London Days 3, 4 and 5

Having spent the first two days only traveling through central London at night and primarily by tube I was over joyed to find that London was already well into Christmas-craze the last week of November.

A proper department store, selling some spirit

The main thoroughfare was well lit with huge decorations and even a functional snow globe set up around the fountain at Piccadilly Circus

On day 3 I took a nice walk through Kensington Gardens and Hide Park (angry-fist the repairs on the tube) which led me past several embassies and mansion-ettes that maybe 1% of the world could afford (a sign at the gate to the street told me that photos were not allowed, so you'll have to imagine Daddy Warbucks' mansion on a street between Notting Hill and Buckingham Palace). And then through the gorgeous parks which, being me, made me want to put on a Victorian gown, carry a parasol and had me singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls".

On the far corner of Hyde Park I finally met up with some Hungarians and went exploring Winter Wonderland, the Christmas market that was trying to be a gussied up Oktoberfest. No but really. Nearly every stand had some Bavarian theme to it.

A talking moose head with Bavarian flags

A poorly labeled Tannenbaum

The Santa trash bin. No. But really.

What they actually were calling "Oktoberfest"

The haunted Christmas house

And the topping on the cake: an animated drunk Bavarian who sang and yelled at you in German

After a disappointing double loop around Winter Wonderland, we never did find the circus or zoo that the signs pointed to, we traipsed farther across London to the British Museum, home of the Rosetta Stone. Had I been in a more energetic mood the museum, crowded as it was, would have been great. As it was I was exhausted, uninterested in reading plaques, and only able to focus on the grandfather clock display and finding the Rosetta Stone.

Then I parted ways with my Hungarians, opting for a more touristy, less informational hop back and forth around the city center. I went to King's Cross...

How much fandom can I fit into one trip???

And then to Buckingham Palace...

And then to Big Ben...

And the London Eye

And then back across town again to watch the Doctor Who 50th. I won't annoy non-Whovians with too much detail, but please let me say: I thought the 50th was perfect, flawless save for the sad fact that Tennant is aging, I loved every moment and was so stressed and concerned for my Doctors, and I couldn't have made done John Hurt's Doctor better if I had made him my life's work. I just wish Billy had been there as Rose just a bit. Okay, moving on.

On day 4 I continued to not sleep and have no energy so I decided to take the day to go up to more touristy places like 221B Baker Street, home of Sherlock Holmes (where my camera battery promptly died; angry-fist the effects of cold on battery life)...

And then up to Notting Hill and along Portobello Road for a long afternoon of post card writing from a cafe. While up on Notting Hill (pro tip: the market is WAY better on Saturday and you just end up around tourists on Sunday) I went into a random bookshop that looked interesting. The layout seemed really familiar, like I'd seen it in a film or something. I went in looking for detailed travel books about Ireland and a copy of "The Dinosaur Who Pooped Christmas" but couldn't find what I was looking for. The women in the shop were very friendly and helpful and know their stock by heart and I was sorry not to buy anything. Then I stepped out of the door into a crowd of tourists taking pictures in front of the shop. I had naturally failed to realize that this was the book shop used in the film Notting Hill, but on the bright side they ordered the book I was looking for and I felt very important (and a little daft).

Sunday night I met up with a couchsurfing person and had one of those middle-of-the-road couchsurfing experiences. While the guy was not unkind or creepy, we clearly had nothing in common and I just wanted to get my butt back to my horrible hostel bed and sleep. He wanted to drink and sit in a bar that looks like the Vegas airport and ask me a series of questions that didn't really help us get to know one another. But that's one of the pit-falls of couchsurfing: you never know if you are a good friend match or not based on a couple of emails.

One cool thing was that we were out at the Cutty Sark which is this old British privateers ship they've moored into the promenade and you can walk all around it. It was pretty cool!

Monday was my last full day in London. I built on my experience of the last few days where walking around real neighborhoods had been really enjoyable, but tourist stops had been frazzling. So instead of really doing anything all day I just walked around the City of Westminster. Westminster is, yes, where the Abbey is, but it's also the area with the private parks and the fancy residences which all look exactly like Upstairs, Downstairs and 27A Wimpole Street. Walking around acting like a local, without the option to put in headphones, and not really trying to get any where was the best way to spend the last day. I fell in love with the city walking around these streets, and even living abroad, I've never loved any city accept for Portland. Loving Westminster is a big step for me.

In the evening I wrapped up a rather fanciful day by seeing the production of Les Mis at the Queen's Theatre. I went to see it because Carrie Hope Fletcher, who is a really cheerful youtuber, is in it. And I have to say, while seeing and then later meeting Carrie was wonderful, and the whole cast was absolutely fantastic (I don't think I've ever seen such a flawless execution in a stage production, ever), I still hate this opera. I just can't stand the plot lines and the repetitious themes and how much they try to squeeze into a 3 hour production. But if I concentrated on each scene individually, ignoring the overarching drawbacks, I really enjoyed the moments separately. The cast of #LesMisOfficial is really quite talented. And I say that having seen the original cast of Wicked.

After leaving the autograph-getting part of the night things moved quite quickly. I went to bed for 4 hours. Got up early. Caught the correct bus which was running 8 minutes later than google maps said it would be. Therefore missed my 5:10 am coach to the airport. Couldn't get on the 6 am coach because it was full and no one had bothered to forewarn us. Had to buy an additional ticket from another company to get to the airport on time. Had the flight delayed just enough so I got stressed that I would miss my non-refundable train back from the airport in Germany. Mis-read my booking schedule and ended up taking an unnecessary taxi to catch a non-existent train. Waited in the snow for 2 hours (at least Germany had the courtesy to snow for me). And 12 hours later got home. It essentially took me the same amount of time to fly to London as it would have been to DRIVE.

But overall, even being happy to be back in Germany, having slept horribly and over-paid for everything except food, I loved London. I think on the next trip I'll couchsurf and aim for a London Society trip: high tea, an evening opera show, quiet hours at the Tate, and more wandering about the City of Westminster.

More photos as the weather holds...

...and my brain doesn't ever stop singing "Feed the Birds" after walking past Marble Arch