Today was a long day but after Adam and I dropped off the luggage at the hotel we decided to walk around for a bit. Went to Paddington station, got money and free donut, then walked toward Hyde Park to check it out. It was actually really neat but my first impression of London and its people was kind of mixed. They are for sure not open and bubbly to strangers on the street and there was a lot of trash everywhere. On the other hand if you take the time to talk to them in a restaurant or store they are cheery and nice. That could just be a results of their job but I want to believe that they are just cold/standoffish on the streets. The houses and apartment buildings are pretty neat from the outside. They are old, grand and beautiful with columns, pillars, and window flowers made of ivy and purple-pinkish petunias flowing over.
Ad and I spent quit awhile in Hyde park and Kensington Garden. They are basically in the same fenced in area but called two different parts. We got to see this amazing gold embellished multistory statue to Prince Albert, a Peter Pan statue in the park and one of the originally planned trees from the 1700s. We learned about the tree when we tagged on the back of a park tour with an elderly group. That didn’t last long because they walk too slow with their canes and walkers.
After we made it across the park we decided to walk to Em’s apartment to surprise her when she got finished with class at 1. On the way to her place we stopped at Holy Trinity Church when we stumbled upon it by accident. We went in the back gate and walked around to the front where they were having some kind of photo shoot inside. That didn’t stop us, we walked in and the splendor and detail that went into the decoration of the church were magnificent.
Finally after about 3 hours of walking Adam and had to stop for a little snack. We didn’t want a large lunch yet because we wanted to wait for Em. The decision was made to run quickly into a grocery store where we split this delicious garden chicken baguette, fabulous and refreshing. That gave us enough energy to walk the rest of the way to Emily’s apartment, which by the way is way more than a quick 10-minute walk.
As we were walking we ran into a group of Mizzou kids in the same program as Emily but Em wasn’t there. We went to the flat and she wasn’t there either. Her friend Liz let us use her phone and we called. Em was surprising us at the hotel on the other side of the park. We were a bit frustrated at this point because the original hotel I thought we booked was seriously directly across the street from Emily’s flat. So while we were waiting for Em to come back to the flat, Ad and walked over to the hotel to see if they had any open rooms. Turns out they were booked for the next two nights but after that we could transfer over. Great! That really made my day because now Em will be able to stay with us.
She finally got back and the three of us set out for some fish and chips for lunch. We found a small corner pub and had their special of fish, chips, peas, and tarter sauce. They were mouthwatering delicious but for sure fried. Not something I could do every day. In this restaurant was when we encountered an American who gives every other American the bad stereotype. He was in his early thirties, perhaps homosexual, drinking, and yelling loudly. At one point he began talking about how he needed to pass gas, the whole restaurant could hear him since we were in the bar area. Thankfully his friends talked him into going outside.
With full stomachs it was time to run errands. We went to the phone warehouse store and bought a phone for Adam and me to use. It is a Samsung basic phone for 5 pounds and you had to buy 10 pounds worth of minutes. The guy at the store told us that it only costs 4 pence to call the US and costs 15 pence to call Em in London. Kind of weird. After that we went and got tube cards. With our tube cards Ad and I went back to the hotel for a little rest and shower. It felt so nice to check into our room and take a shower after spending so much time traveling. The room is very tiny thought. I think it is the entire size of my kitchen in Columbia, no joke. The bathroom is like a closet. I think a fridge is bigger than the shower. Oh well I am happy to have a room with a shower, bed and AC.
After showers, naps, we were ready for dinner. Em met us at the hotel and we took the tube down to Covent Gardens for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Porters where we decided to try new things. Em and I went for traditional English pies, mine was chicken and corn, and hers was beef, genius, and mushrooms. They were delicious; the first home cooked meal I have had in a long time. Adam also picked something new, wild boar made into sausages. They were fabulous and the time talking was wonderful too. There will be pictures of our meals and beers thanks to Adam who camera obsessed at dinner. Those will come later when I figure out how to upload pictures to the website in mass number, not using flicker.
Tomorrow we are meeting up with my Uncle Doug, Janet, and my three cousins! I am excited because we are going to Windsor Castle. That means I need to get up in 6 hours, yikes, tomorrow I will need another nap but it is one of my favorite holidays…4th of July!! Everyone shoot off some fire works for me and don’t blow off your fingers.
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AuthorMy name is Meg and I am currently a Geriatrics and Palliative Care Fellow at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. I started this blog several years ago as a way to remember and talk about what I experienced while studying abroad in Rwanda during the summer of 2009. Archives
January 2016
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