There and Back Again
Best. Vacation. Ever.
I've realized that there's nothing like going to a place that you have always wanted to go to and have it completely live up to your expectations. I had an absolutely wonderful time in London. We did the usual touristy things; roamed around, rode the Tube a lot, ate too many sandwiches, and managed not to get run over by a flow of traffic I never did entirely adjust to...
At 6am, I piled into a taxi and headed off to Pearson, sleepy, but really too excited to feel sleepy. Pearson was pretty empty and I checked in quickly, then all there was left to do was wait for my 9am flight. Settled into my seat next to a British gentleman who had been in Toronto for the Royal Winter Fair (he raises sheep) and we talked intermitantly throughout the flight about what he had seen in T.O., what I could expect from London weather (not much different than we'd been having in T.O) and how he was reading the latest Terry Pratchett book. Lowpoints of the flight: the food (yes, it has to be said) and the first inflight movie was the Lake House. Not only does Air Canada inflict a chick flick upon me, but one that stars Keanu Reeves. Ugh. Highpoints of the flight: the second movie was Pirates of the Carribean II, which is silly and watchable. Arriving at night meant my first view of London was one of her all lit up and looking pretty. Hightest point of the flight: it must have been one hell of a tail wind over the Atlantic, because my flight touched down at Heathrow an hour ahead of schedule. They didn't have an actual gate ready for us (I guess 'cause we were early), so we got a stair car (which, thanks to all of my Arrested Development watching of late, made me giggle lots to myself), and then shuttle buses to the terminal. Heathrow is a huge frickin' airport alright, and quite the contrast to the shiny newness of Terminal 1 at Pearson. But, there were lots of signs, going through customs took no time at all (they're clever at Heathrow; UK citizens go in one line, everybody else in another) and then there I was, all set to go meet Graig.
Who wasn't there yet.
LOL. Of course, this was no fault of his own, I was an hour early, so I didn't expect him to be there yet. I really only had to wait about fifteen minutes for him to arrive, and it was very, very good to see him again :) Then we were off for my first ride on the London Tube.
The trains are really, really small. Well, at least, that was my first impression of them. TTC subway cars must be at least half again as wide as the London cars. However, the TTC is by no means as extensive. Over the week I was so impressed by how well you could get around just on the Tube. It was really amazing. And I loved the old stations, with their curved walls and lovely brick or stone work.
We arrived at our hotel, which was quite swanky and I settled in a bit, a little tired, but seeing as it was only 5pm as far as I was concerned, and it was 10pm there, not tired enough to go to bed yet. But I was a little hungry, so we went off to a local convience store to grab some supplies and let me get some practice using the money.
So, despite the fact that both Graig's and mine natural inclination is to sleep in, we actually did manage to get up at 9am and get ourselves out the door at a descent time. The area around our hotel wasn't really what you'd call 'steeped' with anything historic, but a quick ride on the Tube again and I was quickly plunged into a more familiar London... i.e. stuff I'd seen a zillion pictures of before. We had to stop off at our work's London office, where Graig had been working all last week, so he could pick up his lap top. The London office is lovely, a beautiful old building right on the water front, only steps away from the Tower of London and the beautiful Tower Bridge.
No, that is NOT the London Bridge. The London Bridge is a rather unassuming looking thing one bridge down from the Tower Bridge. Which, I believe, we walked across a little later when going to the Tate Modern. But first; the Tower of London.
