The London Shoes

As many of you know, when I travel I like to take some old clothing and accessories along that are on their last legs to give them one final hurrah before tossing them away and not packing them home.  For this trip, my tossing item was appropriately enough, the London shoes.

Ten years ago my mom and I came to London and Edinburgh for ten days.  While shopping in Bath we each bought a pair of shoes (she still has hers).  This wouldn’t normally seem very amazing, but at that point I actually didn’t care about shoes that much.  It is really only since purchasing the London shoes that I have made an effort in my shoe inventory.  These shoes were black, and chunky with a funky tie thing, different from anything else I owned, and started my ascent towards better footwear.

Ten years later though, they were well-worn and falling apart so I had decided not to move them to the condo as I pared down.  But when the trip to London popped up, I hatched a new plan:  return them to their birthplace for the end of their life.  So, farewell my London shoes – you served me well!

 

London – Day 4

Last day in London.  Got ready, packed and tubed it to the office to clean up my inbox and store my stuff while I went out for a couple hours of fun.  First stop was Notting Hill where I bought cupcakes at the Hummingbird Bakery for the local staff who had helped me during the week (and of course a couple for myself & BK).  Also found a Boots to buy the Vaseline in tins Elenitsa requested.  Next stop was Soho Square, on a mission for BK:  I needed to find the Milroy Scotch shop and purchase the 10-year-old Glenturret which you apparently can’t get in the states.  From there went the shops next to our office building to get toffee for Shelby and Jaffa cakes (no idea what they are but they look yummy) for James. 

Armed with my purchases I ran upstairs to change, pack and leave for the airport.  RR was working up there so I got distracted a bit and left a little late but was still feeling fine.

Slight panic set in as I arrived at Paddington station to catch the Heathrow Express. 

Here was my original plan:  Leave office at 12:15, catch tube to Paddington, arrive there around 1:00pm, check in there, catch train to Heathrow, relax in BA lounge at fancy new Terminal 5 until 3:10pm flight.

Reality: Arrive at Paddington around 1:20pm to discover that BA no longer has a check-in desk there.  Scramble to buy ticket for Heathrow Express train and anxiously countdown minutes to the 1:40 departure time while scurrying to turn on my computer and check in thanks to the free wi-fi.  Get checked in (and upgrade seat to upper deck) so feeling better.  Arrive at Heathrow but cannot find business class check-in.  Go to closest kiosk to check in but am denied and set to the assistance line.  Wait an excruciatingly long time as the agent seems to be very slow.  Look around for someone else to flag down alert them about my now time-sensitive departure – no one nearby.  Finally get to counter, am told flight is closed.  EEEK!  Agent urgently calls someone, and is thankfully told she can still let me through (I’m assuming only because of my business class status.)  But she tells me I must run to “conformance”.   I only have two minutes – this is luckily nearby and another couple is also on a rush.  We get pushed to the front of security and clear it.  Next reality – I am currently in building A and my flight is in building B.  It is now 30 minutes from departure time, sign says it will take 15 minutes to get there.  It turns out to be much quicker luckily and as I arrive at gate B33 sweaty and winded they are still boarding at least half the flight.  Terminal 5 seems lovely – hopefully I’ll get to fully enjoy it another time.

Sunk into my seat, sweaty and thirsty only to sit there an additional hour.  We were ready to take off just a few minutes late when Security apparently decided they needed to talk to someone on the plane ( for a few minutes I had fears they would be showing up at my seat after seeing my dash throughout the airport).  Once that was all resolved, we finally took off.  The upper deck is nice and quiet, and its cool to look straight through the cockpit when they open the door.

Despite the anxious ending I had a great 4 days – I love London.

Sunny Day in Londontown – Day 3

Woke up to bright sunshine and eagerly anticipated my walk to the office which I have documented for you here:  Leaving the hotel, you walk two blocks south to Piccadilly where you run into the Ritz Hotel (oo la la).  Crossing the street you run then cut through Green Park:

 

At the end of the park, you turn right and stare right at Buckingham Palace – the flag was up so the Queen was in town and as I walked past the changing of the guard was beginning:

 

Next you skirt along the south side of the Palace a few blocks, then turn left where you see our huge concrete building sticking out in the middle of everything:

 

I got caught up on a lot of stuff today which was nice, and tracked the scores of the England and USA World Cup games when I could – The England game was of course on the big screen in the reception area.  Afterwards, I packed up and walked back to the hotel (witnessing the changing of the guard again), to dump my stuff before meeting up with Zoey.

It was still sunny and beautiful, so Zoey had staked us out a great spot for beers on a balcony in Covent Garden at a bar called the Cove.  While caught up and waited for DH to join us we even got to see two busker shows:  one guy juggling a chain saw and the next balancing crazy stuff on his head.

From there we walked a few blocks to meet Rafe and his friends for more World Cup, Australia/Serbia and Ghana/Germany.  It was fun to watch with a bunch of locals and split allegiances.  By the end of the match we were starving and luckily my favorite Mexican joint in London was close by – Wahaca!  RV had joined us as well, so the 4 of us enjoyed some guacamole, tacos, quesadillas – mmm.

