Trip to London
Dec 22nd, 2009, 05:45 PM
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Trip to London
Alrightee! So, this is my first trip report in forever, and my first trip in geez! forever as well! Maybe what. 22 years! So, this will be a really terrible trip report, be forewarned, even though <em>I</em> had a great time! (I live in Manhattan, NY)
So, I went to London to visit a friend. I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, which was nice. I could have paid an extra 40 pounds to get a Hyde Park view, but I decided to instead just see this crappy view, and spend the extra money touring London.
The first day I just had dinner with her and her boyfriend, which was fun. (Some place called Cafe Rouge, which I'm told is a chain, nothing special.)
The second day, first we walked through Hyde Park to see this "German Christmas Market". (There didn't seem to be anything "German" about it, but that's how my friend kept describing it. She didn't have a real explanation for it, save of the type "See? Bratwurst. It's clearly german." Of course, there was an Alice in Wonderland ride, and "American Hamburgers", so...) Anyway, after that, we went to see the Eye. I was struck by how huge the city was. (Actually, before that I was struck by how ... crooked the roads are in London! I can't believe the cab drivers can get from place to place, and am not surprised it takes them three years to study for their exam.) Afterwards, we went to see the aquarium right by there.
The third day, we went to see the Imperial War Museum. My friend had shown me the museum website before, and I noticed a Holocaust exhibit, which I wanted to see. Which was predictably horrifying and awful of course. (But, "good", in that it was informative, etc. although, nothing I didn't already know, I suppose.) But, what was really good was this other exhibit they had "Children at war"... That was a truly awful exhibit as well. (But, "good" *sigh*). Pictures of children in gas masks, etc. The thing that really made the experience tho, was they had a guy there who lived through the Blitz, who was recounting the story to me and my friend. It was really interesting hearing the first person narrative.
The fourth day we went to see the Royal Observatory.(We took some sort of boat there, which unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the name.) I guess it was interesting enough. We saw a planetarium show about "We are Astronomers", where they talked about the Large Hadron Collider and the James Webb Space Telescope. Planetariums are always fun, but I don't think I learned anything new from them. (Either at this one, or at the Hayden Planetarium here in New York).
The fifth day we went to see the London Dungeon http://www.the-dungeons.co.uk/london/en/index.htm , which was just sort of a touristy sort of haunted house.
Then, the sixth day, I started back, and realized that staying 18 hours in Milan's Malpensa airport was less fun than I imagined it to be! I'll definitely get a no stop flight next time. That was arguably the worst part of the trip. Everything else was great. (Admittedly tho, since I almost never travel, I have a very limited frame of reference.)
So, I went to London to visit a friend. I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, which was nice. I could have paid an extra 40 pounds to get a Hyde Park view, but I decided to instead just see this crappy view, and spend the extra money touring London.
The first day I just had dinner with her and her boyfriend, which was fun. (Some place called Cafe Rouge, which I'm told is a chain, nothing special.)
The second day, first we walked through Hyde Park to see this "German Christmas Market". (There didn't seem to be anything "German" about it, but that's how my friend kept describing it. She didn't have a real explanation for it, save of the type "See? Bratwurst. It's clearly german." Of course, there was an Alice in Wonderland ride, and "American Hamburgers", so...) Anyway, after that, we went to see the Eye. I was struck by how huge the city was. (Actually, before that I was struck by how ... crooked the roads are in London! I can't believe the cab drivers can get from place to place, and am not surprised it takes them three years to study for their exam.) Afterwards, we went to see the aquarium right by there.
The third day, we went to see the Imperial War Museum. My friend had shown me the museum website before, and I noticed a Holocaust exhibit, which I wanted to see. Which was predictably horrifying and awful of course. (But, "good", in that it was informative, etc. although, nothing I didn't already know, I suppose.) But, what was really good was this other exhibit they had "Children at war"... That was a truly awful exhibit as well. (But, "good" *sigh*). Pictures of children in gas masks, etc. The thing that really made the experience tho, was they had a guy there who lived through the Blitz, who was recounting the story to me and my friend. It was really interesting hearing the first person narrative.
The fourth day we went to see the Royal Observatory.(We took some sort of boat there, which unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the name.) I guess it was interesting enough. We saw a planetarium show about "We are Astronomers", where they talked about the Large Hadron Collider and the James Webb Space Telescope. Planetariums are always fun, but I don't think I learned anything new from them. (Either at this one, or at the Hayden Planetarium here in New York).
The fifth day we went to see the London Dungeon http://www.the-dungeons.co.uk/london/en/index.htm , which was just sort of a touristy sort of haunted house.
Then, the sixth day, I started back, and realized that staying 18 hours in Milan's Malpensa airport was less fun than I imagined it to be! I'll definitely get a no stop flight next time. That was arguably the worst part of the trip. Everything else was great. (Admittedly tho, since I almost never travel, I have a very limited frame of reference.)
Dec 22nd, 2009, 08:12 PM
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Had you been to London before? Just wondering because you seem to have bypassed most of the more important sights (e.g. Westminster Abbey, the Tower, St. Paul's, British Museum etc.). The London Dungeon...ugh.
Dec 23rd, 2009, 04:04 AM
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I agree with you that our attempts at Christmas markets can be a bit dodgy - espcially the Covent Garden one, which looks a bit like a garden centre, row upon row of wooden sheds desperately trying to appear 'Alpine'. What you really need to look for are 'farmers markets' where you can usually buy good local produce - these are much better.
Dec 23rd, 2009, 04:33 AM
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Truth be told, I really went more to visit my friend than to visit London. I didn't go into Westminster Abbey or the British Museum (or see them, I don't think) but she pointed out the Tower and St. Paul's when we were on the Eye. I told her that I didn't really want to go rushing around trying to see every sight in London. And, the London Dungeon was fun. It was the last day and I said I just wanted to wander around doing light stuff. Also, it's not like it's the only time I plan to go there.
Cholmondley, before I left, I checked out your profile, and found out that you lived in Blackheath, where my friend also lives. I told her that part of my agenda was to go through Blackheath at 2am drunkenly calling out CHOLMONDLEY! WHERE ARE YOU?! But, I regret that we didn't get a chance to do that... We did go to ... http://www.mountainview-restaurant.co.uk/ in Blackheath the day we went to the Royal Observatory.
Cholmondley, before I left, I checked out your profile, and found out that you lived in Blackheath, where my friend also lives. I told her that part of my agenda was to go through Blackheath at 2am drunkenly calling out CHOLMONDLEY! WHERE ARE YOU?! But, I regret that we didn't get a chance to do that... We did go to ... http://www.mountainview-restaurant.co.uk/ in Blackheath the day we went to the Royal Observatory.