The Tower of London is a neat fortress right smack on the bank of the Thames. It's an amalgam of buildings and walls built at different times but all for the same reasons, for defense and for the holding of prisoners. We got an absolutely fabulous tour guide, with a great, booming voice and a wonderfully macabre sense of humour, which fit in well given how bloody the history of the Tower is. We were treated to tales of murder, intreguige, beheadings, hauntings and such things. It was also very interesting to hear that the Beefeaters stationed at the Tower actually live on grounds with their families, and can only become Beefeaters after 22 years of service in Her Majesties' Army and having won a Distinguished Service medal. So yeah, these guys might be taking tourists around, but I suspect they could still kick your ass quite handily. After the tour concluded, Graig and I wandered around on our own, viewing the Crown Jewels (VERY sparkly!) and the armory, which had armor and swords and guns and all sorts of fun things. Anyway, I'll put some pictures up of the Tower once Graig downloads them somewhere I can get to them :)
After the Tower tour, we headed off to walk down the Thames a bit. The Thames is a body of water that makes Lake Ontario look clean. Honestly, I would swim in our nasty lake WAY before even thinking about putting a toe in the Thames. At one point, we found some stairs that lead right down to the edge of the river, and the smell down there was just... nasty. It's really a shame, but then as Graig pointed out to me, they've been polluting it for much longer than we've been having a go at our lake... So after a bit, we crossed the Thames to have a look at the Globe Theater, which was, unfortunately, closed for the season. I would've really liked to have seen a play there, but oh well, its not like I'm bereft of Shakespeare or anything, but still, seeing it performed in a replica of the Globe? Way cool. The building itself is neat, round and open air of course, with a bit of a thatched roof.
After circling the Globe, we headed pretty much next door to the Tate Modern to look at some funky modern art. It really only takes a few minutes for me to remind myself I'm not a huge fan of modern art. I like Impressionists, Pre-Rahaelites, Post-Modernists and the Group of Seven (oh and other stuff of course), but Dadaists, Surrealists, Cubism, Abstracts and the just plain weird? Not so much :) But still, always good to have a look while you're there. And no, we didn't take the big slide down, we were feeling cheap and didn't want to pay five pounds for the priviledge. After this, we headed back across the Thames on the Millenium Bridge, which is a nifty, modern looking thing that, handily, leads right to the front door of the Tate Modern. By this point, we were pretty tired and hungry and wanting to head back to the hotel to relax and watch some of the zillion or so DVDs Graig had already bough during the previous week. (And yes, Graig does have a region-free DVD player, so we will be able to watch his spoils at home as well).
And that's it for Day Two. Whew.
More in the next few days as the pictures are looked at so I can remind myself exactly what we did and add them accordingly. It was a whirlwind tour of London all right and I loved every minute of it.
I've realized that there's nothing like going to a place that you have always wanted to go to and have it completely live up to your expectations. I had an absolutely wonderful time in London. We did the usual touristy things; roamed around, rode the Tube a lot, ate too many sandwiches, and managed not to get run over by a flow of traffic I never did entirely adjust to...
At 6am, I piled into a taxi and headed off to Pearson, sleepy, but really too excited to feel sleepy. Pearson was pretty empty and I checked in quickly, then all there was left to do was wait for my 9am flight. Settled into my seat next to a British gentleman who had been in Toronto for the Royal Winter Fair (he raises sheep) and we talked intermitantly throughout the flight about what he had seen in T.O., what I could expect from London weather (not much different than we'd been having in T.O) and how he was reading the latest Terry Pratchett book. Lowpoints of the flight: the food (yes, it has to be said) and the first inflight movie was the Lake House. Not only does Air Canada inflict a chick flick upon me, but one that stars Keanu Reeves. Ugh. Highpoints of the flight: the second movie was Pirates of the Carribean II, which is silly and watchable. Arriving at night meant my first view of London was one of her all lit up and looking pretty. Hightest point of the flight: it must have been one hell of a tail wind over the Atlantic, because my flight touched down at Heathrow an hour ahead of schedule. They didn't have an actual gate ready for us (I guess 'cause we were early), so we got a stair car (which, thanks to all of my Arrested Development watching of late, made me giggle lots to myself), and then shuttle buses to the terminal. Heathrow is a huge frickin' airport alright, and quite the contrast to the shiny newness of Terminal 1 at Pearson. But, there were lots of signs, going through customs took no time at all (they're clever at Heathrow; UK citizens go in one line, everybody else in another) and then there I was, all set to go meet Graig.
Who wasn't there yet.
LOL. Of course, this was no fault of his own, I was an hour early, so I didn't expect him to be there yet. I really only had to wait about fifteen minutes for him to arrive, and it was very, very good to see him again :) Then we were off for my first ride on the London Tube.
