Stop #3: Part 1

[Reminders! Rule #1: I'm not going to proofread, and you're not going to care. Rule #2: This is going to be long, and you're not going to care. <3]

Oh, this day... We didn't go very far, it just seemed like we did.

We've dubbed it the day of never-ending travel, and really, we weren't going very far. That's the annoying part. It was literally a puddle jump across the Irish Sea, to land at Heathrow.

That's right, folks. Stop #3 is London, England!

And while the stop itself has been a lot of fun thus far, getting here was a challenge. Sitting in bed at the end of the day, it's hard to not feel like I'm moving. Seriously. Everything's wobbly wonky. Is that even a phrase?

The morning started with a breakfast that we'd forgotten to say we didn't want. Neither of us felt exceptionally great that morning, with weary feet and sleepy minds, and we had to get up earlier than usual to make sure we made it to our bus on time. Politely, we stayed to eat as much as we could before we booked it out the door.

Remember how on our last day in Dublin, we figured out how far we were going to have to walk to catch our bus? Yeah, now was the time we had to actually walk it, bags in tow. Talk about a walk and a half. The sidewalks and sloped in, so rainfall goes into the drainage areas, but that means it's really hard to push or pull a bag along them. Especially uphill. Not fun at all, let me tell you. By the time we reached the bus stop, we were pretty winded.

The bus didn't help things. By the time we got on, the others on the bus had already completely filled the luggage racks, and most of the seats on the lower level were already filled, which meant we had to stand and hold our luggage, while constantly preventing it from rolling around the cabin. On an hour-long bus ride. How fun does that sound?! It was about as enjoyable as you might think, and even worse because I had to stand backward. It felt like a roller coaster. Even at the end of the day, when I closed my eyes, I still felt it. The 747 bus to the airport is a great convenience, but my suggestion would be to rearrange other people's bags if there isn't room for yours, because standing like that is horrible.

Dublin Airport was another kettle of fish. That seemed an appropriate way of putting it. ;-) The airport itself is mildly confusing, but people at the information desks are very nice. Security in Dublin are the nicest security people I've ever met. When it's time to put your bags through the belt thingy, you get your own security guy. He asks you questions about what you have in your luggage so you know what you need to take off and what needs to come out of your bags, and makes sure you're good to go. Easy. Peasy. We got through in a hurry, and made it to the loudest gate in the area. I don't know what kind of construction they were doing above us, but we had to listen to it for more than an hour while we waited for our plane.

And then we reached the plane. Oh, the plane. You'd think once we got there, things would be easier. In a way, they were. Simpler, at least. All we did was sit there. For an extra hour and twenty minutes, while they changed the tire on the plane. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they went through the safety procedures and changed the tire. I am. But I'm not fond of sitting on a wiggly plane on the ground. I can manage turbulence in flight, but on the ground? No thank you. Our pilot was very nice though, as were the flight attendants. British Airways is great, in my opinion.

The funny thing, though, was that the flight itself was nice, but the takeoff and landing were turbulent. Like, the takeoff itself, and the landing itself. In that, the plane was wiggly in the five to ten seconds before we took off, and shaky on the landing. Other than that though, nice flight. Did you know Heathrow makes you get off the plane and get on a bus to go to the airport itself? Maybe that's only smaller planes, I don't know, but it was interesting. And I'd been hoping not to see a bus again for a while.

Now was time for us to learn a new skill: the London transportation system.

We're from New Mexico. If you want to go somewhere, you drive. Some people take the bus, but I'd never been on one aside from taking the shuttle from the University off-campus parking lot to the campus itself, and that's nothing at all like using the underground. Fortunately, people working there are so very polite and nice, and helped us get where we were going. And once again, we were moving. This time, on an overground train called Heathrow Connect, which took us to Paddington Station. If you fly into Heathrow, definitely check out the Connect train. It's less expensive than the Express. A little bit slower, but you get to see more on your way.

Fortunately, our next host's place is only about a block and a half from the station. Our feet greatly appreciated it. So a short walk later, we arrived.

Our hosts are Cypriots. I didn't know that was a word until the day we met them. They're from the island of Cyprus, and they're the sweetest couple you'll ever meet. They also won't stop talking once you get them going, but we enjoyed talking to them. The wife showed us all around the studio apartment we're renting from them, made sure we fully understood how everything worked and knew what to do if we needed to contact them, and we finally, blissfully, got to sit down. For about half an hour, before we went out again.

Hungry stomachs are demanding, you know?

So, as our first official act upon entering London, we went out for Indian food. When in London, eat Indian food. Sounds weird, I know, but do it. No lie. It's everywhere, and it's delicious.

