A Crash Course in ...London?
London: Day 2
My day began with the most amazing shower ever.
Not that kind of shower.
The water was screaming hot, and came down in torrents, and had pressure behind it.
Jennifer and I packed up and headed out toward St. Paul’s, stopping at the Tesco Metro along the way to pickup some breakfast. They had Krispy Kreme! So I had a donut, and a croissant, with power-aid.
KRISPY KREME! I haven’t had donuts since I left the states.
Anyways, we headed off towards St. Paul’s. After taking some extra pictures of the exterior we headed inside.
Wow.
For those of you who don’t know St. Paul’s boasts the world’s second longest nave, behind St. Peter’s in Rome. For the record the Santa Maria Del Fiore has the world’s third longest nave. So I’ve been to the three longest churches in the world in 3 weeks.
Not bad, if you ask me.
Anyways, the church is magnificent. The crypt is cool. And the whispering gallery is amazing: you can hear a whisper spoken from 30 meters away against the opposite wall of the dome. Finally there was the view from the stone gallery, with is outside around the dome over looking the city. Some great shots across the board. All my film pictures are posted under the London album on the photos page.
After St. Paul’s we walked over the millennium bridge, which offered some great looks up and down the river. The designers had enough foresight to line the bridge up with St. Paul’s creating a very cool effect. Check out the picture I have on my photos page.
After that we walked along the river, stopping to listen to many of the street musicians, supporting a few by throwing them a few pence. We walked by the London Eye, opting not to take a ride, as the lines were long and it was expensive. We justified it by saying that we had spectacular views from St. Paul’s.
I photographed Big Ben and Parliament from the other side of the river, before we crossed the bridge and marveled at the neo-gothic structure up close. I pondered for a moment if all those who use Big Ben as a clock, realize what they are doing. I mean, who can say that Big Ben is what keeps time for them on a daily basis? But then again, I have an astronomical clock to keep my time here in Prague...
At any rate we walked by Westminster Abby, again, opting not to go in (not to mention they were closing). I have seen a TON of gothic style churches here in Prague. Enough gothic to last me a while.
We had lunch at a snacks store... Appropriately dubbed “Snax.” I attempted to have a steak and cheese, which wasn’t very good, but certainly edible. After eating we headed to another place (inside this time) to have tea time. We found ourselves in a pub that had a fire going, and a real “classic” feel to it. I felt like a real Londoner drinking tea in the afternoon in a pub.
We then wandered off to Buckingham Palace.
I was disappointed. Very disappointed. But it had to be seen. The fountain out front was much cooler than the palace itself. Although one redeeming quality: the guards out front had some kick-ass hats.
Now to, ironically, what was the funnest (most fun) part of the day, playing in the leaves.
You see, since Jennifer and I missed the New England fall we decided to do a photo shoot in the colorful leaves in the park next to Buckingham. Jenn has most of the pictures, but I have posted a few on the photos page. I’ll post more as I get them.
Anyways, after our photo shoot in the leaves, we walked past the Marble Gate, and onwards to Harrods, the most expensive department store in existence.
Well, maybe not the MOST expensive, but certainly close. It’s so high end that (after rolling around on the ground in the leaves) they wouldn’t even let me carry my backpack on my shoulder, instead I had to hand carry it.
Hm.
We wandered around before I started to twitch with the number of people (and the amount things cost) so we headed out, walked up the street, and caught a bus that would land us near the hotel.
When we got back to the hotel I talked to reception to see if they could get us reservations at a restaurant for dinner. They were able to find a table for two at a local place that had great beef, but not many vegetarian options, so I called ahead to a French place and was able to get a table for two.
So we primped after our day of frolicking through London, and headed out to the restaurant. It happened to be on the fifth floor with a fantastic view, although it was dark at the time. Never the less the service was awesome, the wine was phenomenal, and the food mind-blowing. I had a scallop-pea soup to start, with a steak and potatoes as a main course, and finally chocolate souffle for dessert. The wine was a French 2006 Chardonnay... I’m looking for the exact name. But at any rate it was amazing.
It was the single most expensive dinner I have ever had, and also among, if not, the best. For those interested, the restaurant was called, Coq d’Argent. They have a website.
After dinner we headed toward Soho and Piccadilly Circus to find a club to do some dancing. After wandering around, and deciding not to pay 10 pounds each to get into one club, we found “Cheers.” Yes, just like Boston’s Cheers. That was 8 pounds. When Jenn found out she said to the bouncer, “WHAT?! I come from Boston. This is OUR bar. We invented Cheers. I’m not paying 8 pounds to get in.”
Stunned, and slightly scared, the bouncer replied in a hushed tone, “fine, 5 each” and proceeded to walk us into the club like we were VIP’s.
Point Jenn. She took on a bouncer, twice her size, and won. Still makes me giggle.
We had a few drinks and danced for a while before deciding not to stay out too late and headed back to the hotel. We did meet at least one interesting, or at least worthy of mention, guy at the bar. He had been coming to Cheers since 1997.
I didn’t tell him that in 1997 I was 10 years old.
He bought us a round, and talked to us about his favorite vacationing places. He actually knew Boston. and New York. and Sweden (his favorite of places to go on holiday). I was impressed by how much traveling he had done. Nice guy none the less.
Upon arrival back at the hotel we fell dead asleep after having been through all of London in a day. Well almost all of London.
Tomorrow is Abbey Road...