After dinner we headed our separate ways for sleep – arriving back at the Mayfair there was once again paparazzi and groupies staked out.  DH asked who they were waiting for but we didn’t know.  The previous night it had apparently been someone named Molly who is part of a band called The Saturdays.  I have no idea who they are…

London – Day 2

My big meeting was today so that sucked up all fun time.  I really enjoyed walking to work in the morning though – I had a big grin wandering through the park on the way to the office as a London worker bee with everyone else.  Check out the view from our meeting room:

 

Not bad huh?  The Eye, the egg, Big Ben

DH and I were exhausted at the end of the day but rallied to meet RV and one of our meeting guests for dinner at a spot suggested by one of RV’s friends.  We took the tube as it was up north at the Camden Town stop.  I had never been to that neighborhood so it was nice to walk through it – seems funky and fun, situated on the Camden lock with some hold buildings turned into hipster hangouts.  Dinner was at a spot called Gilgamesh – Mesopotamian decor and theme, serving pan-asian food while playing salsa music.  Odd but fun – service was spotty, kitchen seemed confused, but food was tasty (though super pricey like all of London).

London Calling – Day 1

A month after returning from Spain, I get to hop the pond for a quick work trip to London.  I slept better than I usually do on the plane flat bed in business class helps!) so was in fairly good shape as I landed around noon on Monday.  Jetted into town on the Heathrow Express and shared a cab with colleagues to the hotel for a quick change and refresher.  We then spent the afternoon at the new offices which were fun to see and a nice opportunity to meet new staff.  After working for a couple hours I tagged along with RR to a reception and met som of those folks I usually only know on email. 

For the evening I took a walk around our neighborhood (Mayfair) and over towards Piccadilly Circus, home of the nearest Wagamama.  Got some of my favorites for take-away and ambled back to the hotel to eat then crash.  Upon arrival at my hotel there were three paparazzi guys and 4 groupies staking out the front door but I’m not sure for who – I didn’t recognize whoever was on one girls T-shirt.  Sadly they were all gone today so I couldn’t do anymore investigative research.

London – Day 2

for all my foodie friends, today was a great eating day.  Mmm, here we go:

Slept in a bit because I was up late the night before responding to emails – I knew I shouldn’t have checked, but it was the end of the Seattle work day when I got back from the theater so I wanted to have a quick glance and handle anything urgent before Monday.  I managed to get my inbox back under 250 before going to bed, so I felt better about that.  Once I was ready to go, I caught the tube over to Notting Hill to check out the infamous Portabello Road Market.  A block away from the tube station I saw a woman eating a great looking crepe and made that my first mission of the day – luckily the stand was easy to spot, just after the first block of the market.  I got Nutella and it was a yummy breakfast.

 The market spans several blocks and was PACKED.  I would not want to live in this part of town – it is an absolute invasion every Saturday.  The first big chunk is all antiques and such, the middle section food, and the the last part clothes and newer items, Plus the street is lined with lots of cute permanent stores.  Just after finishing my crepe I spotted one such store – the Hummingbird Bakery, full of cupcakes.  I would wait to hit that up until I was on my way back. 

Ironically the first market food stand that caught my turned out to Ghanaian food.  They had such a nice set-up I had to go look, and then I spotted the sign – foods of Ghana.  I kept walking at which point I stumbled upon Popina, serving food with soul (aka lots of yummy baked goods).  But I was still full from my crepe, so I wandered more hoping my belly would be empty on my way home.  There was also a paella stand with amazingly large paella pots and a really nice cheese and olive bar (not that I like olives.  It was the big bowl of feta that drew me in.) 

Over in the fashion area of the market I bought a crazy bag made of zippers – wait ’til you see it.  It’s pretty cool.  Other than that there were the usual funky fashions, lots of other bags, screen-printed T’s, jewelry, etc.  Heading back to the train station I was still full, but I bought a quiche from Popina and two cupcakes from Hummingbird to eat later in the day.

Since this was my shopping day, I caught the train over to Knightsbridge, home of Harrods with a Zara, Monsoon and H&M nearby.  Harrods was packed as usual.  I was on a mission for Heidi, looking for these little mints she likes but unfortunately I failed and couldn’t find them anywhere.  Zara was filled with lots of pale colored clothes so nothing there for me.  There was one sundress at Monsoon I liked, but given the exchange rate it was more than I was willing to part with.  H&M though, came through as always, though I only bought two things – a sweater and a T.  The exchange rate really makes you think.  Goods haven’t been too hard to justify, but food has been brutal.  To think my lunch at Wagamama cost $20 and my crepe this morning was $7 is a little nuts, so I’ve just had to ignore it and eat what I want no matter the cost.  I figure it balances out with the two weeks of free food in Ghana.

The weather was starting to get a bit cool and rainy in the afternoon, so I headed home for a couple hours to eat my quiche and escape the rainy for a bit.  While at the hotel I caught up on my blog and and researched my dinner destinantion.  Yesterday while walking around, I had spotted a possible joint over by Covent Garden called Wahaca (yes, using the less common phonetic spelling of Oaxaca).  Those close to me know this is one of my favorite words so I of course was intrigued, plus it looked cool and touted “Market Fresh cooking.”  Looking online it turned out to be one of the newer more popular spots in London, so I was sold. 

