Belated London post

Sorry for the delay in posting here....we haven’t had a chance to sit down and write out a post for London since we got to Italy....

Last Tuesday we said goodbye to a brief but action-packed three days in London.  Truth be told, we hadn’t even planned to visit until we saw the tour dates for the Roger Waters show, and decided to make it a stop on the tour (so to speak).  I’ve written enough about that concert, so onto the rest of our stay in Jolly Old England.

Day 1:  Took the EuroStar (via The Chunnel) from Paris to London in what has to be the most pleasurable travel experience we’ve had here in Europe.   More on that in an upcoming Airline Ranking post, but suffice to say, EuroStar is a definite challenger for the top airline spot, even though it isn’t an airline.  My first impression of London was a cab ride from Saint Pancras Station to our digs for the next few days, the Park Lane Sheraton....for those of you that have not had the pleasure of taking a cab ride in London, there are two key things you need to know 

1. The cabs all use a car model that is distinctly British, both in appearance and origin (every cab has a ‘Made in Coventry With Pride’ placard in the cab). They are all impeccably clean and odor free.   The passenger area of the cab is super roomy, with a bench in the back and two additional seats that face backward and fold up if nobody is using them.  For a 6’3” guy who has spent a number of hours sandwiched into the back of Chicago cabs with knees pressed against his chest breathing in the sweet, sweet aroma of rotting Crown Victoria upholstery, this is a big deal.
2. The cabbies drive in such a way that you don’t have to hold on to the ‘oh shit handles’ for the majority of the ride. Not to mention, they are consistently able to brake without causing whiplash.  Can we import some of these guys and their cars to the Second City please? 

Upon arrival at the Sheraton we quickly realize that we are staying at a hotel that hasn’t been redecorated since The Blitz. They promptly checked us into a room that smelled like one of Churchill’s cigars and a bathroom that reeked of Mildew... Although we are in an English speaking country, they were apparently unable to read the ‘non-smoking room’ preference on my reservation.  One night in that room and we couldn’t help but ask to be moved.  Not a strong showing, Sheraton. 

Extremely large Fish, and Chips!

Next up, our first cliche London Tourist move: Eating Fish and Chips at a pub.  Generally speaking ‘Fish and Chips’ in the UK and ‘Fish and Chips’ in the US is about the same thing.  Cod, or some other low-end, mild, flaky fish, fried up in batter and served with french fries and tartar sauce.  The key difference is, in the UK, they pretty much serve you the ENTIRE fish, which is a fairly daunting meal (especially if you are a petite person named Jannine).  We did the best we could, but neither of us could finish this monster meal.

While we are talking about food, let’s cover some other ‘traditional’ English fare:

• Sausage and Mash: I ate this at another pub near Oxford Circus, and have to say ‘YUM’! 
• Food in general: Bland (with one exception which we will cover shortly).
• Beer:  I was all fired up to ‘drink a pint’ in a real English Pub.  Now, basically every pub in England serves Guinness, a couple of ‘flavors’ of Fuller’s, perhaps a couple of other local ales, and if you are lucky, Stella, Carlsberg or, some other European urine.  I committed to stay away from the Guinness, and tried to stick to the English brands, if for no other reason than to avoid my second cliche of the trip. Well, let’s just say that I now understand why Fuller’s and the like are not imported to the US----because it tastes like toilet water.  Now you are probably thinking ‘Jon, how do you know what toilet water tastes like - have you drank it before?‘  To which I say, ‘Of course not!   That is a euphemism for something that has a fairly bland taste with just a hint of stale pee.’  Bottom line - English Beer is unimpressive. 

Next day we made our second cliche tourist move, the double decker bus tour.  Did we feel like lame tourists? Yes. But, if there is a better way to get a lay of the city, show it to me.  We had an excellent tour guide who told us such facts:

1. The Queen of England cannot enter the ‘City of London‘ (a section of the overall city) without the Mayor of the city of London escorting her.
2. There are a series of royal parks throughout the city that are now open to the public, but had once been exclusive to the royal family with entrance by a ‘common man’ punishable by death.
3. The original London Bridge (or more accurately, the one that replaced the one that they burnt down) was bought by an American.  It was disassembled and reconstructed in Arizona, where it is the #2 tourist attraction in the US.  For those of you from the US thinking ‘that’s bullshit, there is no way some random British bridge in Arizona is our #2 tourist attraction’, I have to say--I agree 100% and we thought the same thing when we heard it.  However, we were in no position to challenge him.
4. If you become a ‘Freeman‘ of the City of London, you are entitled to the following benefits:
1. Able to get married in the St. Paul’s Cathedral
2. Allowed to walk the streets of the City of London with a drawn sword
3. Allowed to walk your livestock (pigs, cows, horses, etc.) across the London Bridge

.....and, all of this can be yours for the low price of 30 Pounds...a good deal if I have ever heard one.

That night brought us to the Roger Waters concert - well documented here.  The following day was spent shopping (for the most part) in and around Regent Street and Oxford Circle.   It wasn’t until that second day (and a couple of near misses) that we finally started to look the ‘right’ way for oncoming traffic while crossing the street.    Coincidently, this was also the day that we finally noticed that every crosswalk was painted with instructions as to which direction to look when crossing the street.  I can only imagine how many tourists got mowed down before they resorted to literally writing directions as to how to cross the street right there on the pavement.....

So that brings us to our final night in London, which we spent at the Cold War Kids concert.  They were playing at a little venue in London called Shepherd’s Bush Empire.  Prior to the show we took up a recommendation from my boss Stacy, and headed to a small pub in Kensington called the ‘Churchill Arms’, which is of course is a small, traditional looking English pub that is home to some of the best Thai food in London (highly recommended!).  You kinda have to be there to understand how bizarre it is to order thai food surrounded by WWII and soccer memorabilia, but the food was excellent and the place was totally packed... A couple of Pad Thai’s (YUM!) and Fuller’s (bland!), and it was off to the show.  

For those of you that have been to the Riv in Chicago, Shepherd's Bush is pretty much the exact same place with crappier beer and better accents.  Or, said differently, an excellent place to see a concert.  Won’t belabor you with the details, but they put on an excellent show and managed to hit every song we wanted to hear.  Here are a few videos from the show.

So that was London!  We really only scratched the surface but, had a blast and saw two excellent concerts. We’ve now moved onto Italy! Lots to update---will try to post again soon...

Jon & Jannine

p.s. Sorry we couldn't post more pics...blogger is not allowing for uploads right now.