London: Day 2
Jet lag isn’t killing me as much as I had anticipated, but I was awake from 4am to 6am this morning. Then, of course, promptly fell into deep sleep just as my alarm went off. Other than that, I suppose I’m adjusting to London time quite nicely!
Breakfast this morning consisted of a traditional English breakfast at the Waffle Palace near our hotel. Must be frank, I’m not a fan. American breakfasts are way better.
After breakfast, we dragged Marc out of the hotel room with the plans of visiting the Tower of London. Instead, we ventured to Camden. The Camden Lock Market, built into old stables was full of insanely delicious street food, tons of little shops and a massive amount of people. It was incredible.
Once we’d had enough of the crowds, we walked a relatively short distance to Regent’s Park — another one of London’s beautiful city escapes. After passing the judgment that “if you’ve seen one zoo, you’ve seen them all,” we skipped the London Zoo and headed straight for Queen Mary’s Garden. While it was void of its famous roses, it was still breathtaking.
Regent’s Park is HUGE and by the time we lapped it, we were in dire need of a cold beverage. We had previously seen a sign peeking out of a fence for Edinboro Castle and Marc and I had the same thought, “BEER GARDEN.” Low and behold, it was.
And it was an incredible beer garden at that. So many brews I’d never even heard of. “We must be in England,” I said.
I indulged in a Früli Belgian Strawberry Beer. And it was delicious.
We decided to hop back on the Tube and visit Islington, a part of town Marc is considering as his residence, and grab some dinner. Authentic pizza with zucchini, mozzarella, brie and speck. Mozzarella and tomatoes. Italian parmesan salad. And mediterranean marinated olives. Yum.
Our day was full of photos (album coming upon my return!), walking and sitting in the grass amidst royal flowers in the sunshine. Bliss.
Things I learned today:
1. The Tube stations are like rat mazes.
2. London is a HUGE city.
3. The subcultures in London are extremely interesting (and prevalent).
4. I like anything that has to do with a Queen.
5. The food in London can be great if you look in the right places (away from the tourist-driven restaurants and generic pubs).
Cheers!
