It's been a busy year... Part IV

I arrived in London still feeling jet lagged and struggling to stay awake. Since my flight had been delayed and then in a holding pattern for sometime, I was much later than my planned arrival time. Luckily, I was able to get in touch with Alicia shortly after my arrival into Heathrow, to make sure she would be at our meeting point, Paddington Station, when I would arrive.

It was great to see Alicia at Paddington Station. It had only been a few weeks since I had said goodbye to her in the U.S., but I knew that we would have a lot of fun over the weekend.

We went through Paddington Station, searching for any ticket line open late at night, so that I could get a ticket and actually get back to Alicia's place. Finally we found a ticket counter and purchased a ticket. We then made our way to Bethnel Green, the area of London where Alicia lives.

I then got to see Alicia's flat, which is pretty nice. It is on the bottom level of the building and has a garden area outside. The building is basically right across the street from a rail station. She can walk to the subway in about 5 minutes, and is just a minute or two away from a main street with grocery stores, restaurants, churches and other buildings. Right behind Alicia's flat is a park. You can see it from the garden.



The garden can be accessed through the kitchen. The kitchen in Alicia's flat has newer appliances and was pretty nice. The kitchen opens up to a living area, which connects to the main hallway and entryway. The main hallway then has doors to both bedrooms and the bathroom. Since, like with many London flats for rent, the flat came furnished, Alicia did not have to purchase any furniture. She was just getting things set up, as it was Friday and she moved in that Monday.

Overall the flat is a good size for London - I just can't imagine fitting a house worth of furniture and stuff into a place that small! Luckily Josh and I don't have any plans to move, so that adjustment is not something we'll have to make in the foreseeable future.

After we got settled and ate some yummy cookies, we planned out some things to do in the upcoming weekend. Time flew by - it was almost 2 am by the time we went to bed, and she had to go to work in the morning!

In the morning, we both got up and got ready. After I got my ticket to get around for the rest of my stay, we made our way to Covent Garden. We had Muffinski's muffins and steamed milk for breakfast. I had hazelnut steamed milk, which was great - and my first taste of steamed milk. I ate a low-fat blueberry and banana muffin.



We then walked through Covent Garden to get back to the Strand. Alicia went to work a half day, and I set out to begin my morning journey. The first stop was Trafalgar Square, which unfortunately was blocked off for an event. I attempted to get the best photo possible in light of the circumstances.





I then headed down Whitehall to see Big Ben and Parliament.













I then walked to St. Margaret's Church and Westminster Abbey. St. Margaret's is the smaller church next to Westminster Abbey. I walked through Westminster Abbey, taking time to walk around all accessible areas. The walk was interesting, as I not only saw the graves of British royalty, but also those of individuals like Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton.









I then walked back up to the Strand, past the Royal Courts of Justice.



I walked to St. Paul's Cathedral, where I spent some time in the gardens, but did not go inside.







Soon after, Alicia was able to take the rest of the day off, so we met outside of her office building. We headed to the National Gallery, where we walked around. Since we were able to use the basement computer system to create a map of some of our primary interests, we made sure that we didn't miss the paintings that we really wanted to see.



From there, we headed to St. James' Park, and walked in parallel with the Mall to Buckingham Palace.









We then went down to Oxford Street to find TopShop, a clothing store in London with very low-priced clothing. It took a long time to find, as Oxford Street was packed (it was the middle of rush hour on a Friday night, so the same could be said about the subway rides there and back). We also stopped at the opposite end on Oxford Street, so we got quite a bit of walking done.

Once we got to TopShop, we just walked through, and Alicia was ready to go. We made our way back to the Trafalgar Square area, so that we could eat dinner in the Crypt at St. Martins-in-the-Fields Church. Down in the crypt, we also made brass rubbings.



To finish the night, we walked down Whitehall, and I got to see Big Ben at night.



The next day, we started out by going to Borough Market, which had an incredible selection of baked goods, meats, produce and anything else edible. We saw some huge mushrooms, and Alicia ate her first ostrich burger (she said it was very yummy).









Right by Borough Market is Southwark Cathedral. The garden by Southwark Cathedral was packed with families.





We then traveled to the British Library, making a quick stop at Platform 9 3/4. At the British Library, we saw some amazing printed manuscripts. There was a Magna Carta, papers from artists ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles and many religious documents. Going through the dark room, you feel very small when you realize the wide range of cultures and human progress.





After our trip to the British Library, we took a canal ride through Little Venice.



The canal ride took us by the London Zoo, ending at Camden Market. There we walked around a bit - it is one area of London filled with younger people. I had a chocolate-covered Belgian waffle on a stick. We then went to Harrod's at Knightsbridge, where we looked through many of the rooms and treated ourselves to some delicious gelato.



We then went down to Piccadilly Square, which seemed way too similar to Times Square in New York City.





From there, we went to Leicester Square for a quick photo opportunity. Unfortunately, I still had not mastered taking photos at night.





From Leicester Square, we walked our way to Covent Garden. It was there we intended to have drinks at a pub. We settled on the Nags Head Pub. We had a lot of fun, and there ended the excursions for the night.







We returned to Alicia's flat and watched Two Weeks Notice (due to my uncanny fascination with everything Hugh Grant, any movie with him is usually my movie of choice).

The third, and final day, of the trip started with a visit to the Flower Market in Bethnal Green, where fresh flowers are sold near small shops with random items like garden accessories. We then took the subway to Hyde Park, as we slept in on Sunday morning.





Hyde Park was beautiful, but since that Sunday was a cold, windy and rainy day, we quickly walked to Kensington Gardens (or as quickly as we could - it was a very long walk).



We walked from Kensington Gardens to the Orangery, where we had delicious afternoon tea. I usually do like tea, so that was no surprise, but I was surprised by the delightfully soft texture and great taste of the accompanying scones.







After a great afternoon tea, Alicia and I went to Notting Hill, where I got to see the Travel Book Shop made famous by Hugh Grant in the movie Notting Hill.



We also were able to stroll though Portobello Market as it was closing up.



After walking through Notting Hill, we headed to the Holborn area, where Alicia showed me the Gherkin (or pickle) building before we headed to church, St. Helen's Bishopsgate.





After the church service, we headed back to Alicia's flat for dinner. I packed up and went to sleep. Early the next morning, I said goodbye to Alicia at Paddington Station and went back to the United States. Alicia and I did a lot in three days, and I really enjoyed my stay there with her.