Day two was much easier, and a lot more fun.

First thing in the morning, we went to Paddington Station and made our way to the Tower of London. Now, I should mention that there were some things we wanted to do that we'd set up while we were back in the States. This was one of them. So we already had ticket vouchers from home, printed and in my carryon bag. Yup, you guessed it: they remained there, while we made our way to the Tower. Oops.

We tried for about fifteen minutes, standing outside Tower Hill Station, to access the tickets via the Expedia app. Well, trouble was, Expedia's site was down, and all the app wanted to do was send us to the website. Sheesh. Not knowing what else to do, we went to the ticket counter with screenshots of the barcodes we needed to get in, hoping they would work.

The lady at the counter was very nice. She was. Despite the fact that she didn't really know what she needed from us. She told us we needed to send us our confirmation email. We did. Then when that didn't work, we sent her the screenshots we'd taken. She said she needed the confirmation email, but that she couldn't get to it through what I'd sent her. Well, she couldn't get to it because Expedia's site was down. *sigh*

Now, being from the States, I happen to know that the only three things you need to prove you have a voucher are as follows: a confirmation number, a ticket number, and a barcode. We'd sent her all three things, in the screenshots. She didn't think they would work, but she went to her supervisor for help. Since Expedia's site was down, they made allowances for us. Apparently they all thought they needed the whole thing. But, by the grace of God, they got it to work. All they needed was the barcode. And it was a good thing, because unbeknownst to us until that moment, the Tower was closing early that day. We should just about have enough time to see everything, and she recommended starting with the Crown Jewels.

We're glad we did as she suggested.

Coming from the States, we don't have anything like the Crown Jewels. Oh, we have some jewels, but none with the same significance. These mean something, they stand for something, and it's beautiful. The exhibit was one of the best parts of the Tower of London, aside from the White Tower itself, which is the primary thing to see, of course. The Tower itself holds so much history, even a mini chapel inside. It's so beautiful, to be so close to history, close enough to touch parts of it. If you're ever in London, and you haven't been to the Tower, you have to go. You have to watch so you don't have your camera on at the wrong time -- no pictures of the Crown Jewels, nor inside any of the chapels, and the warders don't like it if you try to flout the rules. But it's still a lot of fun, and quite enjoyable.

We just about finished looking around by the time the Tower was closing, and we made our way to Tower Bridge. Don't get this confused with London Bridge. That's a different bridge entirely, and it's really not very pretty. It's a bit basic and slightly boring. Tower Bridge is the cool one. I have pictures, don't worry. At this point it looks like they won't get posted until I get back stateside, but I'll try to post more to Instagram (@rani.divine) for you.

I hadn't realized just how windy it is by the Thames! Maybe I just hadn't really thought about it before, because now it really makes sense. Usually it's windy close to the water. So obviously it would be windy by the river. But sheesh! I don't like having to zip my jackets, because I'm from New Mexico and I don't usually have to, but I've had to keep zipped up most of the time since we've been here. Not used to it. Should've been prepared for it. Oops.

Mum and I slowly made our way across Tower Bridge, stopping for pictures of anything and everything along the way. The Shard. The Tower. The Bridge. The Thames. Literally everything. I have a zillion pictures.

On the other side, we realized we hadn't eaten anything yet... And it was 3:30. No bueno.

To remedy the situation, we walked along the Thames in search of somewhere to eat. Our plan was to go to Borough Market, a place I'd read about back in the States and really wanted to go to, but it looked like there were a lot of eateries along the way. We found one called Nicholson's, which we went to primarily because they served bubble and squeak, and we'd wanted to try it. One bubble and squeak and one cheddar, spinach, and potato pie, please. Delicious. People say that the food in London is bland and boring and that while you're on tour through Europe, London's food will be the worst. I disagree. Every place we've been to so far has been great, and Nicholson's is no exception. There are a few of them around the city. Go find one if you're ever here.
When we finished, we were finally on our way to Borough Market, a little later into the day than we'd hoped. The market was going to close at five, and it was shortly after four by the time we walked inside. Well, I guess it's not really inside, since it's an outdoor market...

Borough Market is a place where locals come to sell their wares. Street food, fruit stands, cheese makers, wineries, olive oils, teas, pastas, breads, cured meats, anything you could possibly want for a delicious charcuterie plate all in one place. So that's exactly what we made. We walked around and purchased a soft cheese and a firmer one, cured venison, ciabata, pears and apples, and crackers, along with some tea and a cup of orange mango juice. Then we worked on our mastery of the underground and made our way back to Paddington, where we realized that why didn't we get a bottle of wine?!  Obviously, we had to stop somewhere else and get some. Fortunately, there's a little shop on the street just around the corner from where we're staying. *whew!*

Charcuterie is delicious, homemade or otherwise. It was also dinner.

