Londres: Esta Mas Cerca a Ver tu a Primo Aqui

My parents raised us not to be on time, but to show up early, even if that means just waiting in the parking lot until they unlock the doors. Their training persisted and when Emma and I created this trip, we had early trips leaving each city and leaving Brussels for London was no exception. Although our train ride was not too too early, we gave ourselves extra time as the customs to go in and out of the UK are thorough and they recommend getting there an hour and a half early to go through security that mirrors an airports.

We swiftly passed through, we were the head of the line, and then waited for our train to London. Again, the Eurostar train was so smooth I fell asleep. I cannot recommend it enough. The train plopped us right in St. Pancras Station, completing our circle of cities. We ubered to the AirBNB in Chelsea to drop our stuff off as we weren’t able to fully check in, and then wondered around the neighborhood. We didn’t make it far as we were very hungry. We had jet lag: it wasn’t 11 AM, it was noon which means lunchtime. The first restaurant in sight was right across the street, the Goat. Unfortunately, their kitchen didn’t open until noon, so we had a drink and chatted with the friendly host. He told us that it was a more new age restaurant that also had a bar upstairs and a speakeasy. When I asked him what English beer to drink, he pointed across the street to a pub that we had overlooked. The Goat wasn’t the GOAT when it came to beers. Nevertheless, I got a Spanish beer, which they did have. He also gave us a long list of things to do, but we only had two days, so we checked off maybe one or two things from his list. We did take him up on his recommendation and went across the street after lunch.

Now this was the quintessential pub. The wood bar, the sports banners, cricket on the TV. I knew I would get a good British brew here, and that’s what I did. Turns out, I don’t love British brews. They’re served room temperature and didn’t have a lot of flavor, but I tried it. They also had Fish n Chips, which was on my bucket list. It was too bad we had already eaten. So, we whiled the hours playing cards and trying to figure out how to play cricket before officially checking in to the AirBNB.

After settling, our jet lagged hunger struck again and we searched for a place for food. Our sights settled on Ollie’s, an Asian fusion restaurant. Although a tad spicy, the food we ordered off the prix fixe was delicious. We also learned something about happy hours. We’re from puritanical Massachusetts where happy hour, if a restaurant has it, only applies to food. Here we found ourselves in the country we freed ourselves from and they knew how to do happy hour. We spotted the sign immediately and each put in our order for two for one drinks: we were going to save so much money. Imagine our surprise when all of our drinks came out two of each like they were disembarking Noah’s Cocktail Ark. It was certainly a good surprise and we were good for the rest of the night.

I didn’t drink them all, but let’s just say no drink went to waste.

As with each city, we had two full days in London and we hit the ground running. Our first stop, the British Museum. We added it to our itinerary when we saw Hammurabi's Code as it reminded us of the Rosetta Stone, which was housed in the British Museum. The line was long, curving around the block, and we didn’t have tickets. We ultimately said, “screw it” and hopped in line. This would be the second time that YOLOing it worked in our favor. We waited even less than the Louvre and the museum was free (they did ask for donations). Soon after, we found the Rosetta Stone. When I gazed upon it, I learned a new language: speaking with your elbows. Everyone was trying to get their photo of one of the most well known rocks in the world, and I was no exception. After I snapped a shot, I did appreciate the fine etchings demonstrating the same sentences in three different languages. What a lucky find!

Quickly, we tired of the museum as there were a lot of people and there was more of the city we wanted to see. We left and headed to Piccadilly Circus, a smaller Times Square and then through Trafalgar Square and then to Big Ben. I honestly didn’t think I was going to be impressed with Big Ben, but it was spectacular. It was so shiny and big and told us the time. It’s kind of like an iPhone. At this point we were swimming with all of the tourists, but we wanted to get to the Thames to see the London Eye that we kept swimming. The walk to the Thames was slower than the walk back towards Westminster Abbey, and fortunately we didn’t lose anyone. From here, we wanted to see Buckinham Palace. We were trying to knock out as many places as possible in one day. Unfortunately, our bodies needed fuel, so we stopped at several restaurants before finding one that didn’t have a 45 minute food wait (it ended up being 35 minutes). It was here that I drew an x next to Fish n Chips and enjoyed a quite delicious meal.

A close, close-up of Big Ben with my 20x zoom digital camera.

Next, we continued to Buckinham Palace and saw the building that felt reminiscent of the White House albeit a different color. We had one more palace to get to, so we set off through Green Park, towards Hyde Park, and then ultimately Kensington Palace. It might have been that it was after sunset, so we couldn’t see much, but I wasn’t impressed with Kensington. Definitely not the place I would shack up if I were royalty. This was the last site we had on our list for the day, and good thing too because we had special, impromptu plans to meet up with a family back in Chelsea.

The family in question, our own! My mom’s first cousin and his family had also been in London…staying in Chelsea. We found a bar in the middle and met up for a pint, as the locals say. It was actually Fizzy Friday, so our group split two bottles of champagne. It’s not everyday that it’s Fizzy Friday. I remember meeting Cousin Rob and Lou Carol maybe 10 or so years ago, so there was a lot to catch up on. We chatted so long that when they left, they were actually 15 minutes late for their dinner reservation, and we had chosen this time early to avoid that. All in all, it was great catching up with family, but who knew that the closest point between Indiana and Massachusetts is Chelsea.

Our last day was finally here. First things first, we HAD to go to Abbey Road and re-enact the iconic photo. See how close (or far) we got below. Then the strategy was to go further down the Thames from the day prior and do the sights we had left. We started at Borough Market, which was a lively area with amazing foods. From there, we walked across the famous London Bridge. You can probably picture it. It looks big and ornate and is in every scene of a London romcom. Well, you’re picturing the wrong bridge. That would Tower Bridge. London Bridge, known for falling down, is the oldest bridge that spans that Thames and really looks like a normal bridge. No pomp or fanfare. From the bridge, you do get a great view of Tower Bridge, the Shard, the tallest building in the UK, and the Tower of London. The Tower of London was our next destination, so we walked along the Thames, by the Balloon Museum, a venture for a future trip, towards the Tower of London. 

If you don’t know the Tower of London, its biggest claim to fame is that it houses the royal family jewels. This would be the second set of royal jewels that I see on this trip; I probably should have sought out the Belgian ones. The jewels did not disappoint. How can a rock be worth so much money? They had me entranced just as all of those waiting in line with me. The jewels were by far the longest line we had to wait in within the Tower of London court. One of my favorite if not the saddest parts was the exhibit on the animals that were kept in this castle. A former king had a polar bear that he used to put on a leash so he could fish in the Thames. Fortunately, the animals are no longer housed here, but it was another reminder of the lifestyle of the rich and royal.

Sitting in solidarity to my animal brethren.

Sites had been seen. Food had been eaten. Drink had been drunk. We accomplished everything we could on our trip and the final activity was Secret Santa. I won’t go into every gift, but I had my dad and got him several souvenir coins and one real, defunct Belgian Franc as my dad likes collecting coins. Everyone did a great job with their gifts. After we swapped gifts, we packed all of our gifts and souvenirs into our small suitcases and prepared for our trip home. It was crazy how fast 9 days went and how it felt like such little time but also we fit so much into each day. Possibly the most impressive is how we didn’t kill each other. We had some tight living quarters but we all made it work. We also didn’t kill my dad, making him walk tens of thousands of steps every day. That being said, I think we all agreed that our next trip was going to be to a resort with a beach. Until the next time I come back after forgetting I have a blog, haste luego!