Just call me "Pat the Ripper"

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

Merry Christmas! I slept until 8 AM, woke up, then fell asleep again until 11:30. No biggie, because everything was closed Christmas day anyway. Had a little déjà vu today - I found a pan of onions and eggs on the stove top, exactly like I had left it yesterday.

Much of the organic bread was missing ... all that remained of the grapes we left on the coffee table yesterday night was the stem. What the heck? Nobody was awake yet - it was like a moment from the Twilight Zone! I questioned whether it was still yesterday, and tried to remember if I had made the eggs and fallen back asleep. Turns out that I wasn't going crazy, and that Ben had woken up early, made breakfast, then promptly went back to bed.

Anyway, I ate the eggs and hung around until 2 PM when B&H woke up. We made some pretty tasty grilled cheeses for lunch, and munched on some yummy blueberries (why does all the produce taste so much better here?). There was no hurry today because the city basically shut down, including public transport.

As we walked out the door, the Marble Arch area was bustling with activity - restaurants were packed, people were smoking shishas, and people were shopping in the stores. You would've never known that it was Christmas day because nothing was shut down.

Maybe we didn't need to rent an apartment, after all - our rationale was that since everything shut down in London Christmas day, it would be easier to make our own meal, and also it would also give us something to do. It was funny as we strolled through Marble Arch - an old lady and husband were arguing VERY loudly and swearing at each other. You could almost imagine them yelling to each other "Merry f*cking Christmas to all!"

We took a VERY long walk. First Buckingham Palace, then Westminster. The temperature really dropped when the sun went down at 4:30. We ate some delicious-smelling (but not that tasty) sugary roasted nuts that a vendor was selling.

Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the House of Parliament ... we saw most of the major London sights today. Unfortunately for B&H, they didn't get to go into any of them.

We strolled over to Harrod's and needed to warm up, so we popped into a French-style café. It was probably the only place around that was open. Very expensive - a hot chocolate, coffee with Bailey's, tea, and one slice of cake cost us almost $50 CAD!!! A side order of fries cost 7 GBP!!! Talk about gouging - I wonder if they raised prices especially for Christmas day. The café was bustling with Spanish-speaking tourists.

We continued walking through Belgravia and Vauxhall. Ha's leg was also giving her problem so we had to just sit for a while on the steps of a closed shopping centre. After, we pushed on through Kensington and Hyde park.

Along the way, a French father and son asked us for directions (there were tons of tourists out and about today). They started getting ahead of us, and I decided to walk faster to get dinner started and let B&H take their time getting back to the apartment. I caught up to the father and son very quickly and probably startled them - Ben dubbed me "Pat the Ripper" because the poor father and son probably thought I was going to murder them. I must admit that I do look like a thug stalking around London in my black jacket and hoodie!

I finally got back to the apartment. Dinner was sautéed bell peppers, mushrooms and onions (all we seem to be eating in London are lots and lots of onions!) sautéed with LOTS of garlic and creole seasoning, smoked salmon ravioli and spinach ricotta tortellini (all served in a tomato asiago sauce). It sounds really gourmet, but the pasta and sauce were all pre-packaged.

We fried up some chicken tenderloin in - surprise - creole seasoning in butter. It was a very multi-cultural dinner, kind of a French meets-Italian-meets-middle East-meets-Creole affair. Drinks were some middle-Eastern brand mango juice and a nice bottle of Montepulciano. Dessert was oranges, blueberries, and baklava. It was a feeding frenzy and there was TONS of food leftover for breakfast tomorrow. I still don't know how we managed to eat as much as we did.

The Motorcycle Diaries was playing - we couldn't watch it all as we have an early flight in the morning. I made us some sandwiches for tomorrow and was off to bed. I need to be well-rested for Madrid - I need to be fully alert to take advantage of the beautiful girl-watching in Spain!

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Photos

a
The living room of the apartment.

b
The bathroom with the toilet that wouldn't flush properly. Look closely and you can probably find some black mold around the tub.

c
My room. Why do they bother with footboards? How they hell is anyone over 5'-10" supposed to fit in there???

d
Barf bag I stole from the flight into London. Why is it that I no longer bother taking pictures of several hundred year-old churches, but I will take pictures of barf bags? Have I really become such a jaded traveler?

e
The kitchen.

F
In front of Buckingham Palace.

G
Yes, I already know that us mechanical engineers REALLY are geeks.

H
Westminster Abbey. I've got a number of London photos on display in my house, but the shot I've got of Westminster Abbey was slightly off-centre. One of my goals this trip was to get a good daytime photo of it, but I had no luck.

I
Big Ben - one of London's most famous sights.

i2
Filipino Ben - one of London's most infamous sights after his incident in a dark alley in Knightsbridge today.

J
The London Eye.

l
It was a rather uneventful Xmas day until we were attacked by Storm Troopers!
Luckily for us, they called a truce in the spirit of Xmas and we shared a meal of Ewoks (excellent with cranberry sauce!), Ton Tons, and Jabba the Hut. Who knew that Jabba the Hut tastes like a giant escargot? We do!!!

m
Picture of Salvador Dali outside of the "Dali Universe". Creepy-looking guy.

n
Picture of Ben outside of the "Dali Universe". Creepy-looking guy!

o
B&H, taking a break on the steps of this shopping centre. They were feeling generous because it was Xmas, and decided to chat with this hooded hobo.

p
Why do I always have a need to stick out my tongue when I see pastries? It's a reflex action really, and it's quite harmless.
But why do I also always stick out my tongue when I see Spanish women? It's also a reflex action, but can get me arrested.

q
I think Ben used this look to capture Ha's heart. A great deal of pity must have been involved ...

r
What is it that has me so captivated? There was some TV show playing with a bunch of scantily-clad women.

s
Xmas dinner, baby! As you can see, our table was completely full of food.

t
Xmas belly, baby! As you can see, Ben's stomach was completely full of food.

u
Baklava. Beautiful.

v
Still a lot of leftovers.

w
Ben passed out on the sofa shortly after dinner. The funny thing? I was quietly planning the next day's activities when all of a sudden he threw the remote control across the room, without even batting an eyelash. Weird.