First Day In The City!

So really quick breakdown because I am exhausted.....

Got up...had traditional English breakfast at hotel....took tube to Tower of London....toured Tower of London...learned really cool stuff...took lots of pictures...especially with stuff regarding Henry VIII for mom...left Tower of London...took bus to Trafalgar Square...walked through Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square...looked for discount theater tickets...decided not to get tickets tonight...had "supper" (American translation: linner)...walked around West End...took tube to Kings Cross Station...was very disappointed that we couldn't find platform 9 and 3/4 because station was under major construction...took tube back down to Westminster and had a romantic night stroll across the Westminster Bridge with the Houses of Parlament in the background...was stunned by it's beauty...walked to Waterloo Station...caught one of two busses back to hotel...eventually got back to hotel...took shower...now sleep...night night all.

I hope I get a chance to be more descriptive...maybe Mallory will elaborate on the day in the amusing way that she does.

Love to all!

Jen

Our Adventure On London's Public Transit

March 18, 2011

Hey all, it’s Jen again.  Mallory was going to write but she is tuckered so hopefully she will get a post in tomorrow.  Today was quite an interesting day…oh the trials and tribulations of public transportation! 

Mallory and I woke up at 3am local time because of that stupid 4 hour nap we took yesterday.  So we played cards until about 5am when we were both able to go back to sleep until the alarm went off at 9am.  All in all it was a good morning; we rearranged our packs and got everything situated for our trek to Wembly.  In an attempt to get hyped for our day we tried to plug Mal’s computer in so we could listen to some music…well we blew the circuit in the room L and had to pack using our headlamps to see (thanks Patti and Dave for the headlamp tip!).  Once we checked out we took a bus to Terminal 1 of the airport to catch the tube.  At the tube station, Mallory and I had a hard time figuring out how to get where we wanted to go and ended up asking a very unhelpful tube attendant.  Mallory decided that our best bet would be to call the hotel and ask them how to get there via public transport.  Anyways, here is Mallory to finish the story…

We eventually got here. It was a long arduous trek from the wrong bus stop that I misheard over the payphone in the tube station at Heathrow. So we had to walk over four bus stops to our hotel, in the rain, uphill, carrying our packs. Jen was in a FABULOUS mood because we still hadn’t eaten. She swore a vow of fasting until we reached our place of residence for the evening (so she had quite a wait!).

We made it here and got checked in and the nice pretty blonde receptionist took us to our room – a basement room of 12 bunk beds with a shared bathroom. The cleaning guy was just wrapping up his duties, which focused on making the room smell like drain-o.  He was very good at what he did! We also got to meet one of our roommates…’meet’, a loose term, since he was unconscious and snoring like a tranquilized antelope and we were staring agape at his ability to sleep through the burn of the aroma of clean.

We went upstairs and ate another traditional English meal. Mine was a beef stew on mashed potatoes and Jen had spaghetti Bolognaise.  Both were quite good. Warm. Warmgood. We split a diet coke out of the bottle.

We then started exploring the neighborhood. Most of residents are of African descent. The women wear head garments and skirts all the way down to their ankles. These folks are mixed in with a bunch of Afro-Caribbean Rastafarians. There are also quite a bit of people of Persian/Arab/Middle Eastern heritage. Lots of families running around the bricked suburbs.

We got back to the hotel and decided that we could eat. We sat at a table behind the city workers who had come straight from work in their neon-colored work clothes to socialize and share a pint. The eating area in the hotel is very nice and open with many different televisions on and tons of interesting conversation. The barkeep was a nice guy who reminded me of characters in “Snatch” (movie) and reminded Jen of Cal on “Lie to Me” (tv show). He was hilarious and made fun of us for losing our key. Jen had fish and chips and a pint of Guiness, I had Chicken Tikka Marsala with naan, chips, salad, mango chutney, rice, and Jen and my pints of Guiness. Since its St Paddy’s week there’re AMAZING Irish specials going on in the pubs. You cannot refuse these bargains! (Summed up with the amazing quote from a manager at our hotel from yesterday “it’s Irish, but not too Irish”…she was talking about the decorations in the lobby/bar/restaurant area of the hotel…it was like a business assessment. Jen and I died laughing.)

We found our key. I had left it in the room. We tried our new bath chamois towels. They were stellar. Our roommates are bad, but not too bad. One of them started watching tv and driniking stella artois from  tallcans when he got home from work at around 5…not much has changed. He (and the rest of us, apparently) are currently enjoying Pierce Brosnan Bond movie magic. It’s kind of homie in its own way.

We’re looking forward to clear, sunny Saturday morning skies tomorrow. We’re heading in to the City of London to check out Westminster area down to London Bridge. Excited!

Happy Holidays!

Mallory

It’s Jen again…obviously Mallory is the more entertaining writer of us.  I’ll try and get her to write more, but if you see that I write a post please don’t skip it because you know Mallory’s posts are funnier.

Time to hit the hay!

Night!

Jen

We Have Arrived!

March 17, 2011

Hey all,

It’s Jen!  Hopefully Mallory will write some posts of her own but right now it seems that I am the one who is more excited about this whole blogging thing.  Anyway, this is our first post.  We wanted to post right before we got on the plane but for some reason the computer wasn’t connecting to the LAX network.

First let me say that I think I am now spoiled….flying business class was amazing and I am not sure I can ever go back to coach…(not really, but kinda).  We each had our own little pods that reclined into a bed, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing but I usually sleep hunched over with my head on the tray table when I fly, so I’m not complaining.  We also got amazing meals (I liked them I don’t think Mallory was all that keen on them) and had our own personal TV.  Now here is where you are all going to get really jealous…I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1!  Anyways, the flight was pretty smooth and we got into London around 11:30am local time.  As we were landing the pilot informed us that it was 5 degrees and a beautiful day.  Needless to say, I freaked out a bit.  I mean I packed for cold but not that cold.  Mallory was quick to remind me (with a smile of amusement on her face of course) that it was 5 degrees Celsius which converts to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Although I was a bit embarrassed I was definitely relieved.  So once we disembarked, customs was a breeze and I got the first stamp on my passport!!!

We grabbed our bags and hopped on a bus to our hotel.  Luckily, Mallory double checked which bus we were supposed to take because I picked the wrong one.  Anyways, we got to the hotel about 1pm and promptly crashed for about 4 hours.  We puttered about for a bit in the room and then took a walk around the area.  We stopped to eat at an English Pub called The Three Magpies where I ordered a “cheddar cheese and baked beans jacket” (American translation: beans and cheese in a baked potato) and Mallory got a “Tuna mayo” (American translation: tuna sandwich).  So yes we have had our first true English meal!

So now it is about 9pm and we are in our hotel room watching a football game.  Oh by the way, the room’s lights only go on when the hotel key card is in a holder that way the lights can never be on when no one is in the room….these Brits are smart….Americans should take a page out of their book.

So tomorrow Mallory and I go to the hostel where we will be spending the remaining nights of the London portion of our trip.  After that…well, we haven’t decided yet, but we will be sure to keep you posted!

Hope all is well!!!!

Lots of love!

                Jen   

Let me just say that I don’t think I will ever get sick of the accents J Love it!