I have #brentered!!! I made it to London! Pretty exciting and my first time in the UK. The train ride from Paris went smoothly and was only slightly delayed (about 15m). I made my way to my hotel and checked in and then took advantage of the wifi access to plan my adventure for this evening. First stop was Kings Cross Station (not far from where I'm staying). I found Platform 9 3/4 as well as the Harry Potter shop. I have to admit, I almost teared up when I walked into the shop. It was just so amazing!!! I refrained from buying anything for now because I've heard the shop at the Warner Bros Studio Tour is larger and that's happening tomorrow evening. If I change my mind, Kings Cross is only a 5m walk from my hotel so I can go back.
It was about a 20-30m wait in line to get to the trolley for my 9 3/4 picture, but it was totally worth it and I made friends with the people behind me in line. Mutual geekiness. After I had sufficiently geeked out, I got my local train tix for tomorrow to and from Watford where the studio is based out of. Then I enjoyed a delicious cornish beef pasty for a late lunch.
I decided to walk in my explorations since it was still nice and light out. My first goal was to find Foyle's bookstore on Charing Cross Road, which is 4 stories and I just have a thing for bookstores. It was fun exploring, though I'm completely off-the-grid here if I don't have wi-fi so I got to do things old school with a real MAP!!! Even in Paris I have gps/maps on my phone. This time I don't. It's not too bad, except you can't zoom in when all the streets get all smooshed so sometimes it's hard to read the names or figure out exactly where to go. I only got lost twice today but I still had a general sense of where I was going and still made it there in the end. So the first stop was Foyle's. Apparently Charing Cross is also where the new Harry Potter play is being held, and it's also the location of all the gay bars. I found this out because PRIDE was happening today so the streets were packed with lots of people and lots of rainbows. It was very lively.
After stopping at the bookstore I made my way towards the river (one of the times I got lost) and happened upon Trafalgar Square (where part of the PRIDE gathering was happening) and through the Admiralty Arch, turning down past the Horse Guards Parade. I went a little too far south, but it ended up working out because I walked straight past Big Ben and Parliament Square. The walk took me past a beautiful park with a cute little cottage with Monet-styled gardens surrounding it.
After Big Ben I crossed Westminster Bridge and saw the London Eye. It was still going and I know I had read that it stops at either 9 or 9:30pm depending on the day. It was 9:17 so it might be finishing the rounds of people still on, or I might have a chance. I walked along the water to the ticket booth and was in luck, I was one of the last ones to get in on the final round of admissions. It goes really slowly so you can get a good view of everything. It was a beautiful time of day, with all the lights of the city on but still with light in the sky so you can see everything and get good pictures. I was super happy that I'd made it in time.
After this I walked along the river, northwards and attempted to find Benugo, a little bar/kitchen place that had been recommended online. I did eventually find it, slightly tucked away but had arrived at 10:05pm and they apparently closed at 10 (even though it said 11pm online). Not too fazed I walked back the way I'd come and stopped by a place that had caught my eye, Giraffe (mom I thought you'd like the name). It was still lively and open so I had dinner there. World-inspired food from many countries. I had a strawberry-lime cider from Sweden (not recommended, it was pear cider with strawberry and lime flavor added...like fake candy strawberry) and I had a tuk-tuk duck stir-fry. The food was delicious. After eating I caught a cab back to the hotel because a 40-50m walk in the dark in a new city did not sound like a smart way to start out my trip. The cabbie was very nice, though at one point when we stopped for a light some drunk 20-something guy opened the door and got in the cab. My cabbie got out of his seat and opened the passenger door and told the stranger to get out. He was very confused and very drunk, so he got out without a fuss. But it was pretty entertaining and the cabbie was very protective to make sure I was ok. It's not unheard of to share a cab ride if you are going the same way (and who knows if this stranger was going my way) but my cabbie did not want some young drunk guy in the back with me. You hear about all these horror stories around the world, but I feel like I've had so many friendly strangers that I've met on my journeys in Europe. It has been very nice, especially since I have to be more careful as a woman traveling alone. I have to admit right as I got in the cab I had a flashback of watching the first Sherlock episode: A Study in Pink...but everything turned out ok. (For those that don't know Sherlock, it's by BBC and it's on Netflix. Watch it!) Alright everyone I shall have to #brexit for now. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!!!
