London Pt.1

It only took a 2.5 hour flight to Charlotte, NC, a 3 hour layover, a 9 hour flight to Gatwick Airport, past customs, a 30 minute train ride to Victoria Station, a bus to Paddinton Station and a 20 minute walk to get to our hotel in Notting Hill. Our friends Doug and Stephanie live in East Dulwich (pronounced East Dull-itch) and suggested that we find a place a bit closer and more accessible than near their place. They had a small flat and didn't really have the room to put us up, but we were grateful we had people we knew to show us around during our stay in London.

We took a quick nap and woke up just in time to head out to this awesome club that our friend Steph suggested - Notting Hill Arts Club. This trendy little place was jam packed with 20 somethings drinking away on a Sunday night. At about 10 p.m. people started packing into the club en masse and it quickly filled up - one in one out. There was an excited buzz in the air as some mystery band was supposed to show up at the end of the night. The bands that played that night were: Orange from Milan, Italy, The Vortex of Manchester, UK and the well known Glasvegas of Glascow, Scotland. We actually had left early and didn't get to see the latter (I'm 5'3" and was getting stomped on by a 6 foot, 300 pound man) - which is fine seeing as I don't particularly enjoy their music.

The next day our friend Doug met us up at Piccadilly Circus for a gorgeous walk around London. While I normally do not mind lengthy walks, I am a desert species and 40 degrees was rather frigid for me. I think Shaun is missing half his nerve endings since he walked around in shorts and a hoodie. As stated earlier, we started our small tour at Piccadilly Circus. This area of London not only has a multitude of places to shop but the statue in the middle is most often a meeting place for friends (as the tube station and multiple bus stops are here). We meandered our way to St. James's Park. I'm assuming that during the spring the park is quite lush and green. Due to the fact we came during February, the weather was quite dreary, the trees bare, and with our luck, most of it was under construction. Needless to say I have to use a bit of imagination, but I can understand the appeal.

We continued our trek to Buckingham Palace. How can you not stop by here being in London. I had really been looking forward to it, however when we arrived I realized we had walked all that way to look at a realitively impressive building with a million tourists around it. While I normally don't mind, there just really wasn't much going on with the palace. I'm really not sure what I expected. It's not like the queen was going to come outside and welcome us with open arms or anything. We took our cliche pictures and continued onward.

By now I was a bit tired and came to the realization that Doug had an itinerary that continued on for miles. It is times like these that I remember that I live in Austin, Texas - Not New York. Not Paris. Not Tokyo. I live in a city where everyone has a car, there is very little public transportation, and now I'm in London and my legs are starting to feel the burn. While I would LOVE for our city to have public transportation (expecially with how Green Austin is), I have to live with the fact that I have no walking stamina.

We drudged past some War Memorials (which were beautiful), back up towards Piccadilly, and into Soho. You will not believe how shopping can make a girl forget how crappy she feels. I got some items from Lazy Oaf (I mean, how can you turn down a PacMan scarf?!) and wandered around one of my most favorite jewelry artist's store: Tatty Devine. Shaun had gotten me this awesome scimitar necklace with red crystal blood spots on the bottom the last time he came to London so I had to make it a point to ogle at the her creations.

After my small shopping spree we hung out at a pub (I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it - all I know is that it was described as a Walmart equivalent to a pub where drinks are cheap) to drink some Magner's cider (YUM) and wait for Steph to get off of work. I honestly cannot even imagine the sheer amounts of cider Shaun and I ingested while we were in London. When in Texas, I do beer - because believe it or not, we do it well. I had never had such amazing, sweet, bubbly cider in my entire life. Steph was able to make it after our first round and we quickly ordered another. It was going to be a good night and we could all feel it.

Shaun and I had our first experience with Indian food in London. Doug and Stephanie took us to this amazing place called Masala Zone. Both of us ordered very mild curry dishes as a newbie to the Indian food world and we were pleasantly surprised. The curry and naan melted in our mouths and I quickly went into food coma after a belly full of food and cider. Our night was not over and I was starting to nod off to sleep.

We head out into the chilly night for a brisk walk (and by brisk I mean hobbled quickly) to our next location - a comedy club to see Andrew Maxwell. For those of you who are able to catch him while in the UK, I highly suggest it. He is freakin' hilarious. There is nothing like ending a busy day with some hearty laughs and good company. I really couldn't have asked for more for our first couple of days in London.

Since there is no feasible way to cover the entire London trip without spamming you with a wall of text, I will be breaking up the trip into several parts. Check back for updates!

Check out Andrew Maxwell: