While The Girlfriend naps (we do a lot of napping), I'm going to recap a little. Unfortunately, I only have a few pictures, since I switch between my phone and my point and shoot camera and sometimes she will snap some and I don't feel the need to repeat pics. So hopefully some of you will have the attention span to read this (which is probably my family) but I'll try to throw in a photo here and there for the rest of you ;)
London was a blur! We left DC on April 5th, took a red-eye with a layover in Reykjavik Iceland, only for an hour, and arrived in London around 11:45 their time. It was about a 45min tube ride to our AirBnb, then ta-da we were in London. Then we took a 4 hour nap. I have to mention that I really liked traveling with Icelandair. They give you a bottle of water when you walk on the plane and the flights had a wide variety of free old and new movies to watch. We took advantage of that (should have slept) and saw This is Where I Leave You with Tina Fey and Jason Bateman then I watched The Judge with Robert Downey Jr. Made a 6 hour flight fly by.
Our first partial day in London was pretty much getting our bearings around the AirBnb and getting food. I've only done AirBnb a couple times but it's a cheap way to travel and a good percent chance you're actually going to get what is advertised. We decided to do private rooms and rent whole apartments in cheaper areas. London is not a cheaper area. So we chose a room in a flat with a single mom and her 8 yr old son in an area we realized while walking around, was not the nicest. But the room was clean, the sun would shine warm and bright through the windows in the morning, and the bed was comfortable. Our host was very generous and took good care of us. She offered whatever food she had around her home and made sure there was space for us to store our food and use whatever she had in the kitchen. We're trying to limit to one meal out a day, which we didn't really stick to till I noticed how much money I was spending in Paris. We wandered around the neighborhood, checking out the food options in the area, and found mostly small take-away (take-out) restaurants but settled on a pho place. It was cold, The G was feeling a lil under the weather and it was guaranteed something that wouldn't upset her celiacs.
The gate to our first Airbnb, a converted school. There was a parking lot and some grass around the building so we did a few travel WODs.
Our first trip to the grocery store that night was a lot of fun for me. I enjoy seeing what produce is available and what the popular flavors of junk food are. Hazelnut chocolates are popular here which I've been enjoying, probably a little too much, but we've been walking between 5-10 miles a day so I think I'll be ok. So far I've had Paprika, Roast Chicken, and Bolognese chips and they were all good. I'll buy whatever I can in small quantities. Also, one of those multi-packs of single serve boxed kids cereals. Frosted Flakes and Coco Krispies are exactly the same but different name but the bee from Honey Nut Cheerios is on these puffs like Kix and loops that are like honey flavored fruit loops.
On a budget and sharing kitchens our meals in have been limited to mostly canned tuna, cheese, and bread (gluten free when we can find it). Breakfast has been a steady stream of apples and yogurt with almonds.
Anyways, the next day, our first full day overseas we rushed to the Victoria & Albert museum to meetup with a couple of The G's friends. During undergrad she went on a volunteer trip to New Zealand and some of those friends live maybe an hour or so distance away from London. We toured the museum while they gabbed and caught up then they gave us a tour of all the sights in the city. This is when we first walked for 10 miles in one day. The sun was shining, it was beautiful and we were getting our own private tour, it was great. Those friends left to meetup with family and friends in the city and we moved on to London Bridge to meetup with a friend of mine from college who moved to London for school and to claim his dual citizenship. It spoiled us seeing smiling faces and spending time with people who know the area and sights! I wish I knew someone in every city we're going to. Both of us agree that we want to get a sense of the culture and everyday life of every city we visit, not just the tourist attractions.
But here are some of those tourist attractions. Shamefully I'd have to look up what each thing is because I'm terrible and know nothing about European history and her friends told us so much information at once that I don't remember much. Oh, except Big Ben is not the clock tower, it's the name of the bell inside.