It was about a 20-30m wait in line to get to the trolley for my 9 3/4 picture, but it was totally worth it and I made friends with the people behind me in line. Mutual geekiness. After I had sufficiently geeked out, I got my local train tix for tomorrow to and from Watford where the studio is based out of. Then I enjoyed a delicious cornish beef pasty for a late lunch.
I decided to walk in my explorations since it was still nice and light out. My first goal was to find Foyle's bookstore on Charing Cross Road, which is 4 stories and I just have a thing for bookstores. It was fun exploring, though I'm completely off-the-grid here if I don't have wi-fi so I got to do things old school with a real MAP!!! Even in Paris I have gps/maps on my phone. This time I don't. It's not too bad, except you can't zoom in when all the streets get all smooshed so sometimes it's hard to read the names or figure out exactly where to go. I only got lost twice today but I still had a general sense of where I was going and still made it there in the end. So the first stop was Foyle's. Apparently Charing Cross is also where the new Harry Potter play is being held, and it's also the location of all the gay bars. I found this out because PRIDE was happening today so the streets were packed with lots of people and lots of rainbows. It was very lively.
After stopping at the bookstore I made my way towards the river (one of the times I got lost) and happened upon Trafalgar Square (where part of the PRIDE gathering was happening) and through the Admiralty Arch, turning down past the Horse Guards Parade. I went a little too far south, but it ended up working out because I walked straight past Big Ben and Parliament Square. The walk took me past a beautiful park with a cute little cottage with Monet-styled gardens surrounding it.
After Big Ben I crossed Westminster Bridge and saw the London Eye. It was still going and I know I had read that it stops at either 9 or 9:30pm depending on the day. It was 9:17 so it might be finishing the rounds of people still on, or I might have a chance. I walked along the water to the ticket booth and was in luck, I was one of the last ones to get in on the final round of admissions. It goes really slowly so you can get a good view of everything. It was a beautiful time of day, with all the lights of the city on but still with light in the sky so you can see everything and get good pictures. I was super happy that I'd made it in time.
After this I walked along the river, northwards and attempted to find Benugo, a little bar/kitchen place that had been recommended online. I did eventually find it, slightly tucked away but had arrived at 10:05pm and they apparently closed at 10 (even though it said 11pm online). Not too fazed I walked back the way I'd come and stopped by a place that had caught my eye, Giraffe (mom I thought you'd like the name). It was still lively and open so I had dinner there. World-inspired food from many countries. I had a strawberry-lime cider from Sweden (not recommended, it was pear cider with strawberry and lime flavor added...like fake candy strawberry) and I had a tuk-tuk duck stir-fry. The food was delicious. After eating I caught a cab back to the hotel because a 40-50m walk in the dark in a new city did not sound like a smart way to start out my trip. The cabbie was very nice, though at one point when we stopped for a light some drunk 20-something guy opened the door and got in the cab. My cabbie got out of his seat and opened the passenger door and told the stranger to get out. He was very confused and very drunk, so he got out without a fuss. But it was pretty entertaining and the cabbie was very protective to make sure I was ok. It's not unheard of to share a cab ride if you are going the same way (and who knows if this stranger was going my way) but my cabbie did not want some young drunk guy in the back with me. You hear about all these horror stories around the world, but I feel like I've had so many friendly strangers that I've met on my journeys in Europe. It has been very nice, especially since I have to be more careful as a woman traveling alone. I have to admit right as I got in the cab I had a flashback of watching the first Sherlock episode: A Study in Pink...but everything turned out ok. (For those that don't know Sherlock, it's by BBC and it's on Netflix. Watch it!) Alright everyone I shall have to #brexit for now. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!!!
I love your descriptions and the views of London from the Eye!
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