MORNING
11:45 A.M (London time) 5:45 a.m. US CST
Have a light brunch before landing of croissant, strawberry jam, coffee. Keep my granola bar and cranberry raisins to snack on later. Plane lands at Heathrow airport on time. Landing is a little rough. Anxious to get off the plane and be able to stretch. The airports seem to have a similar feel to them, I wonder if that is to make the transition less disorienting for travelers.
After riding our first of many subway like trains, we arrive to a meeting area and are greeted at the airport by a representative of EF, Cheryl, I believe is her name. She is very sweet and helpful. We wait for our bus to arrive taking us into the city and hotel. We find out we have about an hour long ride.
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| Waiting on Bus |
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| While waiting spot a Double Decker Bus |
Exciting to be on the bus and get our first glimpses of London and the surrounding areas. I am a little disappointed in that London looks very much like a large American city, like New York. This high paced environment will be our new home for the next 4 days. The weather is what you typically think of being in London, cool (60's) cloudy and scattered rain showers. We quickly experiences what it feels like not to be in air conditioned transportation and buildings. Even though it is cool outside it is stifling inside the bus until the driver opens a window for ventilation.
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| A view from the bus |
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| Older neighborhood |
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| Grocery store chain |
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| Modern design on side of building |
LATE AFTERNOON
We arrive at our hotel Premier Inn location in Hackney- East end of London were the infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper, committed heinous crimes. Our friendly guide, Guilliume, warns us right away of pick pockets in the area. We are given only 10 minutes to drop off our bags in our room then go sightseeing, but all of us would love to take a shower and nap.
My room-mate is another nontraditional art student. The rooms are very nice, clean and modern. Thank goodness they have A/C, and two beds- one full size and the other a twin. We learn that to turn the lights on you have to use the room key card, it's a new method to conserve electricity when you are not in the room. Even the shower fixture is very different, just like the one I had in Amsterdam. I open and look out the curtains curious what is behind our hotel. Cannot really tell, looks like some type of ironworks. It's common site in the city: a very old structure next to very new one.
The group gathers downstairs for our first TUBE (or subway) experience.
We are all very weary the first day of traveling and touring the city and will have many challenges: overcoming jet lag, getting used to new currency, much cooler temperatures from Texas-when we left the highs were in the 90's, traffic concerns with drivers on the left side of the road, subway maneuvers, and lots of walking (our average walk was around 10 miles a day).
The high speed subway presents its' own set of problems. My first attempt at feeding the ticket into a machine that allows entry into the area was not a good one. I mess up the sequence and am not allowed to enter, so in desperation to keep up with the group, our guide lets me shadow another group's member (one from Louisiana) to get inside. Unfortunately the London transit police officer did not like that idea. He scolded me,"You are in the big city now, you cannot touch people." After a brief explanation and apology we went on our way. I was so embarrassed and taken back by the reaction of this man. Funny thing, rumor spread amongst the group that I was scolded for touching a man inappropriately and that is why I was chastised. Crazy beginning.
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| Street side Tube Entry |
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| Waiting for the Tube to arrive |
I am now beginning to see how my daughter lost so much weight living in London. Everyday maneuvering in the city requires lots of walking. To and from the Tube, inside there are many stairs to climb up and down, but some escalators too. It hits me how sedentary our lifestyles are in the States and why we have weight issues. We just hop into our own personal cars and sit, go home and sit in front of our t.v. or computers.
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We arrive at Picadilly Circus and are given a 30 minute break to explore around the block.
My roommate and I are in need of an energy boost when we spot a Gelato stand. I have lemon, she has chocolate. Yummy hits the spot.
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3# Sterling for a scoop
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We then spot an interesting store called Ospry. Upscale store that sells botanical sculpture, jewelry, clothing, home accessories. Found some jewelry thought about buying, but the price makes me hesitant.
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| Another reflection a double decker bus and me in Ospry window |
DINNER TIME
Now it is time to make our way to dinner. We see this sign and think this is where we are going.
Instead we are going to The Happenstance, a posh London restaurant.
I am not typically a fish eater, but want to at least try the food. We are seated at a long table that has the cutest botanical type centerpieces. Water is served in blue sea colored glasses. Then an appetizer of grilled chicken on skewers with a mustard type sauce. Yummy, I save pieces of chicken incase the fish is not to my liking.
They bring the fish and chips, I really liked them. Only thing was the fish skin was still attached, didn't care for this too much. The dessert was a wonderful creme brûlée. Felt good to sit and rest a while, but time to move on.
click for: History of Fish and Chips
English Fish and Chips Recipe
EVENING:
Nights get really chilly and I am glad I brought my wool scarf that I bought in Scotland, it kept me warm here too. We make it to the National Gallery Mall area and suddenly I hit a wall of exhaustion. I am even experiencing a mild asthma attack and have to use my inhaler. It is around 8:30 and our guide announces he sees we are all tired. We walk back to the Tube where we will get off at Leicester Square where our hotel is located. Also in the summer months the sun does not set until 9:30ish in London and come August until midnight, which is really confusing. Finally the hotel's purple sign lights are in sight. So ready for sweet, sweet sleep.
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| Walking on the old stone roadways |
I am impressed with the scale of all of these historic sites. Seeing them on television or pictures in a book just does not do them justice. They all live up to their name and seeing the Thames River from the air is even grander. Truly amazing to be in this city which has such a rich history.
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