naan is probably unequaled.
After that late lunch, we came back to Paddington and Chris went to grab the laptop to get online to try to find out more about the Superbowl (our goal at this point was to watch it, so we also loaded up on caffeine, since in London, the Superbowl started at 11 pm!). We ended up having a good time checking the internet, Brad got to talk with his girlfriend Pam via Skype, and I even chatted on Skype briefly with my sister Liz.
But activities at the station exhausted, we headed back to our hotel room where the three of us watched TV for a couple hours. A little after 9, we headed back out to grab some food, then headed to Brad’s hostel where, based on a positive response he’d gotten in the morning, we thought we’d all be able to watch the Superbowl despite the fact they normally kick out non-hostel folks out of their bar at 11pm. Unfortunately, as 11 pm approached, and with a different person on duty, we were told Chris and I would have to leave, so all three of us headed back to our room (BBC 1 was airing it live).
It certainly was a good game, and we watched ALL of it (okay, I dozed in and out of sleep a bit). The play-by-play was the US broadcast, but instead of commercials (sad) we got to hear rather lame commentary by a current quarterback and some guy we haven’t figured out why he was even on there. But yeah, definitely a good game. Of course, as soon as it ended, tired as we were, Brad headed out and we headed to sleep.
That was when we really heard about the effects of the snow at home in Maryland. We’d seen a brief piece on the news, and had heard from family and friends of the predictions of snow, but when we got online Sunday morning, we finally got to see the pictures of the crazy snow!
After a bit online, including sending a message to my brother Daniel to find out how things are at Manidokan, we heard back to drop off the computer and meet Brad.
None of us really had any big plans for the day. By Sunday, Chris and I had hit most of the major points we’d wanted to in London, and Brad simply didn’t know where to start! We decided to retrace some of Chris and my steps from our first day, but this time going Speakers Corner in Hyde Park (where either the cold or the early hour meant no one was, well, speaking). We walked to Buckingham Palace, where we got a glimpse of another random act of Britishness as we saw about a half dozen ceremonial-looking horses and riders came trotting by. We checked out the gift shop for the palace, then continued on toward Westminster Abbey.
Our comfort-stop by Westminster Abbey is the Methodist Center, so we popped into their café again, and also discovered that their main Sunday service was at 11 am. So Chris and I decided to stay for that, and Brad walked down the street to Westminster Cathedral (fortunately he made it just in time for the Gospel, and was able to receive Eucharist).
The service at the Methodist Center was pretty cool. It reminded me of the church I’d attended while in Athens because of its international feel, including a large contingent of Africans (we learned later in the service this was mostly Ghanaians and Nigerians as each nation had a “fellowship” that also apparently gathers after the service on Sundays).
The worship was held in the Great Hall, which is a domed large room on the top (3rd) floor of the building, and something of a mix between a theater and church. Actually without the organ, it could easily be mistaken purely for a theater, with its theater seating on the balcony and empty floor covered with folding chairs. They used powerpoint slides projected onto the walls on either side of the front organ (which was high) and their band was a really cool mix—playing alongside a rather “traditional” Methodist choir, the band included a keyboardist, drums, and several string instruments, including two violins, and a few others still.
We started the service with a Charles Wesley hymn, and during the service sang what was a new piece for them to a reggae tune (the music director did indicate that this was something of an anomaly for them, but people seemed to keep pace well enough.
There was a baptism during the service, just after the readings I think, and it was pretty standard, though at the end they did give the godparents a candle to hold, but I’ve no idea what for. Seems to me it could be used quite well, and was a nice touch, but I just don’t know what it was for. It did find it interesting (and don’t know if this is characteristic of the British Methodist Church or just this one pastor (there were something like four pastors on dias) but the questions about whether the parents reject evil, etc., were asked AFTER the baptism proper.
There was a LOT of music in the service. Probably six or so hymns all things considered, with the sermon nearly the last thing to happen in the service. In fact, since we’d decided to meet Brad at noon, we had to leave early, still we couldn’t get out till just after the sermon (which didn’t even start till ten till noon, and ended ten minutes after). I suspect the service hit about an hour and a half all told, but we didn’t stay till the end. I quite liked the service, though.
After worship, we checked out the gift shop for Westminster Cathedral, and not wanting to pay so much money to tour it, Chris and I decided we would return the following day for Evensong (besides which, if we’re to say a church is not a building than a people, then surely the real way to “see” any church is at least while there is worship).
After that, we strolled around outside the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, then decided to try to grab some food. I’d wanted the whole time in London to try some Indian food, and so Brad was excited when we suggested it. We consulted out tour book, and headed out to Soho in search of a place called the Masala Zone. Once off the Underground there, we got to see all the shops (again, for Chris and me), but also saw a Salvation Army Band marching and playing through the streets, which was cool—both from an historical perspective since I know a bit about their (rooted in Methodism) history and also because of the great song “Life in a Northern Town.”
We did finally find the restaurant, and I must say, it was a great place. We all REALLY loved the food, and their naan is probably unequaled.
After that late lunch, we came back to Paddington and Chris went to grab the laptop to get online to try to find out more about the Superbowl (our goal at this point was to watch it, so we also loaded up on caffeine, since in London, the Superbowl started at 11 pm!). We ended up having a good time checking the internet, Brad got to talk with his girlfriend Pam via Skype, and I even chatted on Skype briefly with my sister Liz.
But activities at the station exhausted, we headed back to our hotel room where the three of us watched TV for a couple hours. A little after 9, we headed back out to grab some food, then headed to Brad’s hostel where, based on a positive response he’d gotten in the morning, we thought we’d all be able to watch the Superbowl despite the fact they normally kick out non-hostel folks out of their bar at 11pm. Unfortunately, as 11 pm approached, and with a different person on duty, we were told Chris and I would have to leave, so all three of us headed back to our room (BBC 1 was airing it live).
