London

Friday, 16th May, 2008

I finally arrived into London at 3pm GMT, after a quick 9 hr flight. Fortunately, I fell asleep before the plane even took off, and slept like a baby for 8 hours, then occupied myself with the mini-screen tv in front of me. After getting off the plane into the London-Heathrow airport, I waited in a long line for customs, but finally got my stamp and was ready to pick up my bag. I exchanged some money, and my bag was waiting patiently at the baggage claim, so I picked it up and headed over to the Heathrow Express. There was no time wasted in getting my train ticket, which cost me 15.50 pounds and took me to the Paddington station. I bought an Oyster card and some fare worth 20 pounds, then took the Tube via the Bakerloo line to Baker Street. Once I got to my destination, Olivier greeted me with a "Long time, no see... mate. Cheers!" (of course with the Frenchie accent), and I dropped off my stuff.

It was pretty much 5pm by this time, so after a little unpacking and washing up, we headed out to dinner at a Moroccan restaurant called Cous Cous Darna, in South Kensington.

After dinner, we went out to a couple of local bars/lounges to grab drinks. The first place was Townhouse, but it was really small, and therefore crowded, so we ended up settling down at the Collection where we met up with ex-Hitachiite Jim, and his wife. Drinking and chatting made for an exhausting night, so late night munchies were in order with some Lebanese food by Edgeware Rd, and then it was off to bed. I was not jet-lagged. I repeat... definitely not jet-lagged.


Saturday, 17th May, 2008

We woke up fairly early, except for Olivier, and went for a run around Central London. The run lasted 54 minutes, and ended in Borough Market. You can see our route here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97963.
It was cold and misty, but refreshing while we were running, and the time passed by quick with the city tour. Once we got to the market, we grabbed a smoothie and had lunch. I ate Wild Boar. Despite the weather, a BBQ is always a great idea, so we bought a few steaks and veggies at the market before heading home.

After BBQ'ing in the Mews, we went to a Shakespeare play at the Globe theatre. A Midsummer Night's Dream was playing, and we had tickets for standing room. It was only 5 pounds, but you get what you pay for. My right foot was starting to hurt from standing for 3 hours! I tried to sit down against a wall, but the usher made me get up. If you ever go to one of these shows, definitely pay the extra pounds for an actual seat. Honestly, the play was a little boring(I was expecting a little more from Puck), but it was neat to see in an open air theatre.


We thought about going out again, but everyone was exhausted from standing, so a few of us ended up going to an Indian restaurant in Soho, for a late night meal. It was actually difficult for me to even walk to Soho because of the pain in the arch of my right foot. I figured it was mostly from the 1 hour run in the morning, and didn't think much of it. We stayed in and watched a movie instead, and fell asleep. I think I fell into a good rhythm with the switch of time zones.


Sunday, 18th May, 2008

The plan for today was to go to Windsor Castle, so we woke up just before 9am to make sure we had enough time for a full day. Unfortunately, my foot was still hurting badly, so we tried to go to Boots(pharmacy chain) for a pair of crutches. They didn't carry any, so we decided not go to Windsor, and to the hospital instead. Lovely... going to the hospital on holiday. I'm still a little torn if the British healthcare system is really better because it's "free". I did get to see a doctor pretty quick though, and didn't really have to provide much information. Basically, the doctor examined my foot, and told me to take an ibuprofen and give it some rest. He also wouldn't give me any crutches because "you don't need them". I popped the drugs, and we spent the day looking for a good pair of shoes.

Before heading home we made a stop at Waitrose for some more BBQ materials. This time we got French Seabass and Mackeral for the grill, and ingredients for Mojitos. Oh, and we picked up biscuits(they don't have graham crackers in London), cadbury chocolate, and marshmallows to make S'mores. The neighbors in the Mews, joined in on the fun.


Monday, 19th May, 2008

I slept in until 3pm. Definitely jet-lagged. I got up and dressed for a run, but my foot was still feeling uncomfortable. Had to cancel the tennis lesson I had planned too. I have a tennis match set up for Tuesday evening, so I wanted to make sure I was at least in good condition for that. Monday was a resting day, and I really only had time to head to Waitrose for some burgers and sausages, so we BBQ'ed again.

Tuesday, 20th May, 2008

I had to make up for an unproductive start to the week, so I set some goals and a starter itinerary:

Tower of London - see the crown jewels
Westminster Abbey - we tried to see this Sunday, but it was closed
Camden Market - check out the shops and eat lunch there
Globe Lawn Tennis Club - play Simon a tennis match on grass court

I got to the Tower of London right when it opened at around 9am, so I basically got a private viewing of the crown jewels. They are pretty amazing.


The next stop was Westminster Abbey, where most of the famous Britons are buried or have memorials, including Henry V, Henry VII, Elizabeth I, and Shakespeare. This is an amazing church, and definitely worth seeing if you're into art and history. The tombs are very intricate in detail, and I probably didn't give the whole church enough justice, with the amount of time spent there.






















After Westminster Abbey, I walked across the city, instead of taking the Tube because the weather was pleasant. I walked through Trafalgar and Leicester Square, as well as Picadilly Circus, then decided that walking to Camden Market would take forever, so I headed to the Underground. Camden Market is kind of like a blend of the Pike Place market and Capitol Hill. You've got the eccentric, hipster crowd, the flea market, plenty of little places to eat, and tons of trendy/vintage shopping. Supposedly, this place is much busier on the weekends, but it was good to check out without the crowds. In retrospect, I wish I took better pics.
The final item on my agenda was to play some tennis on a grass court. I brought my racket to London, and set up a match with Simon through the pro(Damian) at the Globe Lawn Tennis Club. I arrived early, and had a little trouble finding the club, but it turned out being right behind the Belsize Park tube station. I met Damian in person, and he let me hit with him and one of his students, Rod, while I waited. Very nice folks, and they were both pretty good. Simon ended up being a young lad, around 19(blue shirt in the pic below), and he was attending the University of London. He was solid too, and it was 7-5, 4-6 before we called it quits, due to fatigue. We both have a consistent baseline game, so we were basically running around for 2 hours. The court that we played on wasn't real grass, but the artificial stuff actually played faster than a regular hard court.