Day 1 In London

Since leaving Spain and heading to France, the language barrier hasn’t been that big of an issue because we’ve always found someone that speaks some English, but I’m still very excited about the fact that today we’re back in a country where English is the primary language!  Not only do I not have to worry anymore about who I can ask for directions and stuff like that, I love the fact that we’re surrounded by sexy British accents!   This could be a great couple of months…

We arrived in London at 9 am this morning, after catching a train from Harwich, where all passengers departed the ferry at 6:45 am. The train brought us to Liverpool station, where we picked up Oyster cards for the Tube, which we needed to get to our hotel, the Ibis London Wembley. The hotel is quite far from city center (about a 45 min tube ride) and we made a mistake booking it because Paul thought Wembley was the same thing as Wimbledon so there would be stuff to see/do around there, but we can’t complain too much since the rate was fantastic (averaging £35 per night!) and there is some stuff around us (such as Wembley stadium, which is used for football and concerts). Also helpful today was the fact that Paul has now reached gold status with their loyalty program so they let us check in early without any extra charge!

After a short nap (waking up at 6 am doesn’t agree with either of us), we headed out to Piccadilly Circus to find Calvin, and old friend of Paul’s from Edmonton who we made plans to meet up with when we found out a few weeks ago that he would be here for part of his vacation at the same time as us. All three of us were hungry, so we set off in search of lunch, walking from Piccadilly Circus (the Times Square of London) to Trafalgar Square. As we walked, I noticed a Tim Hortons kiosk inside of a Spar convenience store and immediately rushed in for a coffee – Tim Hortons is like a drug addiction to me (as it is with a lot of people I know!) and I was amazed to see that they’ve expanded internationally! Sadly, it wasn’t the same as back home because the coffee comes from a self-operated machine here and the doughnut selection is different

I’m pretty sure everyone knows what Trafalgar square is, but we were so focused on looking for a restaurant that we almost didn’t realize where we were until Paul noticed Nelson’s column at the center!  We snapped a few pics of the square and headed off to continue our search for a restaurant, and finally found a place called Med Kitchen which had a decent looking menu. Calvin and I ordered the swordfish with mango salsa while Paul got the spaghetti carbonara, and all three of us were happy with our meals (although we were so hungry we could have eaten anything and been happy!).  So far, food in the UK isn’t sucking as much as everyone told us it would…

After lunch, we walked along the River Thames to get to Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster (a.k.a. the Houses of Parliament), and Westminster Abbey. We arrived at Westminster Abbey just as they were closing, so we decided not to pay the ₤15 to go in today and headed off to Buckingham Palace by walking through St. James’s Park, which was quite a nice walk.  We were hoping to see one of the Queen’s Guards up close, but they’re all behind the gates of the Palace and it’s not like in the movies where you can take pictures with them! 

Since we had covered so many sights in one day, we decided to take a break from sightseeing and headed to Harrods department store to do some browsing. Even though I can’t buy anything right now, (and I probably wouldn’t shop here anyways since the conversion rate to the Pound sucks), it was fun to wander around the world’s biggest department store, especially when I found a section of OSIM demo massage chairs! I stayed in that area trying out various machines until almost closing time, when we rushed downstairs to check out the Princess Di memorial on the bottom floor of the store before leaving.

We finished our night in Chinatown, where we decided to try eating at the only restaurant that had a queue of Chinese people waiting for tables. As we waited for a table, we found out that the BBQ duck is what this restaurant is known for, so of course we ordered it as one of our dishes! It did not disappoint – it might actually be the best BBQ duck I’ve ever had anywhere! The skin was crispy and fatty while the meat was juicy and tender – this is how BBQ duck should be cooked!  Who would have thought I’d get better BBQ duck in London than I do in Hong Kong?

Day 1 in London has been a long one, but it was definitely worth the effort. Paul and I still have 10 days here and we’ve seen so much already! What are we going to do when Calvin leaves!