It certainly was a good game, and we watched ALL of it (okay, I dozed in and out of sleep a bit). The play-by-play was the US broadcast, but instead of commercials (sad) we got to hear rather lame commentary by a current quarterback and some guy we haven’t figured out why he was even on there. But yeah, definitely a good game. Of course, as soon as it ended, tired as we were, Brad headed out and we headed to sleep.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
PICTURES!
As I write, Chris, Brad and I are sitting in Paddington Station, drinking the coffee we hope will give us enough energy to stay up for the Superbowl...and we're trying to figure out where to watch it...
But for now, I thought I'd post a few pictures for your viewing pleasure...
But for now, I thought I'd post a few pictures for your viewing pleasure...
The horse crossing signal near Buckingham Palace. Chris thought this was awesome. And yes, there really are horses to necessitate this. We've taken to calling this sort of thing a "random act of Britishness"
A view from the Tower Bridge
Hampton Court Palace
Most of our "people" pics are on the camera (these are from Chris' iPhone) so I'll have to upload those later. I'll try to post a couple short videos too.
LONDON DAY FIVE
Saturday, our fifth day in London, saw our first attempt to make our morning routine less hectic—and it worked. Seems like the trick is to send Chris out on an errand while I dry my hair, thus reducing the time he has to spend in our room-turned-sauna, and I have a bit more space to move around.
We met Brad, and headed off to the Underground to head for the Tower of London. As we came street-side from the underground and I saw the Tower of London, I must admit I was surprised that the Tower of London isn’t a tower at all, but rather a whole complex of walls, towers and other buildings. The buildings range over hundreds, even thousands of years. There was quite a lot of interested stuff to see there, from the medieval castle, to old armor, information about prisoners and torture at the Tower of London, and of course the Crown Jewels. Now, I could highlight many things from our time at the Tower, but one of the things that really surprised me was that despite the incredible jewels used in some of the modern pieces, many earlier crowns were actually made with borrowed jewels! Seriously?! So today, except for just a few pieces, the pieces at the Tower of London either have no jewels in them, or have crystals replacing jewels, that, well, had to be returned to their actual owners after used for a coronation!
The crowds at the Tower of London were also quite impressive—for this reason we opted to walk on our own through the buildings, since the Beefeater’s tours seemed each to draw a hundred people or more! We also, thankfully, managed to beat the crowds to the Crown Jewels, so our wait was minimal, and we had a good deal of time to pass by the pieces. They’re certainly, and understandably quite serious about guarding those things though!
We also happened to be at the Tower for the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, and so got to see the 1 pm 62-gun salute (after about a dozen shots we started wandering off towards the Tower Bridge).
Our next stop, Tower Bridge, was also quite interesting. We paid for the tour, which takes you to the upper walks of the bridge, then also into the engine room. It was really interesting, and a great vantage (on a surprisingly sunny day) to see the area. We enjoyed the exhibits for kids in the engine room as well, as we learned how the bridge’s hydraulic lifts work. When you think of the “London Bridge,” you’re probably thinking of the Tower Bridge. The London Bridge (1) has never fallen but (2) has been replaced several times, because it’s been old and (3) is no more interesting than the new bridge over 70 in Frederick.
After our visit to the Tower Bridge, we walked along the south bank of the Thames, grabbed a quick lunch, then leaded to the Tate Modern [Art Museum]. By this point, we were trying to decide our plans for the rest of the day. Brad had plans to meet a high school friend for dinner, and Chris and I had thought of visiting St. Pauls or Westminster (which we’d walked by but not enter on our first day). After looking through the first floor of the gallery, Chris and I headed off, and Brad, I think, stayed there a bit longer.
Chris and I headed for St. Pauls, since we could walk to it, and though they were no longer accepting people for tours for the day, we double check, and sure enough Evensong was scheduled for 5 pm, and no fee is charged for that. We killed a but of time, the about a half hour out, went back, and got into the church. We hadn’t decided whether to stay for Evensong, and after looking around for a bit, decided to head back to our hotel and to grab dinner, since at this point, our feet were just plan, well, done for the day. The whole travel on the Underground for the day had been a bit more complicated because line construction completely shut down one of the lines (the Circle line).
On the way, we decided to visit Covent Gardens (we still needed dinner) and there found, well, just about the whole of the population of London. The Underground station at Covent Gardens actually requires you to take an elevator between track level and street level, but the line was unimaginably long so we opted for the stairs…all 193 of them! No, I did not count them. To their credit, the Underground folks post lots of signs and make lots of announcements warning you how many stairs there are. It was a very, very tall spiral staircase (which, though, after all the towers at the Tower of London, wasn’t overly impressive!).
The whole place was buzzing with people—all sorts, couples, families, anyone, and for the first time in a while, it really felt like we were amongst the British…not the tourists. People were bustling about getting dinner, checking out the shops and going to shows. Our plans to find dinner were frustrated by the fact that it was SO busy that there was hardly a spare table to be seem for blocks. We were tired, a bit bewildered in the crowds, and hungry. We decided to finally head back to Paddington, and then grab dinner there, which we did, at a nice place a few blocks from our hotel. The restaurant, Garfunkels, is perhaps a mix between TGI Fridays and Bob Evans. The food was good, and the rest was welcome. After a filling meal, we headed back to our room to rest, type up a couple days of trip log, and maybe, if we feel up to it, to trek to the McDonalds for some internet.
