After we made our travel plans, we found out that another friend, Clive, who lives in northern England, was going to be in London for a Rugby match the same weekend. He invited Rick to go with him and some other guys. This worked out great for both of us because Rick got to hang out with Clive and see a Rugy match and I got to spend the day with Maria. After seeing one Rugby match on television and one live, Rick has come to the conclusion that he really doesn't understand the sport and he's not sure if it's his cup of tea. Nevertheless, he had a good time and he liked the idea of doing something that was "very British". Maria and I also had a good day. We went to a market and walked around a little before having a nice lunch of oysters, calamari and wine. Much later, we had a couple of cocktails in Soho. The best part of our day, however, was just getting a chance to chat and catch up on girl-talk. We met the guys and some of Clive's friends for dinner later that evening.
The next day, Rick and I had a nice brunch at The Troubadour, a historic coffee house that has a small music venue downstairs where some big names like Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon played in the '60s. It now has a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lucky for us this place was close to our hotel. I must mention that our hotel was not that conveniently located to the tourist attractions as it was in Earl's Court, a neighborhood on the west side of town. When Rick realized that this place was in the same neighborhood as our hotel, it became a must-see for him. We were both happy with this discovery. We enjoyed the food and atmosphere so much that we ate there twice. This is a place where old meets new. An old place with lots of history and memorabilia on the walls that is now frequented by young hipsters. The place was packed and buzzing on Sunday during brunch-time. We didn't take any pictures that day, but took a few when we returned on Tuesday. We didn't have to worry about looking like goofy tourists that day because we were the only customers in the restaurant. We would have liked to see a show downstairs, but were not that interested in the bands that were scheduled. See website: http://www.troubadour.co.uk/
After brunch, we met up with Clive and his friend, Rob, at a nice pub that overlooked the Thames. I guess they needed a little hair of the dog to get their day started. Rick and I just had tea. It was a crisp, but sunny day so we left the pub and took a long walk along the river. We said goodbye to Clive and Rob around 3 and set off on our own to walk around the Holborn neighborhood. There were several things that sounded interesting in this area. Unfortunately, they were all closed on Sunday. We ended up walking around and vowed to visit the area again on our next trip to London.
As the sun started going down, so did the temperature. We thought this would be a good time to visit the Tate Modern, Britain's national museum of international modern and contemporary art. The museum is housed in a converted power station, which was pretty cool. However, we weren't that impressed by the galleries. We like modern art, but not necessarily the abstract and just plain wacky stuff, which seemed to be the majority. We didn't mind spending a couple of hours there though. Admission was free and it's one of those places in London that you feel like you should see at least once. When we had our fill of art, we headed to Brick Lane for some authentic Indian food. It was yummy and cheap. That made us happy!
It started raining really hard Sunday night and continued throughout the day Monday. Therefore, Monday was dedicated to indoor activities. We took a tour of Westminster Abbey, which was fantastic. Rick was there many moons ago, but it was my first time. I'm usually pretty hesitant to take a tour, but this one was very interesting. The building, itself, is worth seeing, but the information provided by the tour made for a richer experience. The only unfortunate thing about this experience was that we were not allowed to take pictures inside the abbey. Oh, well. You will just have to visit it yourself.
We had a couple of hours to kill before our next attraction so we paid the Tate Britain a short visit. Like the Tate Modern, it was free. Again, not vey impressed, but for different reasons. Next, we headed to a traditional English pub for lunch. Rick's falafel wasn't very "British", but we were happy that there was a decent vegetarian choice. I, however, had fish and chips. The pub was warm, cozy and very authentic. The food was good too. After drying out and filling our bellies, we ventured back out for more.
We spent the last part of the day visiting the Houses of Parliament, The House of Lords and the House of Commons, which are located in the "Big Ben Building". We got an opportunity to sit in on a couple of legislative sessions. I didn't understand most of what was being discussed, but I thought it was a great experience. In addition, the inside of the building was beautiful. We couldn't take pictures there either so Rick took a photo of the brochure cover instead. After a long day of running around in the rain, we headed back to the hotel for a nap.
Although it was difficult to venture out in the evening after getting warm and rested, we went to Camden to see some bands. The bands were not that great, but the venue (old, horse stables converted into galleries) was super cool. See website: http://www.atproud.net/ We also thought a visit to Camden would provide a nostalgic moment for Rick as this was his old stomping grounds. Perhaps he was too wet and tired for that. Even so, it's always nice to visit Camden.
We had a few hours Tuesday morning before we had to catch our train. So, after another
leisurely brunch at The Troubadour, we visited Sir John Soane's Museum. The museum is basically Soane's former home. He was an architect that collected a lot of artwork and artifacts and displayed them in his home. He treated his home as a museum and gallery to provide examples for his architecture students. In his will, he gave his home and his collection to the government under the condition that it would remain "as is". Visiting the museum was quite an experience and was also free. While this is not one of London's main tourist attractions, I would recommend it. See website: http://www.soane.org/ Oh, also no photos allowed there!
We enjoyed our trip to London and getting to see our friends. We are already making plans to go back during the summer. Hopefully, for one of the open-air music or theater festivals. We have some pictures of the city and of The Troubadour, but not of much else as I've already explained. There are also some pictures of "The Easy Hotel", where we stayed. Easy Hotel is a chain of budget hotels located in a few cities in Europe. They are small, clean, cheap and extremely basic. The room reminded me of a college dorm room, but uglier and VERY ORANGE. The hotel's philosophy is to provide cheap rooms with no frills. They provide you with zero extras. Each person gets one towel. If you want more, you pay for it. Each room has a TV. However, if you want the remote to turn it on, you pay for it. They even charge to hold your bags. In addition, they only clean rooms upon request (they do clean between guests, however). I'm not sure if I'm going to run back to the Easy Hotel anytime soon, but it was at least clean and the bed was very comfortable. It's also a good option when visiting an expensive city like London. We splurged on a more expensive room that was bigger and had a window. It was still only 55 pounds a night.
Rugby
The City
Westminster Abbey (the outside)
Parliament (the outside)
Parliament (inside, but not real)
The Troubadour
Helpful signs on almost every intersection to keep tourists from getting hit by cars
John Soane's Museum (the outside)
Easy Hotel
