Mind the Gap

Sleeping off the journey

Greetings from rainy Bath, UK. We spent four days in London without a single bit of rain, despite threatening clouds. We're about due for it, I suppose. Good chance to catch up on the blog with a tasty quad latte! Yes, quad. 4 shots or no shots. That's what I always say. Except I would take any and all espresso, so please disregard that "no shots".

Anyway. We arrived in London the evening of the 10th. After a bit of disorientation amidst the crowds, we hopped a bus to our flat, which we rented through AirBnB. Just a studio, nothing fancy. Located on Kingsland Road in the Hackney borough, our area was very lively albeit a bit dodgy. Very central through, with a bus stop out front and a Tube station around the corner!

They really, really want you to.

The Underground really can't be beat. Anywhere in the city you can walk for 10 minutes tops and find a station. The map is intimidatingly large at first, but things started to look familiar quickly. But I digress. The first night was spent just relaxing as we were exhausted from our travels. Grabbed a pizza from our street and settled in, at least the best we could with the revelers on the rooftop next to us blasting tunes late into the night. Caffeine starved come the morning, I improvised a drip coffee maker by poking holes in a juicer and sticking filters in it. Yes Mom, you were right about bringing the portable pour-over.

Imperialists Get All the Good Stuff

The great hall / center of the BM.

Day two was a museum day, hitting the V&A (art and design museum) and British Museum (everything). The major museums are free in London which is huge for us poor travelers. Spent several hours wandering in each one. Highlights included wall-sized tapestries from medieval times, munching on some nuts next to the reflection pool/garden in the V&A, coffins carved like cameras/buses/eagles from Africa, and an exhibit on Asian propaganda.

Navigating the huge British Museum.

All that museum-going worked up an appetite so we walked to Chinatown to try and find cheap eats (London is expensive!). Had dimsum and pork belly with sticky rice and crossed our fingers that the credit card would work. From there we hit SoHo, a happening borough and a big gay area as well. Enjoyed some pints in the park and then headed home.

No dog here. Hopefully.

SoHo Park drinking.

Thames River Park

Monument, the monument.

On our way up the Eye.

Big Ben lit up on the way down.

Day three in London was spent sightseeing, covering all the major landmarks including Big Ben/Parliament, several parks, Monument, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square. The only other time I was in London we only had one night, so we walked many of these landmarks around midnight and there was nobody else around. During the day, not so much. Huge crowds. Probably a few tens of thousands of tourists all milling about.

Panorama from the top of the Eye, looking East.

We got lost a few times on the way to Kew Gardens and when we finally stumbled in, it proved too expensive a fruit for us to taste. We did cover a lot of ground this day, going from the far East of the tube map in the AM (Thames River Park) to the far West (Kew). Covent Gardens had us watching street performers and wandering the market stalls, coming away with our first souvenir: letterpress blocks. Come on, design nerds couldn't pass that up, despite it not really being a British item.

Had to happen.

We had obligatory fish'n'chips at one of the best spots in London after a long quest, then wandered around a bit before riding the London Eye just as the sun set. Lovely views of the city and a festival underneath along the Thames.

The final day in London was nearly half-wasted, but we ended up filling it nicely. Started off with a tour of the East End, just a few stops down the Overground. This was well worth the ten pounds we paid as we got a decent history overview of the entire city as well as the area, which is traditionally the sketchy gangster ridden spot (Jack the Ripper wuz here). Also saw loads of street art including a Banksy.

Bet You Weren't Expecting to Learn Something Too

Where the banks want you to live?
Actually protest art about housing.

An interesting history note (still true today) that we didn't know is that the City of London is itself a borough in the center of the larger city, and it is controlled entirely by the financial institutions in the area. The larger the company, the more votes they get. They elect a Lord Mayor, and when the Queen visits she can't even wear her crown: this is outside her jurisdiction. This area was the walled-off city back in the day, and the East End was just outside. This is where they stuck the crazies (Bedlam Mental Hospital), and where the plague and crime flourished. Meanwhile, today the House of Lords (as opposed to the elected House of Commons) is still influenced completely by the big players in the City of London—meaning, you guessed it, banks are legitimately running Britain, and the rest of the world is basically the East End.

Street art in the East End.

 After the tour we grabbed curry with our fellow tour-goers, who were all young travelers as well. Two from France, three from Australia, one Yankee (California), one from Switzerland and one Czech. Bellies filled and after talking travel shop with our much more seasoned new friends (some had been on the road for 5 months!), we hit the train to waste time until a musical. Visited Buckingham Palace and wandered Hyde Park, one of the biggest in the city.

Curry with fellow travelers.

It drizzled a bit as we walked to the Phoenix Theater to see Once, based on the movie (based on the album?). It was pretty great, particularly because every actor was not only an amazing singer but played instruments as well. Cello, violin, guitars, bass, drums, cajon, banjo, mandolin and accordion all made an appearance. Fantastic music. The set was also very cool, as it was a big round bar hung with many lights and mirrors, providing multiple angles you wouldn't normally see. Plus it was an actual functioning bar that you could walk on and purchase drinks at during the intermission.

A Bed in Bath - and Beyond

She's a Countess.

Yesterday morning we ventured to Bath, leaving our London flat behind. Bath is a very pretty and old town, full of winding cobblestone roads and white stone buildings, with a huge abbey in the center. Stayed in St Christopher's hostel here, but glad we only had one night as there isn't a ton to do. A bit touristy but great cafes and such (and the "World's Best Pasty" which we are about to go sample). Wandered last night and did a lengthy walk this morning to see a tower. In about an hour we head to Manchester for a couple nights, then it's on to the continent!

Beers at Bath brewery.