The next day started out a little slower, which was nice. We'd been on the go and moving so much that my feet had been a little displeased. They wanted to stop and sit. I wanted to move. We still disagree on this point. But Mum and I decided not to go out until midmorning, a couple hours later than we'd been going out.

Once again, we were off to Paddington Station. This time, on our way to Embankment Pier. And once again, we already had something scheduled for the day -- but not just yet. So we walked along the windy pier, trying to avoid getting hit by what we've dubbed "leaf shrapnel" flying through the air, and taking pictures along the way. We were right across the street from the London Eye. From the pictures, I honestly thought it would be bigger. I don't know what I was expecting, but that wasn't quite it. I didn't want to ride on it anyway, and thankfully neither did Mum. It's not our style, ferris wheels.

After a short while, it was time for our scheduled event: a Bateaux Lunch Cruise on the Thames.

Being that I've been trying to let you know what things I highly recommend doing, I must say that you have to do this. Especially if you're not going to be in London for a long time and you still want to get to see everything, go on a cruise. Doesn't matter if it's a lunch one like this or not, but I'll say that the lunch was AHH-mazing and the perfect amount (literally, I wasn't stuffed but pleasingly satisfied). Highly recommended. Highly.

When we were done, we walked on the other side of the Thames, toward Westminster Bridge. I honestly don't know how many pictures of Big Ben I took. It has to be a couple dozen. I mean, the bell tower is one of the most iconic images in all of London, but I may have gone a bit overboard. I think I got some good shots though! I'll try to get one up on Instagram soon (I'll have to transfer it from my camera to my phone first).

It's a strange feeling, walking past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, because I've seen all these places on TV so many times. So I know this place, and I feel like I've been here before because of how many times I've seen it, but I've never actually stepped foot here before. It's strange, but it's also a really cool feeling. It also helps in figuring out what direction you're going. See? Watching TV can be beneficial!

Once we'd made our way past Big Ben, we thought we'd go ahead and walk down to Buckingham Palace. The Queen wasn't as home, as per usual (thus no Union Jack flying above the Palace), but we took a bunch of pictures there too. I feel like that's the main thing we've been doing here: picture taking. Lots and lots of picture taking. It's great fun though, I'll tell you.

Okay, next comes the part that proves just how much I like Britain.

I really like the UK. Always have. It's a country that fascinates me, one that's near and dear to my heart and has been since I was a girl. I've always cherished London as a city close to me, though I've never been here before now, and I love the Queen. I can't even explain why, I just do. I love the Queen, and I love her family. I'm not one of those people who watches every little thing they do, but I think they're great people and I have deep respect for them. So when we went to the gift shop just outside Buckingham Palace and they had commemorative items for the Queen's ninetieth birthday, we had to get some. They're being shipped back home, and they'll be there a couple weeks after we get home. I couldn't not get something there, seriously. I found a little box with a commemorative statement and a quote from the Queen, and there were only 500 of it made! It's a collector's piece! I'm so stoked to get to hold it again, mine.

After a walk around the Palace that proved it's bigger than Mum thought it was, we went in search of food.

Covent Garden is so much fun. I almost wish we'd gotten there earlier in the day, but we may end up going back at some point. It's just so much fun! Street peformers all over the place, all sorts of shops, and a bunch of restaurants. Plus there was a market in the middle with vendors selling handmade art of all shapes and sizes. I could've bought more things, but I refained.

There was this one group of street performers, a string quartet whose name I don't remember because I'm in bed right now and don't want to get up, who were hilarious and really incredibly good at playing. We listened to them for a while, and eventually ended up buying the CD. Which we won't be able to listen to until we get home. Oh well. It'll be a fun piece of London to bring home with us! They really were great fun to watch.

By this time, we were hungry. We found a place called Balthazar, in the Covent Garden area, and sat at the bar. I do not remember what I had to drink, but it was fabulous. Followed by a sea bass ceviche and coq au vin. Again, thus far, we've not had bland food in London. I mean, it needed a smidge of salt, but that's not a big deal. That's common in the States, c'mon. The food was delicious, done and done. Most places post their menus outside, which helps. Look for something outside, and if you don't like it, move on. Move on.

