First Two Days of London

We arrived in London on the morning of June 15th, bright and early, after an 8-hour plane flight through the evening.  After taking the Tube into the city, we went to our hotel and dropped off our bags so we could have some sight-seeing time before we went back for a 2pm check-in.  We first went to Leicester Square and tried to make our way through Rick Steves' West End Walk.  We actually only made it part of the way through, stopping around Covent Gardens, where we got distracted by the need for food.  So we interrupted ourselves and went to Trafalgar Square, where we saw some beautiful fountains.  Okay, truthfully, we found Trafalgar Square by accident, because we were lost, but once we were there, we decided to go to St. Martin's in the Field Cafe in the Crypt for lunch.  It was cheap, and our sandwiches were delicious.  Then we made it through the National Gallery, but unfortunately can't remember anything that we saw because we were so tired.  It was midway through the British afternoon, but to us, it felt like we had been awake for about 36 hours, so it was time for bed!

Instead we went back to the hostel for a nap.  We checked in and crashed in our beds for what we thought would be an hour, but turned into 3.  We woke up for dinner.  We started wandering around all the restaurants in Soho.  Eventually we decided we wanted to go to a pub and get any craving for horrible English food out of our system.  So at Rick Steves' recommendation we went to the City (the financial district of London) to find some old-fashioned pubs.  When we found some of them, we discovered that they were full of bankers who had just gotten off work - not to mention that the food was horribly expensive...for a pub.  We ended up walking around the City for the next few hours, completely indecisive about where to find food.  We did find St. Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England, which was the silver lining to this cloud of hunger.  Eventually, we ended the night by taking the Tube back to Soho, where we dined on cheap, greasy, take away fish & chips.

First Two Days in London

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Day 2!

We woke up and had some cereal for breakfast at the hostel before heading out to Leicester Square again, where we bought tickets for Avenue Q, which we're seeing tonight!!  Jessie's already seen it, but they were the cheapest, most enjoyable tickets available, and Jen really wants to see it.

Next, we got lost again, trying to find the Tourist Information to buy tickets, but it ended up being worth it because the woman there was very helpful.  We got tickets for the Tower of London, which we used that afternoon, and for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour, which we're using later on in our stay.

We went to the Tower of London, where we ate some sandwiches overlooking the Tower before heading in and recieving our free Beefeater tour!  Our guide was hilarious and told us all the gruesome stories of the Tower, including Anne Boleyn and the murder of the two Young Princes.  From there, we went to go see the Crown Jewels, which were pretty.  The line was short, so we were happy.  After that, we went exploring, particularly in the White Tower, which was full of old weapons and armor.

After our trip to the Tower of London, we went back to Trafalgar Square, and had a Coke in the National Portrait Gallery cafe before continuing on to the museum itself.  We got the audio guides so that we could learn more about the people in each portrait, which ranged from royalty to current pop stars.  We thought it was interesting, and a lot of the paintings looked familiar from textbooks.

For dinner, we went to a cheap sit-down restaurant in the Theatre District.  Then we went to this internet cafe!  And soon, we'll be watching Avenue Q from the second-to-last row.  YAY!

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The next two days are completely full, though we're already exhausted.  We're having a great time here, and we just about have the city figured out.  We'll write again soon.

-Jen and Jessie