London

May 27 – 31, 2019 (Spring)

Length of stay: 5 Days

Greeting: Hi

Gratitude: Thank you

Currency: Pound (£)

Visa: Up to 6 months in one year

Cost of living: Extreme

London wasn’t originally high on our list. The UK has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately (much like our own home sweet home), and we figured that whenever we did get around to visiting Great Britain, Scotland would be more up our alley. But long-term travel is tricky and complicated. When we wanted to keep the door open to attend a work conference in London, we had to book well in advance to keep it affordable. And when that fell through, we were left with a short, already-paid-for vacation in one of the world’s tourist capitals. Taking full advantage was a no-brainer. London, as it turns out, is a deeply fascinating city. Sometimes it’s good to step away from our preference for low-cost and low-key and just geek out in a mecca of landmarks and history. Our only regret was not having more time (or money) to spend here.

Where we stayed

For this short of a stay, our priority was on location over comfort. We picked an itty bitty basement room on Airbnb. It had just enough room for our bags and a bed. The bathroom and kitchen were shared with our host and two guests staying in another rented room. But having a central spot in the Fitzrovia neighborhood put us in walking distance of most of the best sights, and a nearby tube station connected us to all the rest. Our neighborhood was nice and quiet✨ at night, perfect for resting up after a packed day exploring the far corners of London.

Tower Bridge, London, England

What we did

Almost as soon as we’d arrived, we made for✨ the British Library. The brick building✨ isn’t glamorous on the outside✨. But within, a grand glass tower overflows with books, surrounded by cafes, study rooms, and of course many more tomes. The dimly-lit, no-photos-allowed Treasury holds unique incunabula, illuminated manuscripts, and priceless literary artifacts. Highlights include the Magna Carta, Shakespeare✨‘s First Folio, a Gutenberg Bible, the only surviving copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a beautiful illustrated copy of the Canterbury Tales, a letter from Jane Austen, a booklet of stories written in minuscule hand by the Bronte sisters, and the diary of Robert Scott open to his entry about reaching the South Pole. Just a few blocks away is even more literary history at St. Pancras and King’s Cross Station✨, which leans into its Harry Potter fame with a gift shop and dedicated photo op at “Platform 9¾✨.”

Remember all those places the British colonized✨ and conquered✨? If you don’t, the British Museum can provide a primer. There are, of course, lots of locally-sourced✨ curiosities✨ and bits of history such as the Sutton Hoo✨ ship burial, royal-adjacent jewelry, Roman-era mosaics, and Celtic artifacts. But there are tons of treasures stolen imported from the far reaches✨ of the globe: the Rosetta Stone✨, Roman marble✨, all manner✨ of artifacts✨ from the Middle✨ and Far✨ East, sarcophagi✨ from Egypt✨, the Benin Bronzes. We were sad to find the American and African areas closed for renovations, but in away it was a relief – the rest of the museum✨ still took more than a full day to explore. A few less-famous✨ things were our favorites✨ – a glass window pane✨ from Herculaneum, a Roman kitchen strainer✨, little tablets✨ calling down curses✨ on thieves, phallic charms✨ meant to protect children, some very racy vases✨ (NSFW), delicate gold-leaf✨ laurels, these waving guys✨, and these happy guys✨.

Likewise, London’s art museums also boast world-class collections. We started with the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square✨, which aggregates art from the 1300s onward and from all across✨ Europe. Like the British Museum, there really is too much to fully appreciate✨. Every inch is packed✨ with Monets✨, Rembrandts, Swiss landscapes✨, Italian altarpieces, Ser Davos?✨, and countless other masterpieces✨. The Tate Britain’s is bite-sized in comparison. The unfocused interior section was forgettable, but the permanent collection was incredible✨. We enjoyed its more intimate feel, in part because thinner crowds made it easier to enjoy. Our favorite pieces included a distinctly British✨ work poking fun at the revolutionary French soldiers’ envy of English plenty, a cute kid cosplaying✨ a malevolent monarch, and this painting✨ that portrays the discord between the older generation appreciating “old school” composers like Handel and the tasteless youths ignoring them in favor of “modern” artists like Mozart and Beethoven. Truly a conflict as old as time. Speaking of modern✨, The Tate Modern✨ is the more famous of the Tates. It sits on the south bank near Shakespeare’s Globe✨ and the Millennium Bridge. We raced through minutes before closing and will have to return another time to appreciate it fully.

London’s density of celebrated sights (and temperate weather) made it ideal to explore on foot. Big Ben hid behind some scaffolding, but Parliament✨ towered next to the Thames✨ River. Westminster Abbey✨ with its Poets’ Corner looked suitably regal. Buckingham Palace was squatter and plainer than we imagined, but we adored its parks✨ and gardens. London has incredible✨ parks. Hyde Park✨, Regant’s, and St. James’s✨ especially. A walk along the Thames shows off timeless landmarks like the Tower Bridge✨, along with trendsetting modern architecture. The Gherkin and the Shard stick out, but plenty of other buildings possess intriguing curves and angles. The Tower of London’s doesn’t look like much✨ but has a fascinating history, and dragonspotting✨ makes for a fun game while trying to map the border between London the city and the City of London.

