London Day 1

After an uneventful flight during which neither of us were able to
sleep (though I did get to watch The Constant Gardener), we arrived at
Heathrow and made our way through customs in record time. I guess I
should always visit in the off-season! We were soon on the tube en
route to our hotel, which we hoped would have a room available so we
could catch a few hours sleep before hitting the town. On the short
walk from the Bayswater tube to our hotel, I noticed a few things about
my old neighborhood. Unfortunately, it seems to have gone a bit
downmarket, though not horribly so. It’s still a great place to stay,
in my opinion. Bar Oz – our favorite pub for watching footie – is now
The Phoenix (more on that to come). And although the patisserie on
Queensway is still there – most of my other favorite shops weren’t. Oh
– and they opened a Marks and Spencer in Whiteleys – very convenient!

An
older gentleman approached us and asked us if we needed directions on
our way to the hotel (probably since we had luggage and were rather
wide-eyed and sleep deprived). We had a nice chat with him as we walked
to our hotel. I told him I used to live in the area so we knew where we
were going.

I was very impressed by our hotel: The Somerset
Bayswater. Nice lobby, friendly staff and a complimentary breakfast,
which we never ate. It’s not the Ritz, but we didn’t pay Ritz prices
(or anywhere close to them) either. All the rooms are suites and ours
had a full kitchen including dishes, pots, and pans, as well as a TV,
DVD player, and stereo. It had a nice suede couch as well. Frankly, it
was the biggest room I have seen in a less expensive European hotel
(though definitely not big by American standards). Lots of closet space
and mirrors as well. I was impressed. I’d definitely recommend it to
anyone and we’d stay there again.

After a few hours nap, we
decided to hit the town. But first – lunch! I had read about a new
sushi chain (Yo! Sushi) that was new since the last time I had been in
London. There was a branch at Whiteleys, right around the corner from
our hotel, so I suggested we go there. They had a giant bar that
everyone sat at and the sushi went around on a conveyor belt. You
picked what you wanted and they charged you based on the plates left at
your area when you were done. I really enjoyed a prawn (that’s shrimp)
salad and the smoked salmon rolls. Jeff had these giant maki that
looked rather like California rolls without mayo or roe. We both
thought it was really good. We also discovered another change since our
last visit: Coke Light is now apparently called Diet Coke in London!
For better or worse though, it is still a different formula (still has
the vegetable extracts) and is still low calorie, not non-caloric.

One
of the few places I hadn’t been to when I lived in London was St.
Paul’s. I had seen it from a far, but that was pretty much it. We
headed over there and I noticed some mini Cadbury Cream Eggs for sale
in the chocolate vending machines in the tube. Unfortunately, everyone
we passed was broken (which ended up being a running joke for the rest
of our visit. I finally ended up buying some at Heathrow on our way
home and I have to say, I was rather disappointed after all the build
up!). St. Paul's was very beautiful inside. I was most impressed with
the view looking up at the cupola from the floor. I could not believe
that they let people go all the way up there and made the easy decision
to pass on visiting it even though I’m sure the view is great. Just
looking at it from the ground made my stomach tense up! I was
interested in going up to the whispering wall, but Jeff and I were both
tired, so we passed. The crypt area – where Admiral Nelson is buried
was interesting too. I got a coffee and Jeff a soda at the crypt café
and planned our next move. 

We decided to go to the Science
Museum in South Ken – also someplace I had not visited during my time
in London. I thought Jeff would particular like it since I had read
they had a lot on the history of math and computers. Overall the museum
was a little run down in some areas, but it was still pretty
interesting. They had a cool section on flight with all kinds of
airplane engines. They also had built a difference engine and Jeff got
to explain to me all about how they worked and how some guy had built
one out of legos. It was pretty neat. We passed on the Alien exhibit,
which required a ticketed entry and the IMAX theatre. We wanted to buy
tickets to Haunted 3D, but it had been replaced by Safari 3D instead.
Oh well. We grabbed a snack in the cafeteria, stopped in the gift shop,
which randomly had a copy of Scotland Yard (a great board game we have
been unable to find in the US) for sale, bought the game, and left.

Yet
another thing I hadn’t seen when in London (well, I had walked past it
– do you see a theme here?) was the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B
Baker Street. I wasn’t all that interested in Sherlock Holmes when I
lived in London, but since then I have come to appreciate him thanks to
Jeremy Brett and the Biography channel. It was a gigantic tourist trap,
though entertaining. We got to walk through Sherlock and Dr. Watson’s
apartments, which were filled with curiosities from their escapades.
After about 20 minutes, we were out of there and in search of dinner.
In keeping with the Sherlock Holmes theme, I suggested going to the
Sherlock Holmes pub. We had a great dinner there – I had fish and chips
with mushy peas with bread and butter pudding for dessert. Jeff had
shepherd’s pie and apple pie with custard for dessert. Both were yummy.
I had a pint of bitter, which was pretty good as well. Jeff stuck with
his standard diet coke. Finally we headed back to the hotel to hit the
hay. By the time we got back we were both pretty exhausted – I think we
went to bed around 9pm or so.