We safely made to London, the flight was easy and uneventful and on time. In Heathrow, we grabbed our bags, sailed through immigration and customs, hopped on the tube, and found our hotel. Yep, it really was that easy. I love this place.
Our hotel is in South Kensington, closest to the Earl's Court tube stop, I'll post a link to it later when I'm not blogging from Flickr. We found our "local," and Matt had his first pint in a real English pub. "It's cool, like the Elephant and Castle but not actually really lame." Keep in mind he was sleep-deprived and jet-lagged when he said it, but he really was quite pleased. I even had some sips of his beer and didn't make the "Grody, I'm going to gag" involuntary beer face that I always do. To use an annoying and over-used trite cliche, it really does taste different on tap over here. Is that actually a cliche? Keep in mind I'm probably sleep-deprived and jet-lagged too.
Anyway, we braved the rain (not just rain, it was chucking it down. Tipping it down. Pissing it down). I'd like to say it was because we have hardy and stalwart Pacific Northwest constitutions and a bit of rain doesn't bother us, but in truth we had to get out of the hotel and walk around or we'd risk passing out at 5pm and that is NOT how to reset your time zone clock. I must say, I don't feel a bit silly for packing my brightly-striped rain boots however, they have already been a lifesaver.
We tubed over to Tower Hill and joined the Jack the Ripper tour through the City and the East End. Because you know, there are probably actually lots of things to do in London and places to go where you might avoid the rain, but we needed to do something that would leave us completely drenched and chilled to the bone. But that aside, it was great fun. Especially watching the Australians turn interesting shades of gray at the slaying descriptions and have to drop out of the tour early. Eh, wimps.
We were quite chuffed when we were stopped by some suits in the City and asked for directions...I was pleased that they mistook us for locals, or at the very least people who knew where they were going (we were a bit lost ourselves at the time) but once we apologized and said we weren't from around here, the men nodded knowingly and smiled, "Ah! Canadians." That made our day. Well, that and being in London. And having a pub lunch and a pint. And packets of crisps. And a kettle in our room for tea.
2 comments:
It looks like your foray into the streets of merry old England has started with fun! Totes jealous of the Jack the Ripper tour. Hope the rain doesn't keep you from pony trekking!
Canadians huh, that is a compliment! Hope they were Walkers crisps - and a good flavour! Don't suppose you tried Marmite!
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