London Day 1: Rain Falls Horizontally on the Thames

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We had planned on going to bed early the night before but it didn't quite work out so well as is the norm for us here. We ate dinner at around 8:30PM and went to bed around 11PM with a wake up at 5:30AM to catch the Transilien SNCF train to Gare St. Lazare at 6:38AM and transfer via RER Ligne E to Gare du Nord for an 8:07AM departure on the Eurostar. We were absolutely exhausted the entire day and the itinerary for the day was an endless list of intense destinations around London which seemed more and more insurmountable as the day progressed.

The Eurostar

I have to say I am becoming more and more addicted to trains and the constant lament of Europeans and urbanite liberals in our country resonates more and more. It's not that I don't agree that air travel makes much more sense in America, it's that and airport is always on the outskirts of town, and for good reason. I love taking the train and the freedom it allows in these pedestrian cities. The American automobile is symbolic of the freedom we enjoy, but especially as gas prices increase I wonder if having a car payment, insurance costs, gas, repairs, etc. is really freedom?

The Eurostar terminal at both St. Pancras in London and Gare du Nord are run like an airport with the same security precautions and spacious, modern waiting areas. You are isolated from the rest of the trains and would not know you were in a train station at any time except for the fact that you had to go to a place that was described as such in the first place.

Access to the platforms is given at a specific boarding time and in you go down flat escalating ramps in Paris (up in London - always have to be backwards!). The train is really not new technology when you consider it was built in the late 1980's and early 1990's, but is still impressive when compared to our Amtrak cars or those of the Romanian railway! I don't know for certain but i would say the cars are pressurized as the doors look like they would seal shut very tightly and there are no protruding or intruding elements on the cars. Seats are arranged so that one entire half is facing one direction and the other half of the car the other. I assume this is because they cannot turn the train around and so at least each seat has an equal opportunity of being a "good seat" facing the direction of travel whether on the Paris journey or London.

Walking the Streets and Around the World in 80 Minutes for Free

All told this day we walked approximately 8 miles which was a lot considering how much we had been walking in Paris the previous few days and the little sleep we had gotten the night before.

Figuring out which way was north was a bit difficult from St. Pancras Station, especially since we did not have a map. So after walking in what seemed like a circle we popped into the Novotel near the station and grabbed a tourist map. The borough of St. Pancras is still in rough condition despite the investments taking place at St. Pancras including the renovation of the gorgeous gothic brick building into a Renaissance Hotel. We crossed through the University of London and down to the British Museum.

The best thing about the British Museum is that it's free, the worst part is that it used to have a lot of great stuff in it but all the ex-colonies seem to have gotten it back. It was nonetheless impressive and the first exhibit we saw on the Muslim world was very interesting and informative with some amazing carpets, pottery, and metalwork. What has been produced in the Middle East over time is just amazing and the exhibit was very rich and detailed.

The worst exhibit was the African one which was basically a collection of sticks, stones, and tom-toms and also some modern art made out of assault rifles (western ones mind you . . . evil westerners!). That pretty much summed up Africa - nothing really fruitful has ever happened there and it doesn't seem anything ever will. Don't get me wrong I would love to go to Africa but there is something fundamentally corrupt with that continent and its people on a macro basis. You can't blame it on colonialism, the slave trade, or lack of resources. For the first plenty of other places have been colonialised and they are just fine now. As for the slave trades the biggest perpetrators were the Africans themselves selling their enemies into the trade and even keeping their own slaves. And there is no lack of resources in Africa numerous studies have shown, just rampant corruption and misallocation of resources. Corruption exists elsewhere in the world to varying degrees, even in some of the fastest growing economies like China, but in Africa I think it's engrained in the culture. Reminds me of Detroit. Enough prosletyzing.

From the museum we walked towards Picadilly Circus with the intent of grabbing lunch on the way, which was easier said than done. There is a Pret a Manger and Starbucks on EVERY block in London which leaves the other spaces for overpriced sub-standard food targeted to tourists. We found some Indian places on a short side street and surmised that perhaps this was the famous Indian street that Jennifer had heard about but since opening at noon means opening at 12:15PM in London and Indian food didn't sound so good to Manny we pressed on.