We met Brad, and headed off to the Underground to head for the Tower of London. As we came street-side from the underground and I saw the Tower of London, I must admit I was surprised that the Tower of London isn’t a tower at all, but rather a whole complex of walls, towers and other buildings. The buildings range over hundreds, even thousands of years. There was quite a lot of interested stuff to see there, from the medieval castle, to old armor, information about prisoners and torture at the Tower of London, and of course the Crown Jewels. Now, I could highlight many things from our time at the Tower, but one of the things that really surprised me was that despite the incredible jewels used in some of the modern pieces, many earlier crowns were actually made with borrowed jewels! Seriously?! So today, except for just a few pieces, the pieces at the Tower of London either have no jewels in them, or have crystals replacing jewels, that, well, had to be returned to their actual owners after used for a coronation!
The crowds at the Tower of London were also quite impressive—for this reason we opted to walk on our own through the buildings, since the Beefeater’s tours seemed each to draw a hundred people or more! We also, thankfully, managed to beat the crowds to the Crown Jewels, so our wait was minimal, and we had a good deal of time to pass by the pieces. They’re certainly, and understandably quite serious about guarding those things though!
We also happened to be at the Tower for the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, and so got to see the 1 pm 62-gun salute (after about a dozen shots we started wandering off towards the Tower Bridge).
Our next stop, Tower Bridge, was also quite interesting. We paid for the tour, which takes you to the upper walks of the bridge, then also into the engine room. It was really interesting, and a great vantage (on a surprisingly sunny day) to see the area. We enjoyed the exhibits for kids in the engine room as well, as we learned how the bridge’s hydraulic lifts work. When you think of the “London Bridge,” you’re probably thinking of the Tower Bridge. The London Bridge (1) has never fallen but (2) has been replaced several times, because it’s been old and (3) is no more interesting than the new bridge over 70 in Frederick.
After our visit to the Tower Bridge, we walked along the south bank of the Thames, grabbed a quick lunch, then leaded to the Tate Modern [Art Museum]. By this point, we were trying to decide our plans for the rest of the day. Brad had plans to meet a high school friend for dinner, and Chris and I had thought of visiting St. Pauls or Westminster (which we’d walked by but not enter on our first day). After looking through the first floor of the gallery, Chris and I headed off, and Brad, I think, stayed there a bit longer.
Chris and I headed for St. Pauls, since we could walk to it, and though they were no longer accepting people for tours for the day, we double check, and sure enough Evensong was scheduled for 5 pm, and no fee is charged for that. We killed a but of time, the about a half hour out, went back, and got into the church. We hadn’t decided whether to stay for Evensong, and after looking around for a bit, decided to head back to our hotel and to grab dinner, since at this point, our feet were just plan, well, done for the day. The whole travel on the Underground for the day had been a bit more complicated because line construction completely shut down one of the lines (the Circle line).
On the way, we decided to visit Covent Gardens (we still needed dinner) and there found, well, just about the whole of the population of London. The Underground station at Covent Gardens actually requires you to take an elevator between track level and street level, but the line was unimaginably long so we opted for the stairs…all 193 of them! No, I did not count them. To their credit, the Underground folks post lots of signs and make lots of announcements warning you how many stairs there are. It was a very, very tall spiral staircase (which, though, after all the towers at the Tower of London, wasn’t overly impressive!).
The whole place was buzzing with people—all sorts, couples, families, anyone, and for the first time in a while, it really felt like we were amongst the British…not the tourists. People were bustling about getting dinner, checking out the shops and going to shows. Our plans to find dinner were frustrated by the fact that it was SO busy that there was hardly a spare table to be seem for blocks. We were tired, a bit bewildered in the crowds, and hungry. We decided to finally head back to Paddington, and then grab dinner there, which we did, at a nice place a few blocks from our hotel. The restaurant, Garfunkels, is perhaps a mix between TGI Fridays and Bob Evans. The food was good, and the rest was welcome. After a filling meal, we headed back to our room to rest, type up a couple days of trip log, and maybe, if we feel up to it, to trek to the McDonalds for some internet.
LONDON DAY FOUR
Day four in London, Friday, started with yet another day of trying to figure out how to get ready when there’s hardly enough floor space in our room for both of us to be moving at the same time. On the positive side, the cave-ish nature of our room guarantees a good night’s sleep, which is essential when you are running around as much as we have been during the day.
The big event for the day was our reservation at Gordon Ramsey’s flagship restaurant of the same name. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and we’d decided to find out what all the fuss was about Michelin starred restaurants…figured we’d start big!
But since our reservation wasn’t until 2:15, we decided to sleep in a bit, then visit the National Gallery. It was a nice visit, and fun to see paintings we had heretofore only seen photos of. I was a big fan on a Da Vinci sketch they have, and Chris was a big fan of Casper Frederich’s (sp?) painting “A Winter Scene” or something like that—a nice landscape revealing a man sitting behind a rock in prayer and meditation, having tossed aside a crutch. Of course, since the National Gallery sits on Trafalgar Square, we got to see that famous spot—we’re pretty sure all the trash cans that aren’t in Underground stations are all there—the place is rimmed with them!
The downside of planning to head to lunch right from the restaurant was that it meant I had to dress for the event—which included an ill-chosen pair of black heels. I should know better, having similarly worn the shoes for what turned out to be a painful evening in New York. My feet actually held out well for a few hours, till, of course, twenty minutes till we headed to lunch. Let’s just say it wasn’t a fun walk to, on, then from the Underground.
Gordon Ramsey’s is located in Chelsey, and not particularly close to an Underground stop. Of course, we could have guessed but certainly learned from the waiters asking nearly every party if they wanted a taxi ordered at the end of their meal, most people who eat there probably don’t take the Tube to get there!
We arrived early, which was quite a feat considering my ginger steps by this point (and having dragged Chris into every shoe store we passed) and were invited to sit in the lounge (the restaurant is small—13 tables, and the bar only functions to stock the waitstaff (so no option of “sitting at the bar”). The nice thing was they first brought us nuts, then some tasty snacks of lettuce, crisps (potato chips) and cracker/bread and two yummy dips. All the staff were gracious and though I am sure we reeked of tourists from a mile away, they did not seem to treat us any differently than any other guests were treated (we suspected at least a couple others were, like us, food tourists).
We had already planned to do the three course menu of the day, and in the end, I ordered a seafood paella first course, fish second course, and banana parfait with caramel ice cream for dessert. Chris chose a liver/foie gras/marrow spread on a crouton (toast more than what we might call a crouton in the US) first course, pork second course, and rice pudding dessert. In addition, they brought us an amuse bouche (I guess that’s what it was) of a duck confit ravioli in pumpkin soup. It was quite yummy and has restored my faith in duck confit (they were serving it everywhere on our honeymoon then when we were in California, and is often wasn’t very well done).
We both enjoyed the food, and of course the service was very good. Was is most interesting, I think, is the difference between dining style between the US and England (and, as we suspect we shall see, France). Whereas waitstaff in the US are assigned certain tables (certainly good staff will care for whatever immediate needs any table has) at Ramsey’s (as at other places we’ve visited here) there wasn’t really one identifiable waiter for our table. All the staff at one time or another, I think, visited our table, and though about half of them had specific jobs, the others just all seemed to be working together as well, all as quite a team. I don’t know why that is, but I am now very interested to learn more about how different dining and service styles developed in various places. I was impressed that when we sat, we were asked who was in charge of the table (which tells them who to give the menu with the prices to), rather than merely assuming it was Chris.
The restaurant itself, as I said, was quite small (13 tables). All one room, and such simplicity of decoration as to border on being under-decorated. The walls were cream colored, featured mirror panels, and some gold-type accents (I think, mostly it was quite plain). The one room was certainly no larger than the whole of the main floor of our house, maybe just 2/3 of it.
The food, over all, was good. I must say, though, that we prefer Volt—and we tried to control for familiarity/hometown pride. The food was good, but not astounding (the sauces, perhaps, were the most worked parts of the meal, but we, admittedly, are not familiar enough with sauces to be able to judge them well). My first two dishes, to my tastes, were under-salted. Now I suspect that itself reveals my poor palate, but that’s how I experienced it. Dessert was good, and they brought (as to each table) two additional dessert dishes: first—strawberry ice cream balls encased in white chocolate and presented in a dish with dry ice sending its “steam” flowing over top, and then truffles encased in white chocolate then painted with a metallic-type coloring and then seven of these ball speared onto ends of individual wires connect at its base (giving it the look of a tree).
All in all, it was a really awesome meal, and our even attempting to look at it with a critical eye is rather audacious, but brought on by having had a few nice meals and, yes, watching some TV shows like Top Chef and even Gordon Ramsey’s won shows!
After the meal, I was anxious to get back and change into any outfit that didn’t require me to wear heels! We did that, then, since our other big excitement was the arrival of our good friend, groomsman and Chris’ college friend—Brad Oberle—decided to spend the few hours we had till meeting him at 9 to check out spots we’d heard of but hadn’t visited. This included Notting Hill, High Street (including a Whole Foods), and Victoria Station. Aside from providing me my first taste of a Cornish pasty, Victoria Station—a big Underground/National Rail station also provided us with one of the creepiest panoramas of the trip thus far—a couple hundred people all standing, staring forward and above them in the same direction. You see, unfortunately about half the trains were cancelled due to a signaling problem. But it was just a creepy thing to see. Eventually we tired of people watching and headed back to wait for Brad.
Sure enough, 9 pm came and it was awesome to see Brad coming around the corner. Brad has been working in Zurich for a few months now, having received his PhD (in botany/evolutionary biology) and gotten a research position there. After saying many excited greetings, we headed to find a nice local pub, where we hung out for a couple hours and caught up about all manner of things. To our surprise the place closed at 11:30, so we made plans to meet again at 8:30 in the morning (Brad’s hostel is only a few blocks from our hotel) to do some sightseeing.
The big event for the day was our reservation at Gordon Ramsey’s flagship restaurant of the same name. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and we’d decided to find out what all the fuss was about Michelin starred restaurants…figured we’d start big!
But since our reservation wasn’t until 2:15, we decided to sleep in a bit, then visit the National Gallery. It was a nice visit, and fun to see paintings we had heretofore only seen photos of. I was a big fan on a Da Vinci sketch they have, and Chris was a big fan of Casper Frederich’s (sp?) painting “A Winter Scene” or something like that—a nice landscape revealing a man sitting behind a rock in prayer and meditation, having tossed aside a crutch. Of course, since the National Gallery sits on Trafalgar Square, we got to see that famous spot—we’re pretty sure all the trash cans that aren’t in Underground stations are all there—the place is rimmed with them!
The downside of planning to head to lunch right from the restaurant was that it meant I had to dress for the event—which included an ill-chosen pair of black heels. I should know better, having similarly worn the shoes for what turned out to be a painful evening in New York. My feet actually held out well for a few hours, till, of course, twenty minutes till we headed to lunch. Let’s just say it wasn’t a fun walk to, on, then from the Underground.
Gordon Ramsey’s is located in Chelsey, and not particularly close to an Underground stop. Of course, we could have guessed but certainly learned from the waiters asking nearly every party if they wanted a taxi ordered at the end of their meal, most people who eat there probably don’t take the Tube to get there!
