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Published: June 28th 2009
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 and customs. We took the tube straight from Terminal 5 to Green Park, then switched to the Victoria Line to Pimlico which is right around the corner from our hotel. The tube is quite a bit cheaper than taking Heathrow Express, and though it was a sticky ride, the cost really makes it worth it (7.50 pounds for an all day travel card zones
Dinner!
Farmers' Market Vegetable Burrito1-6)..
We found the Blades Hotel quickly, but to our dismay, our room is located on the top (5th) floor, each flight with two sets of stairs to maneuver. Let me tell you, it is times like these when I wish I was a lighter packer. Ouch! At least we’re here for 4 nights before we have to think about lugging everything back down again.
It was really too late at this point to take a nap (about 3pm) so we headed back to the tube station and rode the Victoria Line to Oxford Circus and switched to the Bakerloo Line to Baker St. One thing is for sure, the tube here is extremely easy to navigate. Of course, in my opinion, once you master the New York Subway system, all other undergrounds are a piece of cake in comparison.
I didn’t really plan anything for the day. Wandering around an unfamiliar city with jet lag isn’t the most fun way to get acquainted with it. Instead we headed to Marylbone and ate dinner at Giraffe, a word café with wonderful, reasonably priced food. The place was also filled with children (including 3 babies!!) so apparently it’s
Giraffe
in Marylbone kid-friendly too I had a Farmer’s Market Vegetable Burrito filled with more veggies than I could name. Each of our meals was about 8 pounds, which for London is pretty good.
After dinner we walked back up Baker Street to Regent’s Park and wandered around. The weather in London was lovely today, which was apparent by the masses of people stretched out on the grass relaxing or sprawled out with impressive looking picnics. We walked around the lake and garden area, sat for a bit, and headed back to the tube station when it started getting colder (and our eyes began to droop).
Tomorrow is our first real day in London, full of the usual touristy stops like Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, and everything in between. I can’t wait to see this city!
(P.S. The wi-fi signal in our room is basically non-existent so my updates may be delayed by a day or two. Hopefully I can pick it up better somewhere closer to the ground floor tomorrow!)
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Michael
non-member comment
WOW! The view from your hotel does look high up! That must have been a nightmare with the luggage! Love the Regent's Park photos, and your food photos make me hungry again! I've been to the Sherlock Holmes museum, it was pretty cool. I didn't notice those tiles on the underground station though.