Our last stop was the Natural History Museum. We made the mistake of starting on the kid’s side, with its interactive but overly simplified exhibits. Thankfully we discovered the much larger “rest of the museum” and marveled at the many halls filled with wondrous specimens dating back decades. While perhaps not as educational as the more modern side, we have a soft spot for old-style skeleton and taxidermy menageries✨ like the one in Dublin. The main hall here features a blue whale skeleton✨ hung from the ceiling and a slice of giant sequoia✨ representing 1,335 years of growth. Hundreds of animal species, some long extinct✨ or critically endangered, others merely derpy✨, are represented in the collection. Of course there are rocks and minerals✨, including Martian rocks that fell as meteorites, and precious gems filling a Vault. A small gallery of Treasures holds the museum’s most valuable specimens. We oohed and aahed over the original Archaeopteryx fossil✨, Darwin’s pigeon specimens, and a first edition On the Origin of Species.

Food & Drink

Even though we had access to a kitchen, we weren’t going to stock up on groceries for such a short stay. Our host didn’t provide (or have) much in the way of cooking basics to work with and seemed to mostly eat take-out. Actually, take-out is a city-wide phenomenon. Roughly half of every grocery store is given over to prepared meals. Fast-food fish-n-chips, noodle bars, burgers and wraps are ubiquitous. Curry from Leon hit the spot in a hurry, and Five Guys is just as good in Old England as in New. Itsu sushi was unremarkable but made for a nice picnic in Regent’s Park.

Our favorite meals were the the ones we had to sit down✨ to enjoy. The Hope satisfied our curiosity, and appetites, with classic pub fare. Their savory pot pies✨ were delicious and filling, especially with a couple of pints to wash them down. British food isn’t known for being particularly flavorful and spicy, but that’s not to say Londoners lack taste. The best cuisines from the world over are represented✨ for discerning✨ diners. We had a hunch that this might be our first and last chance for a while to scratch our favorite and most elusive itch, Malaysian food. Laksamania✨, it turns out, knows their stuff. The laksa was rich and spicy, packed with shellfish and noodles. A char koay teow✨ tasted a bit less authentic, but still brought back memories of fabulous hawker stall dinners.

Based on British craft beer that we’ve sampled elsewhere, we had high hopes here. They weren’t really met though. Most pubs stick with big-name brews✨, as do grocery stores and supermarkets. We did seek out a smaller shop with a craft focus✨. Novelty options like Tiny Rebel’s Stay Puft and Tailgate’s Peanut Butter Milk Stout overflowed with flavor, desserty almost to a fault but perfect as the end of a lunch. With less-packed schedules we would have enjoyed giving the craft scene the attention it deserved.

Getting around

Sure, London’s got Uber↗, their famous black cabs, and the even-more-famous double-decker buses✨, but our top choices for getting around were the Tube and our own two feet. Even though the city center is miles across, it is flat and packed with plenty to see at street-level✨. We never ran out of reasons to explore✨. Plus, the traffic is bad enough – we didn’t feel a need to add to it.

London has a lot of airports. Too many, to be honest. The worst connected has to be Southend, where we flew in. Normally a lengthy but direct train takes arrivals to London’s Liverpool Station, but during our stay the tracks were closed for maintenance. We made do with a slower bus-to-train transfer. Tickets start at £16.70 each. We left from Luton, which is a touch closer and has cheaper connections. National Express buses leave from central London to Luton several times each hour for £11 per person.

To get clear across the city in a hurry, there’s no better option than the Tube. The convenience comes at a cost, though. A trip within the center zone costs £2.40 for Oyster card holders, but purchasing an individual ticket jacks the price to a whopping £4.90 for the same trip. We didn’t want to invest £5 each in Oyster cards we’d only use a couple of times, but luckily we didn’t have to. Contactless payment (Apple Pay, Google Pay) is also supported and charged at the lower rate. We definitely recommend this as it’s the best deal for short-term visitors.

Stuff of interest

Wallets Took a Pounding
Global Cuisine
Historic Everything
Pricey Transit

We grabbed a pair of EE SIMs↗ in the WH Smith at Liverpool Street Station. Each £12 SIM came with talk, text, and 2 gigs of data good for one month in the UK and abroad. In fact, they lasted us most of the way through our next month in Cluj-Napoca. Mobile data was more invaluable than usual since it let us save on tube tickets without having to shell out for Oyster cards.

Brits drive on the wrong side✨ of the road. They know it too, since nearly every crosswalk has arrows instructing pedestrians which way to look for vehicles. Locals are used to it, but it unnerved us, especially while sitting on the upper deck of the airport bus as our driver veered through roundabouts backwards.

Though London’s cost of living defies belief, every museum we went to was free, as are many others. It also costs nothing to see the outside of famous buildings or ramble through the well-manicured parks.

Union Jacks, London, England

What we learned

When we spend as much time as we do off the beaten path, we tend to forget how nice the beaten path actually is. The safe choice is safe because there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Even us.

St. James's Park, London, England

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *