I Heart London
My first memories of London are of Chippendales, a bunch of
university students’ bums as they mooned us from the patio of a bar, and
rooftops as we wove through the city on a double-decker tour bus. These are the kinds of things that made an impression on a teenager. It was fascinating but felt cheesy and
transitory and I much preferred the quieter locales of Bath and Cambridge.
Later I visited London with my Mom after a tour of Ireland,
and while I enjoyed it measurably more due to my awesome
tour guide Asheefa who took me to the all-day nightclub Piccadilly circus (who
wouldn’t want to dance and drink midday?) and for a fancy London tea, I still
didn’t get the appeal. But after this most recent trip, I do have to admit that
while I love New York, and I “Maple Leaf” Toronto…I heart London.
Two days is not enough, but this trip happened to include
parts of London that I’d never seen before and looooved. I arrived two-hours late (thanks again to
Royal Air Maroc) so quite late on a Friday and was leaving Sunday evening for
Iceland. So the whole weekend was tinged
with a bit of sadness at not having enough time with one of my favourite people
in the world. But we made the best of
it.
Sweet Shoreditch
We decided to stay in an Air BandB (my first time) and while the location
(Shoreditch) was incredible and the facilities adequate (private bath,
laundry)…we had to contend with feeling like we were staying on someone’s couch
as the guy that lived there really just tidied up a small space for us to put
our stuff. The rest of the apartment looked like he had just stepped into the other room to get a snack. We also had to
contend with his roommates watching TV and being
loud till the wee hours.
Shoreditch was an awesome place to stay. We had late-night bacon sandwiches at Hoxtons,
enjoyed breakfasts at a lazy and delicious little café called the Curious Yellow Cafe, and
pizza in a courtyard with restaurants bustling around.
Saturday my leg had only gotten worse from the swelling I
had in Morocco so we made plans to head to the emergency room to get it checked
out. Luckily for us, we ran into a doctor
in the building who informed us that it was indeed infected, but localized, and
gave instructions on cleaning the wound and getting rid of the
infection. So that was a fun, bonding
experience to say the least!
Beer and Burgers
- We visited the insanely busy Camden Market, and then the less busy but AMAZING Camden Lock. There were crafters with really unique handmade wares, about 30 food stalls serving the type of quick yet fancy food that you find at food trucks in Toronto, and beer on tap. The day was sunny, the food was delicious and the beer was almost cold ;).
- Next to the Lock was the Regent's canal which we walked along to get to the London Zoo and Regent's park. We strolled alongside boats (felt a bit like being in Amsterdam), sat in the park watching cricket and just had a wonderful lazy afternoon stroll.
- We finished the day with a little early birthday dinner for me at Burger and Lobster, with a menu that consisted of three items: a full lobster, a burger or a roll We opted for the full lobster and it was divine.
- Then we trekked across town (on the tube system that makes Toronto's subway system look like the kid's tram at an amusement park) to meet up with some friends to watch a world cup game.
Flowers and Truffles
- We visited the famed Columbia flower market in Shoreditch.
- Antiqued along Brick lane, meeting some old friends from my tour in Peru for some cider and catch-ups in a beer garden, and enjoyed the most amazing duck confit sandwich and chocolate truffles with flavours from lavender to chilli to mango.
- Strolled through Shoreditch looking at graffiti, cute shops and the farmer's market, polished off with pizzas on a patio in Hoxton.
And then I hit the airport to say a sad goodbye (Airport
goodbyes, especially when you don't know if and when you will see that person again, are gut-wrenching. Tops my list as one of the worst experiences) and head off for the last leg of my
trip Iceland.
Let someone in.
Let someone go.
After you've seen it all, you won't remember the windows and doors, but who passed through. Jodi Hills
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