We didn't get dessert, but we wanted something sweet. I know, sounds weird. But we'd wanted to get something that we could bring home with us, so we could have something sweet at the apartment in case we were having dinner somewhere and couldn't find a good dessert. Or something. So we figured we'd look for an underground station that would take us back to Paddington, and stop and a pattiserie or chocolate shop if we saw one along the way. We did.
Paul Depuis. I think the man inside was amused by us. We quickly picked out two tarts and asked for them to go, then looked to the side and picked out another. He suggested a fourth. We got that one two. Chocolate, frangipane, strawberry, and caramel.

So far, we've tried strawberry and caramel, and I can tell you, they're both scrumptious. (see? I can use words other than delicious to describe food!)

Day three in London was a special one for us. There was one day, back home in the States, when Mum and I were looking online for things we might want to do in London. We'd been looking at stuff for a while, and we thought we knew all of what we wanted to do while we were here (even knowing that it wouldn't all fit into the trip, of course), but then we came across something else.

Phantom of the Opera.

See, Mum had never seen anything in the theater before. Me, I've seen Wicked. Once. Well, and I've seen the Firebird, and the Addams Family. I'm not sure either of those count. But Phantom is one of me and Mum's favorite movies to watch together, and we'd talked many a time about going to see it, but hadn't gotten around to it. And it's playing here in London, and Her Majesty's Theatre.

Obviously, we had to go see it.

There was no question of it.

We were going to go see Phantom of the Opera, and I had the pleasure of treating. Yup. I got to take my mommy to see Phantom of the Opera, in freaking LONDON! How cool is that?

That being the case, we had to plan our day around it. We planned on going to a matinee, because we didn't really want to be out that late, and because it saves some money. But that meant we pretty much had to stay in the area most of the day. Fortunately, the area was a lot of fun.

Our morning started at Piccadilly Circus. We walked down one of the streets, looking at the Crimea statues among various others, along with various beautiful buildings that we never did figure out what they contained. Aside from a bitter cold wind, it was a lot of fun! Once again, pictures to come as soon as possible.

Then we looked on Google to figure out where we were, because we'd walked around so much that we weren't actually sure where we were. We weren't lost, because we knew approximately what direction the underground station was, but we had no idea what was near us. We ended up walking to the Ritz, to take a picture of it for a good friend of ours. You know who you are. <3

Trafalgar Square was next on the list.

I should explain something. Trafalgar Square was something that we literally had to go see. It wasn't something we could cross off the list, wasn't something that was at all negotiable. We were going to the Square at some point on this trip. Why? Because of our dog. Bear with me. You remember my doggy? I've posted pictures of him before. He's a big black dog, black lab blue heeler mix, and his name (you guessed it) is Nelson. After Admiral Lord Nelson, of the one and only Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. So we had to go take pictures of the Column, for the sake of our puppy dog. Maybe we should pick him up a doggy toy too, eh? Dad says he's a bit sad without us...

From there, we figured out where the theatre was and went a few blocks away to have some brunch. What with the matinee showing and all, it's best to eat before you go, eh?

We found a cute little cafe along the street, warm and cozy and away from the wind (whew!) and ducked inside for eggs benedict and a lemon tart (along with a coffee for Mum and mango juice for yours truly). All of it was quite yummy, but not quite good enough for me to remember what the place was called. You know how it is.

When we finished brunch, we still had over an hour before the musical was to begin, so we walked down the streets of Piccadilly and stumbled upon the statue of William Shakespeare. Woo! I have pictures of him too, don't worry. The streets were crowded though and the wind was still bitter cold, so we ended up making our way to the theatre early, picking up our tickets, and waiting inside away from the wind.

I'll tell you this: no matter how many times you've seen the movie, Phantom of the Opera is still wonderful in theatre. Seriously. I wondered if it would be weird, because I'm so used to the movie and the voices of the actors in it. But the musical here was just as good. Of course, parts were different because it's a stage performance and not a movie, but it just served to make it it's own beautiful thing. I would certainly go see it again, even at Her Majesty's Theatre. So. Freaking. Beautiful. I have the soundtrack from the movie on my phone, and I will be listening to it throughout the rest of the trip. No doubt. I could always used more Phantom of the Opera in my life. Yes.

In a sort of flurry of "oh my goodness we just saw Phantom in London," Mum and I then walked to an Italian restaurant I remembered seeing on one of our earlier walks, a little place called Prezzo. We got a triple pork pizza and an antipasto plate, both of which were fabulous. If you're in London and you want a quick pizza that's exceptionally yummy, go to Prezzo. It's near Piccadilly.

The end of our day was spent walking around the area and ducking into shops now and again, exploring to our hearts content.

I'm so at home.

[love]

{Rani Divine}