Our first partial day in London was pretty much getting our bearings around the AirBnb and getting food. I've only done AirBnb a couple times but it's a cheap way to travel and a good percent chance you're actually going to get what is advertised. We decided to do private rooms and rent whole apartments in cheaper areas. London is not a cheaper area. So we chose a room in a flat with a single mom and her 8 yr old son in an area we realized while walking around, was not the nicest. But the room was clean, the sun would shine warm and bright through the windows in the morning, and the bed was comfortable. Our host was very generous and took good care of us. She offered whatever food she had around her home and made sure there was space for us to store our food and use whatever she had in the kitchen. We're trying to limit to one meal out a day, which we didn't really stick to till I noticed how much money I was spending in Paris. We wandered around the neighborhood, checking out the food options in the area, and found mostly small take-away (take-out) restaurants but settled on a pho place. It was cold, The G was feeling a lil under the weather and it was guaranteed something that wouldn't upset her celiacs.
Our first trip to the grocery store that night was a lot of fun for me. I enjoy seeing what produce is available and what the popular flavors of junk food are. Hazelnut chocolates are popular here which I've been enjoying, probably a little too much, but we've been walking between 5-10 miles a day so I think I'll be ok. So far I've had Paprika, Roast Chicken, and Bolognese chips and they were all good. I'll buy whatever I can in small quantities. Also, one of those multi-packs of single serve boxed kids cereals. Frosted Flakes and Coco Krispies are exactly the same but different name but the bee from Honey Nut Cheerios is on these puffs like Kix and loops that are like honey flavored fruit loops.
On a budget and sharing kitchens our meals in have been limited to mostly canned tuna, cheese, and bread (gluten free when we can find it). Breakfast has been a steady stream of apples and yogurt with almonds.
Anyways, the next day, our first full day overseas we rushed to the Victoria & Albert museum to meetup with a couple of The G's friends. During undergrad she went on a volunteer trip to New Zealand and some of those friends live maybe an hour or so distance away from London. We toured the museum while they gabbed and caught up then they gave us a tour of all the sights in the city. This is when we first walked for 10 miles in one day. The sun was shining, it was beautiful and we were getting our own private tour, it was great. Those friends left to meetup with family and friends in the city and we moved on to London Bridge to meetup with a friend of mine from college who moved to London for school and to claim his dual citizenship. It spoiled us seeing smiling faces and spending time with people who know the area and sights! I wish I knew someone in every city we're going to. Both of us agree that we want to get a sense of the culture and everyday life of every city we visit, not just the tourist attractions.
The next day we left for Paris. We'll be returning to London for a few days at the tail end of our trip to fly out to Cancun. Yeah, I know, we're going directly from London to Cancun for a wedding. This trip doesn't feel as crazy as it sounds.
*Things I've learned about Europe and myself:
We first encountered this in London, but when there is good weather people over here like to sit outside in the parks. They don't really play anything. They just sit. There's even chairs you can use or rent and everyone just sits or enjoys a picnic.
But I can't really blame them. I grew up spoiled in a city that has sunny weather year round.
I really enjoy walking and using public transportation. I don't want to return to commuting by car.
The milk tastes different here, more like butter or cream. We looked it up and they use a higher temperature of pasteurization so it takes more of the water content out. Which makes me wonder if it has a higher fat content. Either way I like it.
Life feels so much different when you take each task one at a time. When I was working and living in the valley I thought of life in weeks. This week I work, and then go to the gym, maybe go out to dinner a couple times, and the weekend. I had a whole week in my head all the time. Now we are so focused on tasks. We've landed, right now we are completely focused on finding the train station and a bathroom. We're at the train station, now we need to figure out how to buy a ticket and find the right train to get to our AirBnb. Let's find a grocery store. One trip at a time, one task at a time. I prefer this way of thinking. Each of our days if filled with new experiences and moments and the days don't drone on with the goal of making it to the weekend. Everything is new here.
There are signs directing where or what to do with your Pram. Pram = stroller.
