#euroricks, part two

wotcha! i decided it was time to sit down and give the people what they want: part two of our trip. it should also be noted that no one has asked for this blog post. it should also also be noted that because this post is unnecessarily long and detailed, i had to break it in half.

we spent four beautiful days in london and let me just tell you that i could spend four years in london before i got my fill. this was my favorite city on the trip for so many reasons. from the moment we stepped off our eurostar train onto the platform in st. pancras international station, i was impressed by the cleanliness and efficiency of the city. the station itself was a beautiful sight, and we seamlessly bought our oyster cards and hopped on the tube to begin our journey to our apartment on the other end of town. this was literally the only easy travel experience we had up to that point, so i have a soft spot in my heart for that swampy, sweaty picadilly line. two stops later and we were above ground and hopping onto the iconic red double-decker bus that you see in the movies (which movies? that one with the olsen twins in london for sure. oh, and that friends episode. i need culture.) it went straight through the city and stopped steps away from our front porch on grange street and would be our number one transport mode for the next few days. we hiked our suitcases up to the top deck (another i-am-so-grateful-for-my-carry-on-only-right-now moment) and parked ourselves in the front row. if you have ever been on a london bus, you know that the front row seat on the top deck is THE BEST SEAT because you get a close-up view of the city and you're just right in the thick of it. it was really neat to travel through the streets and pick out landmarks and get our bearings.

i want to painstakingly describe our place in london because i think that it might possibly be the best flat in all of creation. we stayed in a studio that was in our host sarah's home in bermondsey, an up and coming neighborhood near the tower bridge. it was a large, white, three-story home on the corner with a beautiful front yard and a perfectly pruned garden in the backyard. our place was on the second floor and when sarah opened our door to welcome us, i think a single tear rolled down my cheek.

the definition of hospitality

it was so beautiful and bright and cheery and you could almost taste the hospitality. or wait, maybe it was the local farmer's market strawberries and pears i was tasting. i get confused. the king-sized bed was comfortable and enormous, the antique table under the bay window flanked by beautiful floor-to-ceiling burlap drapes with two green velvet medallion chairs tucked underneath was the perfect place for writing (i journaled over 100 pages on our trip... so that was essential). there was a little kitchen tucked in the back right corner equipped with all the essentials - micro fridge, toaster, electric kettle for tea and porridge-making - and a small kitchen sink surrounded by a stainless steel drainboard. she even stocked it with her favorite apricot and black currant jams, some yoghurt (YAHG-urt), porridge, and a variety of teas as well as a freshly ground bag of coffee. what hospitality skills you have, sarah.

her majesty, the clawfoot tub

i haven't even told you about the best part: our adjacent, private bathroom was equipped with a room standing glass shower and the most magnificent stand alone clawfoot tub in the middle of the room. AND A TOWEL WARMER. have i mentioned that i asked her how much she would charge for me to live there for forever and ever? (spoiler alert: it was just over my budget) pictures can't capture the charm of this place. they just can't. you'll just have to go and stay there yourselves.

on westminster bridge

okay, enough about the flat. we grabbed our rick steves bible and headed off to westminster. we started halfway across the westminster bridge (where i have never seen more asians in my entire life and i have been to japan) for stunning views of big ben and the houses of parliament. turning around gave you a panoramic view of the london eye, the city, and the thames. i snapped several billion photos as we made our way past westminster abbey (we did not go inside because it is expensive and we are but a dental hygienist and a pharmacy student, for the love) and several other monumental happenings that i knew very little about as we strolled along parliament square and whitehall. we passed the prime minister's digs at #10 downing street (where the true hp fans know that rufus scrimgeuor gave the pm the low-down on wizarding drama). we got to see the horse guards that protect one of the entrances of kensington palace and caught them changing guard. jett got to take a picture next to one of them and i got to apologize profusely for the very nature of his being. just your typical tourist-y day.

just trying to blend in with the locals

we ended our walk at trafalgar square, just sitting on the steps of the national gallery and watching the cabbies and bus drivers fight for their place in traffic while trying not to kill the bikers in the enormous roundabout that encircles the lion statue-guarded nelson's column. once we got hungry enough to make a move, we walked a few yards over to have some draught cider in the stuffy opera room at the chando's pub situated next to st. martin's. we snagged a bench seat under a tiny window overlooking the street below and ordered some typical pub grub - fish and chips for me and a steak and ale pie for the mister - and shoveled it down among the buzz of londoners catching up over some pints after a long day at work.

because you can't not have fish and chips

we still had one more task to complete before we could call it a day: the london eye. we strolled along waterloo and crossed the bridge and made it to the eye just in time to buy some over-priced tickets and hop into a glass-walled capsule filled with thirty of the most intrusive human beings that have ever existed in the history of space and time. i fully expect a hand-written letter from the president of italy apologizing for the people he cranked out. we managed to take some great pictures of dusk approaching the cityscape in the thirty minutes it took to go around before we headed back to our nest for the night.

the most expensive view in london

our next day found us exploring in the british museum, poring over ancient artifacts such as the rosetta stone that i didn't feel privileged enough to see. after three hours of relic-viewery (that's a thing), hanger gripped us in her strong, unrelenting hands. we stumbled out of the dark museum and into the bright and busy streets of london, desperately searching for sustenance. what were once streets lined with restaurants of every nature were now desolate alleyways, containing useless shops with nothing edible. we wandered for forty days and forty nights until we came upon a chain restaurant called wasabi that featured grab-and-go plates of sushi and other japanese manna. we settled on a sushi-variety platter and some wonton soup and perched on a couple of stools at the bar facing the street and multi-tasked powering up and people watching - two of our favorite activities.

hot hub chillin' with the rosetta stone

with a renewed will to live, we set off to explore the west end. starting in leicester square, we took in the shakespeare statue and the onslaught of theaters and tried for a cheap day-of-show ticket to see a show. having no luck, we decided to press on to covent garden, which was heavy-laden with street performers and throngs of easily persuaded folks (moooooo). we took some time window-shopping and doing some ever-popular putzing. i all but passed out when saw a laduree on the corner and promptly marched inside and ordered a sampling of a few flavors to get my fix before landing in the mothership in paris. we swooped upstairs to a popular pub called punch and judy's to rest our feet and have a pint. then, just buzzed enough to be sleepy and sugar-drunk, we made our way toward the seven dials at cambridge circus, passing through the hippieville known as neal's yard. we visited the flagship neal's yard dairy to sample some stinky cheeses and picked up a wedge of a delicious goat cheese. we headed to soho and decided to make it our final destination. we plopped onto the grass in the square and tried to pretend like we belonged. 'twas lovely.

there is no happier mallory than the one armed with treats

i will take a moment to pause and comment on the food in london. whoever says that the food in london is dreadful is looking in all the wrong places. the entire city is equipped with healthy grab-and-go places (like the sushi place that healed us) and the variety of sit-down restaurants was astounding. so many different cultures and cuisines! after soho square, we walked through the streets of soho and stumbled upon a pungent thai restaurant called @siam and decided to give it a whirl to let jett satisfy his spicy tooth (oh, it's a thing). while the waitstaff was less than impressed with our constant need for refills of free tap water (EUROPEANS ARE A DEHYDRATED PEOPLE), the food was spot on.

tom kha gai with coconut rice

our next two days were equally as eventful as the first two, so it's in everybody's best interest that i continue this in another post. there's some super exciting and nerdy harry potter stuff coming up, guys. please use the next few days to adequately prepare yourselves.