The trains are really, really small. Well, at least, that was my first impression of them. TTC subway cars must be at least half again as wide as the London cars. However, the TTC is by no means as extensive. Over the week I was so impressed by how well you could get around just on the Tube. It was really amazing. And I loved the old stations, with their curved walls and lovely brick or stone work.
We arrived at our hotel, which was quite swanky and I settled in a bit, a little tired, but seeing as it was only 5pm as far as I was concerned, and it was 10pm there, not tired enough to go to bed yet. But I was a little hungry, so we went off to a local convience store to grab some supplies and let me get some practice using the money.
So, despite the fact that both Graig's and mine natural inclination is to sleep in, we actually did manage to get up at 9am and get ourselves out the door at a descent time. The area around our hotel wasn't really what you'd call 'steeped' with anything historic, but a quick ride on the Tube again and I was quickly plunged into a more familiar London... i.e. stuff I'd seen a zillion pictures of before. We had to stop off at our work's London office, where Graig had been working all last week, so he could pick up his lap top. The London office is lovely, a beautiful old building right on the water front, only steps away from the Tower of London and the beautiful Tower Bridge.
No, that is NOT the London Bridge. The London Bridge is a rather unassuming looking thing one bridge down from the Tower Bridge. Which, I believe, we walked across a little later when going to the Tate Modern. But first; the Tower of London.
The Tower of London is a neat fortress right smack on the bank of the Thames. It's an amalgam of buildings and walls built at different times but all for the same reasons, for defense and for the holding of prisoners. We got an absolutely fabulous tour guide, with a great, booming voice and a wonderfully macabre sense of humour, which fit in well given how bloody the history of the Tower is. We were treated to tales of murder, intreguige, beheadings, hauntings and such things. It was also very interesting to hear that the Beefeaters stationed at the Tower actually live on grounds with their families, and can only become Beefeaters after 22 years of service in Her Majesties' Army and having won a Distinguished Service medal. So yeah, these guys might be taking tourists around, but I suspect they could still kick your ass quite handily. After the tour concluded, Graig and I wandered around on our own, viewing the Crown Jewels (VERY sparkly!) and the armory, which had armor and swords and guns and all sorts of fun things. Anyway, I'll put some pictures up of the Tower once Graig downloads them somewhere I can get to them :)
After the Tower tour, we headed off to walk down the Thames a bit. The Thames is a body of water that makes Lake Ontario look clean. Honestly, I would swim in our nasty lake WAY before even thinking about putting a toe in the Thames. At one point, we found some stairs that lead right down to the edge of the river, and the smell down there was just... nasty. It's really a shame, but then as Graig pointed out to me, they've been polluting it for much longer than we've been having a go at our lake... So after a bit, we crossed the Thames to have a look at the Globe Theater, which was, unfortunately, closed for the season. I would've really liked to have seen a play there, but oh well, its not like I'm bereft of Shakespeare or anything, but still, seeing it performed in a replica of the Globe? Way cool. The building itself is neat, round and open air of course, with a bit of a thatched roof.
After circling the Globe, we headed pretty much next door to the Tate Modern to look at some funky modern art. It really only takes a few minutes for me to remind myself I'm not a huge fan of modern art. I like Impressionists, Pre-Rahaelites, Post-Modernists and the Group of Seven (oh and other stuff of course), but Dadaists, Surrealists, Cubism, Abstracts and the just plain weird? Not so much :) But still, always good to have a look while you're there. And no, we didn't take the big slide down, we were feeling cheap and didn't want to pay five pounds for the priviledge. After this, we headed back across the Thames on the Millenium Bridge, which is a nifty, modern looking thing that, handily, leads right to the front door of the Tate Modern. By this point, we were pretty tired and hungry and wanting to head back to the hotel to relax and watch some of the zillion or so DVDs Graig had already bough during the previous week. (And yes, Graig does have a region-free DVD player, so we will be able to watch his spoils at home as well).
And that's it for Day Two. Whew.
More in the next few days as the pictures are looked at so I can remind myself exactly what we did and add them accordingly. It was a whirlwind tour of London all right and I loved every minute of it.