Though close to me also know I have a keen sense of direction, but sometimes I even astound myself.  Eleni had loaned me her London A to Z map book which was quite helpful, but I also just enjoy wandering around cities to see what you stumble upon.  As I headed to dinner, I had a pretty good idea of where to go and my map book in hand so I wasn’t too worried.  I caught the bus in front of my hotel over to Piccadilly Circus and then walked over towards Covent Garden.  Thinking through my routes from the previous day when I found Wahaca, I walked almost directly too it without ever checking the map.  Nice.

The restaurant is downstairs from street level and the stairs were lined with other folks waiting for a table.  Since I had no schedule I didn’t mind waiting though I had hoped they would have a bar area I could just jump into.  Once I made it to the front of the line I and inquired as such, the host gave me a makeshift spot at their bar where they don’t usually serve people, but since it was just me, it was perfect.  I started with chips and fresh guac, as well as something called Esquites – corn cooked with onions in a broth.  Both yummy and so good after two weeks of not very good eating.  I also had a tamarind margarita and some chicken tacos.  Having sufficiently entertained the bar staff by sneaking my way into their domain for dinner, I also got a second hibiscus maragarita courtesy of the bartender.  I was tempted by the churros for dessert, but I passed knowing I had a cupcake waiting for me at the hotel.  If anyone goes to london soon, I recommend it:  http://www.wahaca.co.uk/

After dinner I just headed home to pack up and organize – and eat my red velvet cupcake

London – Day 1

 We had an overnight flight from Accra to London, thankfully in business class on BA.  Leaving at 11:30pm there wasn’t much time to enjoy the entertainment system before promptly laying my chair out flat and trying to catch some sleep.  It’s amazing what a difference stretching out can make on a long flight – I think I might need to upgrade my Peru flights now that I’ve had a taste of the good life.  I slept more than I usually do on a plane and was ready to land in London for a couple days of fun. 

Getting through immigration wasn’t too bad, but they clearly have still not fixed all the luggage problems going on at Terminal 4.  It took forever for the bags to come out.  Once they did though, mine was like #3 so I was then off to the tube and into town.  I’m staying at a Hilton in Kensigton that Shelby got an awesome priceline deal on.  It’s out of the center of the city, but still close by, and clean and safe. 

Those of you that have traveled with me know I love the music TV channels, especially in the UK territories.  I hit the jackpot yesterday while getting ready to head out and wander London – check out this Wham! video of a song I’ve never heard of and give thanks to YouTube while you’re at.  This is awesome:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIzVoNq9f9s .  To my road trip posse, this was preceded by BSB “I want it that way” and and followed by S Club 7.  No joke!  How amazing of a triple play is that!?!

Speaking of music, my Brit Pop new music find of the trip is Duffy:  http://www.iamduffy.com She is a welsh singer whose album will not be released in the States until May, but if you’re nice to me I may let you borrow my UK copy.  And, you can thank me later for keeping you informed and on the cutting edge

Anyway, back to London.  It was raining when our plane landed in the morning, but by the time I was ready to set out, the sun had broken out and turned into a good afternoon.  There was a nip in the air, but after two weeks of super muggy heat the chill felt good.  I had no real agenda for this trip except to visit the Tate Modern, the Portabello Market and maybe see a show.  Like New York, London has a half-price ticket booth you can visit day-off and see what shows are trying to fill their houses.  Since I hadn’t seen Spamalot yet, this Monty Python spoof seemed the logical choice for a night out in London.  With ticket in hand, my next stop was lunch at Wagamama, convenently located down teh block from the ticket booth.  Wagamama is a UK chain of Japanese noodle houses beloved by Eleni and they’ve just opened thier first US shop in Boston.

Re-nourished, I walked around the neighbourhood and over to Covent Garden before catching teh tube down to the Tate.  The Tate Modern was still being built the last time I was in London, opening just two months after we left.  It was the talk of the town at the time because it was moving into a huge building on the Thames that formerly housed the electric company, in area that was previously not very developed.  But times have changed – Every little spot along teh water is now being refurbished into mixed-use buildings, with nice walking paths lining the river, winding their way past the ground level bars and restaurants.

The Tate was good.  As with most modern art museums, I left pondering many pieces.  I love the “older” modern art like Miro & Picasso, but then “newer” stuff sometimes leaves me stumped.  (as in “really?  that’s art?  That was hard to create?”)  I was also surprised at how busy it was.

From the museum, I just wandered for awhile along the river, down to the Tower bridge, and walked across. Then I caught the train back towards the West End to find a dinner spot before the show.  I settled on a bar called Suzie Wong which was pretty good and just a couple blocks from my theater. 

 

Spamalot was funny, though sleepy time was definitely starting to catch up with after only having a couple good hours of sleep on the plane.  It was fun to see in London where many of the other audience members were clearly Monty Python fans and had the “in” on some of the jokes and antics.