Blogs from Pimlico, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Happy February All! Wow. I really can’t believe that it’s already February. With all of the traveling time really passes by fast and I feel like I’m still in December. Haha! I suppose I haven’t really written in a while, but London has so much to see it really doesn’t give you much time to be on the computer! At least I was pretty good about uploading photos on Facebook so you knew I was alive! At one point in my nine days in London I got an e-mail from my Mom: “Haven’t heard from you in a while…are you ok?” Well, London certainly kept me busy right from my first few hours. I got a little turned around when I was trying to find my hostel, but I eventually got there after about a half-an-hour ... read more

I say final preparations, but they're not really. I've not packed, I've not even booked every hotel yet. However, I know when I'm flying out on Sunday, so that's a start. When's my birthday? At BST 00:00 on 4th October, I'll be on a plane approaching Minneapolis. But I was born at 14:30 all those moons ago. So at BST 14:30 on 4th October, I'll be in Los Angeles, albeit at 06:30 in the morning, incredibly jet lagged. I'll party then.... read more

We had a relatively uneventful flight from LAX to London Heathrow (and really, aren’t those the best kinds of flights? ). Aside from the typical screaming baby and the lady behind me kicking the back of my seat once an hour just to remind me not to try and get TOO much sleep during the flight, it was an easy 9 hours. We even departed an hour behind schedule and still arrived in London almost when we were supposed to. Not bad for an airline who just asked their staff to work for free for awhile.(I’m talking about you British Airways!). I also learned this flight that if you ask for vegetarian (or any special) meals, you get your food WAY before everyone else. Win! Getting through immigration was quick and painless, as was baggage claim ... read more

Just a brief entry, to let you know we've arrived in London. We love our apartment, and the location is good, too. We discovered several streets of restaurants, cafes, small stores, etc. just a few blocks away. Close to two tube stations, as well (Victoria and Pimlico). Tonight we ate at a great little restaurant in the neighborhood that I had read about--and it wasn't pub food, thank god--had wild mushroom risotto with truffle oil that was to die for!! The bummer is (and those of you following Wimbledon probably already know this) that although it cleared up here late this afternoon, and the evening was almost balmy, rain and thunderstorms are predicted for our entire stay here!!! Anyway, since internet is faster here, I thought I'd include some of today's photos. By the way, thanks ... read more

Left Raleigh at 3:45 yesterday afternoon, and now, 17 hours later, I am sitting in the lounge of the Astor Victoria Hostel in London where I'll be spending my next 4 nights as I tour London, before heading on to Dublin. Based on my walking around in the area surrounding the hostel, Victoria seems to be just about entirely comprised of hotels and theaters. Backing up a bit, the first thing I saw when I first surfaced on the London Subway (known as the "tube") was a large truck marked "Police Horses" making its way down the street behind the tube line. Side note: I was informed by a fellow tube traveler that Friday is the last day one may legally drink alcohol on the tube, so there has been a large unofficial word of mouth ... read more

Well my first visit to the United Kingdom was both good and bad, but isn't everything? We left Brussels on the Eurostar hispeed train which was lovely. We shared a table that had 4 seats around it. Since we only needed three, we had one empty to leave stuff in. To our delight, besides having friendly staff, the train also fed us breakfast. It was good too. I had hot chocolate, an omelette, yogurt, orange juice, a croissant with strawberry jelly and butter, a roll with butter, cheese, and various other things I can't remember. So then we arrived at St. Pancras Station. We got on the underground and arrived at Picadilly Circus where we went to the Visitor Center to get our London Pass (which we preordered with a Travelcard). We got some information too. ... read more