We arrived early, which was quite a feat considering my ginger steps by this point (and having dragged Chris into every shoe store we passed) and were invited to sit in the lounge (the restaurant is small—13 tables, and the bar only functions to stock the waitstaff (so no option of “sitting at the bar”). The nice thing was they first brought us nuts, then some tasty snacks of lettuce, crisps (potato chips) and cracker/bread and two yummy dips. All the staff were gracious and though I am sure we reeked of tourists from a mile away, they did not seem to treat us any differently than any other guests were treated (we suspected at least a couple others were, like us, food tourists).
We had already planned to do the three course menu of the day, and in the end, I ordered a seafood paella first course, fish second course, and banana parfait with caramel ice cream for dessert. Chris chose a liver/foie gras/marrow spread on a crouton (toast more than what we might call a crouton in the US) first course, pork second course, and rice pudding dessert. In addition, they brought us an amuse bouche (I guess that’s what it was) of a duck confit ravioli in pumpkin soup. It was quite yummy and has restored my faith in duck confit (they were serving it everywhere on our honeymoon then when we were in California, and is often wasn’t very well done).
We both enjoyed the food, and of course the service was very good. Was is most interesting, I think, is the difference between dining style between the US and England (and, as we suspect we shall see, France). Whereas waitstaff in the US are assigned certain tables (certainly good staff will care for whatever immediate needs any table has) at Ramsey’s (as at other places we’ve visited here) there wasn’t really one identifiable waiter for our table. All the staff at one time or another, I think, visited our table, and though about half of them had specific jobs, the others just all seemed to be working together as well, all as quite a team. I don’t know why that is, but I am now very interested to learn more about how different dining and service styles developed in various places. I was impressed that when we sat, we were asked who was in charge of the table (which tells them who to give the menu with the prices to), rather than merely assuming it was Chris.
The restaurant itself, as I said, was quite small (13 tables). All one room, and such simplicity of decoration as to border on being under-decorated. The walls were cream colored, featured mirror panels, and some gold-type accents (I think, mostly it was quite plain). The one room was certainly no larger than the whole of the main floor of our house, maybe just 2/3 of it.
The food, over all, was good. I must say, though, that we prefer Volt—and we tried to control for familiarity/hometown pride. The food was good, but not astounding (the sauces, perhaps, were the most worked parts of the meal, but we, admittedly, are not familiar enough with sauces to be able to judge them well). My first two dishes, to my tastes, were under-salted. Now I suspect that itself reveals my poor palate, but that’s how I experienced it. Dessert was good, and they brought (as to each table) two additional dessert dishes: first—strawberry ice cream balls encased in white chocolate and presented in a dish with dry ice sending its “steam” flowing over top, and then truffles encased in white chocolate then painted with a metallic-type coloring and then seven of these ball speared onto ends of individual wires connect at its base (giving it the look of a tree).
All in all, it was a really awesome meal, and our even attempting to look at it with a critical eye is rather audacious, but brought on by having had a few nice meals and, yes, watching some TV shows like Top Chef and even Gordon Ramsey’s won shows!
After the meal, I was anxious to get back and change into any outfit that didn’t require me to wear heels! We did that, then, since our other big excitement was the arrival of our good friend, groomsman and Chris’ college friend—Brad Oberle—decided to spend the few hours we had till meeting him at 9 to check out spots we’d heard of but hadn’t visited. This included Notting Hill, High Street (including a Whole Foods), and Victoria Station. Aside from providing me my first taste of a Cornish pasty, Victoria Station—a big Underground/National Rail station also provided us with one of the creepiest panoramas of the trip thus far—a couple hundred people all standing, staring forward and above them in the same direction. You see, unfortunately about half the trains were cancelled due to a signaling problem. But it was just a creepy thing to see. Eventually we tired of people watching and headed back to wait for Brad.
Sure enough, 9 pm came and it was awesome to see Brad coming around the corner. Brad has been working in Zurich for a few months now, having received his PhD (in botany/evolutionary biology) and gotten a research position there. After saying many excited greetings, we headed to find a nice local pub, where we hung out for a couple hours and caught up about all manner of things. To our surprise the place closed at 11:30, so we made plans to meet again at 8:30 in the morning (Brad’s hostel is only a few blocks from our hotel) to do some sightseeing.
LONDON DAY THREE
By special guest Blogger, Chris, my husband... :-)
-----------
Day three in London and we decided to get and early start so we were up at 7am in order to make it out to Hampton Court Palace and still have some of the day left for more sightseeing. Our room is extremely small (think of a small walk-in closet) and by the time we are done getting ready in the morning we are a little irritable. Fortunately once we leave the hotel we quickly forget the struggles of getting ready and settle into the day. We headed to the nearest McDonalds, not because we are missing cheap American food, but because they have reliable and free internet! After breakfast and a quick check of email we returned to the hotel to drop off the computer and then headed for Waterloo Station where we caught the train to Hampton Court.
30 minutes later we arrived at the palace and wandered into the old kitchen. The kitchen area was huge but I think Steve would prefer the new kitchen at camp. Maybe I can convince Steve to do some old fashion meat on the spit over the fire. After seeing the kitchen we found were we were supposed to go and picked up our audio tour guides. We started in the clock court (named for the huge clock that also gives the date and even the time of high tide at London Bridge) before seeing an exhibit on Henry VIII and his early years on the throne. Following that we went to the King’s apartment which included the great hall. It was fun to see all the school groups going through the castle. Some of them even had on high visibility vests with reflectors! After the great hall we has a private audience with the king himself while listening in on his counsels’ discussion of the King’s impending marriage to Kateryn Parr and how loyal she will be.