How Cliche!

We will confirm what we already knew, English food sucks. We happend onto Jermyn Street which was of course very exciting for me since my favorite shirts are from Tyrwhitt or T.M. Lewin and this is their home. These redcoats don't know how to make lasting cars or a tasty meal but they know how to make a nice dress shirt. So right around the corner from Jermyn Street we found what we felt was far enough off the beaten path to be an authentic English pub . . . what cretins! ALL of London is a tourist trap! Manny got a fish and chips and Jennifer got some kind of Bacon and Eggs deal and they were both okay but by no means extraordinary. We did have some warm beer which was great and we enjoyed watching the "locals" of Scandinavian tourists.

We paid our small fortune of $40 for what is no better than buffalo wings and a couple beers in the US and stumbled tiredly towards our hotel for a much needed break.

Trafalgar & Our Hotel

It's only the most significant square in all of England but we somehow stuggled to find it. Forget Lord Nelson, the lions at the base of the monument are the sight to see and were swarmed with people climbing all over them and getting photographed . . . except for Jennifer. Arguably the most famous lion sculptures in the world and Jennifer was too shy to get a picture - she's been photographed in front of the NY Metropolitan Library's lions, the Forbidden City's lions, but we were too coy to do these. Fortunately London does not lack for lions and other big cats so we made it up elsewhere. The most memorable part of Trafalgar Square was our wandering around the square for several minutes trying to figure out where the hotel was. I was expecting a large Hilton sign and for the hotel to be smack on the square spreading American hegemony, but no circled "H' could be found. So we finally asked a street vendor and we had apparently walked right in front of it without knowing.

As London is the seat of Hilton International the Hiltons here are even more impressive than elsewhere in Europe but they are fundamentally still Hiltons. The Trafalgar is very much a boutique hotel and is very modern and intimate at the same time, stark white curtains and walls and dark mahogany floors and casegoods abounded in the lobby with very much of a club feel including a sleek long bar and a full DJ table as there is a DJ that performs live there every night . . . trying a little too hard!

The room was a decent size but very impractical with no closet and a large flat panel TV that was not conveniently visible from anywhere in the room except for perhaps outside the window, but it was a point stretcher that I used so I couldn't complain, plus we were very central on London. We lounged around for a short while but then kick ourselves in the butt and got going down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace.

Check Events Calendars

That's just plain good advice when travelling somewhere. We learned the hard way as we approached Harrod's and could not believe the throngs of people flowing in and out of the store.

The Title of this Post

Finally! Why the heck did I pick that title? Just to hammer home the fact that we were exhausted and that public transportation is too expensive it got colder and it started raining in the evening, just when we were visiting Big Ben and Parliament. We had to cross the Thames twice because I got confused as to which side we were on and after our 5 minute, $16 subway ride I was not about to see what a taxi costs, so we walked about a half mile the wrong way until I could identify on my soaked map that the sharp right turn of the road made no sense. The goods news was that the Scotsman playing the bagpipes on the middle of the bridge was still there in his kilt when we came back the other way and I have to say there is nothing like the bagpipes to make you forget even for an instant how miserable you are for a minute. No wonder those Scots were such good warriors.

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Photos

Eurostar Wagon 2
Our wagon on the train from Paris Gare du Nord

Seats 21 & 22
We were WAY more tired than we look

St. Pancras International
The amazing new station in London

Two Cats at the British Museum
Taken on the north side, our first tourist hotspot in London

At the British Museum
On the front side on Russell Street now

On Picadilly Circus
This place has nothing on Times Square

At Buckingham
I would like to come up with a clever joke about visiting our friend the Queen, but I'm sure they've all been said.

Victorian Lion
Not as nice as the ones on Trafalgar Square, but this would have to do.

Stiff Fellow
He's a lot friendlier than he looks, at least that's what we think his mother would say.

Big Ben at Night
It looks so peaceful in this picture and yet the wind was howling and there was as much water landing on us from the river as from the sky!

Parliament
If they did the lighting right and you got rid of Big Ben, I would say Budapest's Parliament is more impressive. We had plenty more interesting photos that included us but the wind and rain did not allow enough retakes. :-(