The next stop was the Royal Chapel which was stunning. Calvary has some beautiful wood work but this is a whole different level. The end of the visit was through the section of the palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren for William and Mary with a quick walk through some of the gardens.
After another ride back to Waterloo station we grabbed a quick lunch and discovered that there are no garbage cans in the train stations. This was very frustrating to me until we realized that it is because they don’t want any terrorists to place explosives in the trash cans. An effective form of security, but it makes we wonder what all the people do with their trash from the coffee shops.
After lunch we went to Wesley’s Chapel in a hurry since they closed in an hour. We had a wonderful and hilarious tour from a sweet old British man who rushed us through. The highlights (other than the guide himself) were seeing Wesley’s study including an exercise machine and an electric therapy machine) as well as the bedroom where he died. We then saw his grave behind the church before going into the chapel itself. The church is beautiful and I could just picture Sarah up in Wesley’s old pulpit giving a sermon. The pulpit is a wonderful wooden raised pulpit located in the center of the front of the church.
Our next stop was the London Eye. Once we got there and took a look we decided to save the $60 it would have cost us to ride to the top and instead walked along the Thames.
We walked all the way to Vinopolis which is a wine experience including wine classes and tastings from around the world. The tour starts with a great basic class about how to taste wine. The class was great and we wished we had had a class like this in Napa. After the class we were then able to explore the whole place and choose 5 different tastings. We were disappointed with all of the wines. I think we have spoiled ourselves with our trip to Napa. In addition to wine they also do tastings of other spirits so I took the opportunity to try absinthe which I have heard about, but never had. It tastes like licorice and was not pleasant. Since it is always fun to try different varieties of a spirit together I also sampled two single malt scotches. One of them was ok and the other was very smoky and tasted like I was drinking a burnt log. The tour ended with a Bombay Saphire (a gin made in London) cocktail. This was the best drink of the night.
We ended our day by making our way back to Paddington for our now nightly stop at the Sainsbury market for drinks and some chocolate.
-----------
Day three in London and we decided to get and early start so we were up at 7am in order to make it out to Hampton Court Palace and still have some of the day left for more sightseeing. Our room is extremely small (think of a small walk-in closet) and by the time we are done getting ready in the morning we are a little irritable. Fortunately once we leave the hotel we quickly forget the struggles of getting ready and settle into the day. We headed to the nearest McDonalds, not because we are missing cheap American food, but because they have reliable and free internet! After breakfast and a quick check of email we returned to the hotel to drop off the computer and then headed for Waterloo Station where we caught the train to Hampton Court.
30 minutes later we arrived at the palace and wandered into the old kitchen. The kitchen area was huge but I think Steve would prefer the new kitchen at camp. Maybe I can convince Steve to do some old fashion meat on the spit over the fire. After seeing the kitchen we found were we were supposed to go and picked up our audio tour guides. We started in the clock court (named for the huge clock that also gives the date and even the time of high tide at London Bridge) before seeing an exhibit on Henry VIII and his early years on the throne. Following that we went to the King’s apartment which included the great hall. It was fun to see all the school groups going through the castle. Some of them even had on high visibility vests with reflectors! After the great hall we has a private audience with the king himself while listening in on his counsels’ discussion of the King’s impending marriage to Kateryn Parr and how loyal she will be.
The next stop was the Royal Chapel which was stunning. Calvary has some beautiful wood work but this is a whole different level. The end of the visit was through the section of the palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren for William and Mary with a quick walk through some of the gardens.
After another ride back to Waterloo station we grabbed a quick lunch and discovered that there are no garbage cans in the train stations. This was very frustrating to me until we realized that it is because they don’t want any terrorists to place explosives in the trash cans. An effective form of security, but it makes we wonder what all the people do with their trash from the coffee shops.
After lunch we went to Wesley’s Chapel in a hurry since they closed in an hour. We had a wonderful and hilarious tour from a sweet old British man who rushed us through. The highlights (other than the guide himself) were seeing Wesley’s study including an exercise machine and an electric therapy machine) as well as the bedroom where he died. We then saw his grave behind the church before going into the chapel itself. The church is beautiful and I could just picture Sarah up in Wesley’s old pulpit giving a sermon. The pulpit is a wonderful wooden raised pulpit located in the center of the front of the church.
Our next stop was the London Eye. Once we got there and took a look we decided to save the $60 it would have cost us to ride to the top and instead walked along the Thames.
We walked all the way to Vinopolis which is a wine experience including wine classes and tastings from around the world. The tour starts with a great basic class about how to taste wine. The class was great and we wished we had had a class like this in Napa. After the class we were then able to explore the whole place and choose 5 different tastings. We were disappointed with all of the wines. I think we have spoiled ourselves with our trip to Napa. In addition to wine they also do tastings of other spirits so I took the opportunity to try absinthe which I have heard about, but never had. It tastes like licorice and was not pleasant. Since it is always fun to try different varieties of a spirit together I also sampled two single malt scotches. One of them was ok and the other was very smoky and tasted like I was drinking a burnt log. The tour ended with a Bombay Saphire (a gin made in London) cocktail. This was the best drink of the night.
We ended our day by making our way back to Paddington for our now nightly stop at the Sainsbury market for drinks and some chocolate.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
DAY TWO IN LONDON
We started the day with Chris’ feet being the worse for the previous day’s trekking all over Central London. Okay, maybe “all over” is an exaggeration, but it was a lot of walking. So we decided it was better to not walk as much (just taking the Tube gets you walking up and down hallways and stairs like you wouldn’t believe). We popped into the Starbucks at Paddington Station for some coffee, watched some of the people on their way into the day as well, then headed via the Tube to the British Museum. Once off the Tube we discovered a major problem—our map and the way we’d been interpreting the Tube map were backwards—we discovered that after we’d walked several blocks from the station—in the wrong direction.
Eventually, though we made it to the British Museum, only to discover that was a lot less BRITISH stuff in the museum than we’d anticipated. We did, however, see the Rosetta stone, the Elgin marbles, some cool Assyrian carvings, and well, just about everything (we may not have looked at every item but we walked in every room except the special exhibits). About half-way through we decided to try to get to Kensington Palace, so we went a bit faster through the upper floors. The visit was a good, but perhaps swift one, and we were back on the Tube on the way to the Queensway stop and Kensington Palace.
My mom and sister got us a member’s pass to the Historic Royal Palaces, which includes Kensington Palace, the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, etc. Kensington Palace is only partially open to the public (some “minor royals” now live there) and the exhibits are split between some of Princess Diana’s clothes, an exhibit on the last debutantes (surprisingly good, and Chris and I learned to waltz via painted steps on the floor) and preserved royal rooms from when the palace was used as the royal residence.
We got to see what was the throne room, and the various rooms used by kings and queens as staterooms and bedrooms. The art and design was remarkable, and the history of the rooms were cool as well—one of the rooms was where Victoria was wakened to learn she was queen. The visit was pretty cool, and among other things, Chris learned I’m much better at balancing a book on my head than he thought (another part of the debutantes exhibit).
We finished our time at Kensington Palace, and looking at the clock, decided to run back to the hotel to drop off our bag before heading to the BBC Radio theater for a show we’d gotten tickets for online—NewsJack. We took the Tube over to the area, checked in to make sure we know when and what time to line up for the show, and at the receptionist’s suggestion, hit up a local restaurant for dinner. The place, Ozer, was a great find and thanks to a great deal, we got good food for less than 10 pounds each. Definitely a good place.
Fortunately, we wandered back by the BBC earlier than we’d needed to que, and saw the line forming to go in. We stood for a bit till the let us in at 6:15 pm, and an hour later (after waiting in a holding room) we went into the theater. We had NO idea what to expect. Maybe, we thought, the Daily Show but on the radio? We also hoped we’d actually understand the humor, since we definitely felt our ignorance of British news and politics! But it was such a blast. More like a mix of the Daily Show with the sketch comedy of SNL. And fortunately, we did get, or could figure out, most of the humor. A great show, and for free! And cool to think we were present for a recorded show!
A delay on a Tube line sent us around a slightly different way on the Tube, but we made it back to Paddinton to grab some snacks (okay, we were sampling the British chocolate bars) and head back to the room. We spent the rest of the evening mapping out the coming days, watching the BBC and enjoying some tasty chocolates—and wondering why they don’t sell these in the US!
Eventually, though we made it to the British Museum, only to discover that was a lot less BRITISH stuff in the museum than we’d anticipated. We did, however, see the Rosetta stone, the Elgin marbles, some cool Assyrian carvings, and well, just about everything (we may not have looked at every item but we walked in every room except the special exhibits). About half-way through we decided to try to get to Kensington Palace, so we went a bit faster through the upper floors. The visit was a good, but perhaps swift one, and we were back on the Tube on the way to the Queensway stop and Kensington Palace.
My mom and sister got us a member’s pass to the Historic Royal Palaces, which includes Kensington Palace, the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, etc. Kensington Palace is only partially open to the public (some “minor royals” now live there) and the exhibits are split between some of Princess Diana’s clothes, an exhibit on the last debutantes (surprisingly good, and Chris and I learned to waltz via painted steps on the floor) and preserved royal rooms from when the palace was used as the royal residence.
We got to see what was the throne room, and the various rooms used by kings and queens as staterooms and bedrooms. The art and design was remarkable, and the history of the rooms were cool as well—one of the rooms was where Victoria was wakened to learn she was queen. The visit was pretty cool, and among other things, Chris learned I’m much better at balancing a book on my head than he thought (another part of the debutantes exhibit).
We finished our time at Kensington Palace, and looking at the clock, decided to run back to the hotel to drop off our bag before heading to the BBC Radio theater for a show we’d gotten tickets for online—NewsJack. We took the Tube over to the area, checked in to make sure we know when and what time to line up for the show, and at the receptionist’s suggestion, hit up a local restaurant for dinner. The place, Ozer, was a great find and thanks to a great deal, we got good food for less than 10 pounds each. Definitely a good place.
Fortunately, we wandered back by the BBC earlier than we’d needed to que, and saw the line forming to go in. We stood for a bit till the let us in at 6:15 pm, and an hour later (after waiting in a holding room) we went into the theater. We had NO idea what to expect. Maybe, we thought, the Daily Show but on the radio? We also hoped we’d actually understand the humor, since we definitely felt our ignorance of British news and politics! But it was such a blast. More like a mix of the Daily Show with the sketch comedy of SNL. And fortunately, we did get, or could figure out, most of the humor. A great show, and for free! And cool to think we were present for a recorded show!
A delay on a Tube line sent us around a slightly different way on the Tube, but we made it back to Paddinton to grab some snacks (okay, we were sampling the British chocolate bars) and head back to the room. We spent the rest of the evening mapping out the coming days, watching the BBC and enjoying some tasty chocolates—and wondering why they don’t sell these in the US!
TRAVEL AND DAY ONE IN LONDON
So schedule-wise, our travel (two flights and a ride on the Underground) into London was uneventful. Our slight delay taking off from JFK was basically made up by the time we arrived at Heathrow. Of course, it wasn’t twenty minutes (okay, maybe less) before I was having slight panics wondering where my Blackberry was (it was just where I’d left it…on purpose…at home). That remains perhaps my biggest adjustment on this trip so far!
At any rate the flight were fine. Tight seating BWI to JFK, and less sleep than we’d hoped JFK to Heathrow. Indeed, though Chris was doing okay, that first day in London was rough for me. It was good we kept moving (see below). Otherwise, I’d have fallen asleep at 2 pm!
The small amount of sleep was due in part to a cheery, but chatty little girl sitting with her parents just near us (her mother’s noise reducing headphones merely made it worse for everyone else). Sitting up, and not having gotten to move around much earlier didn’t help either, but we did manage to get a couple hours of sleep before they woke us up and we landed, breezed through customs (we still don’t know if the customs officer was actually interested in whether we have kids or just making sure we had our story straight).
The Tube trip into Paddington Station was similarly uneventful, and we had our week-long travel passes (only the ones bought from National Rail offices get us these great 2-for-1 deals they have going on now) and lunch before noon (we’d landed just after 9 am). We managed to find our hotel easily, only to discover that as small as we thought the room would be, it was all that and more (or less). But then again, that’s what we’ve figured. So far it’s been comfortable, clean, and the price is certainly good.
We checked into out room early, and our better judgment won out over our fatigue as we ventured out to look around (and keep ourselves awake!).
Chris had already gotten quite familiar with the area around our hotel thanks to maps, and at his suggestion, we made our way to Hyde Park, and walk along the lake, across a couple roads and found ourselves right in front of Buckingham Palace. The intermittent drizzles put a damper on the ceremonial tone of the place, I suppose, but we did get to see the guard open a gate for a car that came racing in (then swiftly inside/underground so we never saw who) and an empty horse and buggy (of course with drivers) pull into the palace gates, up to a door, and a “random” guy get in and get carried away outside the gates. I’m not sure if this is a common occurrence at the palace, but I think we ought to make sure the White House has a similarly random but awesome mode of transportation available. Can’t you see it now? An ostrich-pulled chariot whisking the House Majority leader back to the office or something?
We wandered further along, past trainees practicing marching at the barracks beside Buckingham Palace, up towards Westminter Abbey, and down into the basement of the Methodist Centre for their café—we may have only had a diet Pepsi, but hey, it was a Methodist one!
By that point, Westminster Abbey was not too far from closing, so we put off a visit inside, and wandered past Big Ben and the House of Parliament, along the Thames, and back to Paddington on the Underground. We had high hopes for a pub near our hotel, since it was pretty busy each time we’d passed it. Sadly, we discovered after receiving our food that the place’s popularity was driven not by good food but rather inexpensive alcohol!
By the time we made it back to our hotel, it was all I could do to stay awake long enough to get things ready for the next day, and aside from a brief fire alarm about midnight (apparently something to do with the guy next to us using the shower and the steam setting it off) we got a much better sleep than we’d anticipated, and woke up ready to meet our second day in London!
At any rate the flight were fine. Tight seating BWI to JFK, and less sleep than we’d hoped JFK to Heathrow. Indeed, though Chris was doing okay, that first day in London was rough for me. It was good we kept moving (see below). Otherwise, I’d have fallen asleep at 2 pm!
The small amount of sleep was due in part to a cheery, but chatty little girl sitting with her parents just near us (her mother’s noise reducing headphones merely made it worse for everyone else). Sitting up, and not having gotten to move around much earlier didn’t help either, but we did manage to get a couple hours of sleep before they woke us up and we landed, breezed through customs (we still don’t know if the customs officer was actually interested in whether we have kids or just making sure we had our story straight).
The Tube trip into Paddington Station was similarly uneventful, and we had our week-long travel passes (only the ones bought from National Rail offices get us these great 2-for-1 deals they have going on now) and lunch before noon (we’d landed just after 9 am). We managed to find our hotel easily, only to discover that as small as we thought the room would be, it was all that and more (or less). But then again, that’s what we’ve figured. So far it’s been comfortable, clean, and the price is certainly good.
We checked into out room early, and our better judgment won out over our fatigue as we ventured out to look around (and keep ourselves awake!).
Chris had already gotten quite familiar with the area around our hotel thanks to maps, and at his suggestion, we made our way to Hyde Park, and walk along the lake, across a couple roads and found ourselves right in front of Buckingham Palace. The intermittent drizzles put a damper on the ceremonial tone of the place, I suppose, but we did get to see the guard open a gate for a car that came racing in (then swiftly inside/underground so we never saw who) and an empty horse and buggy (of course with drivers) pull into the palace gates, up to a door, and a “random” guy get in and get carried away outside the gates. I’m not sure if this is a common occurrence at the palace, but I think we ought to make sure the White House has a similarly random but awesome mode of transportation available. Can’t you see it now? An ostrich-pulled chariot whisking the House Majority leader back to the office or something?
We wandered further along, past trainees practicing marching at the barracks beside Buckingham Palace, up towards Westminter Abbey, and down into the basement of the Methodist Centre for their café—we may have only had a diet Pepsi, but hey, it was a Methodist one!
By that point, Westminster Abbey was not too far from closing, so we put off a visit inside, and wandered past Big Ben and the House of Parliament, along the Thames, and back to Paddington on the Underground. We had high hopes for a pub near our hotel, since it was pretty busy each time we’d passed it. Sadly, we discovered after receiving our food that the place’s popularity was driven not by good food but rather inexpensive alcohol!
By the time we made it back to our hotel, it was all I could do to stay awake long enough to get things ready for the next day, and aside from a brief fire alarm about midnight (apparently something to do with the guy next to us using the shower and the steam setting it off) we got a much better sleep than we’d anticipated, and woke up ready to meet our second day in London!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)