A Life, Lived: We Made It

So our travel to London was pretty uneventful and things went pretty well as planned (noticed I said pretty well, there is always bound to be some sort of glitch but on this trip there was nothing major).

We had booked seats in Premium Economy (whatever grandiose term BA uses) which meant better food and more room. Poor Paul sure needed that room because the lady in front of him refused to put her seat up during dinner:

Had we been in economy he woulnd't have been able to move. Mind you, he likely wouldn't have wanted to eat the meal so I guess everything is relative.

I had overestimated the length of time it would take to get through customs (even with only 1 customs agent on duty for non-EU folks) and retrieve our luggage (I think many people on our flight were connecting through to other places). As a result we had about a 30 minute wait for our car. The car service was great - we received a text saying the car was on route with a map showing us the driver's location.

The drive into London was unremarkable. I was tired. Yesterday was a gray day. I did manage to connect with the guy who was supposed to greet us at the apartment on the journey - this was sort of my only stressor. Once that was resolved I chilled and looked out the window.

When we went past the National History museum there were HUGE crowds - take that one off of our list. It wasn't so bad at the Victoria and Albert Museum though - that one is on the list now. Funny how that goes.

They were setting up for the St. Patrick's Day celebration in Trafalgar Square.

(not the best image - I was in a van).

Peter met us at the apartment and explained how everything worked. It is a huge apartment - 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, big kitchen. Just what we love - lots of room of spread out and only for $ 125 a night. The building has been refurbished (back in the early 2000s this was known as Heroin Tower). When they renovated this unit they really did a good job - the kitchen is furnished with Bosch appliances, for example.

Once Peter left we just crashed - I think it was almost 2 hours before we woke up.

After a fortifying shower we went off to explore the neighbourhood.

We decided to walk down to the Spitalfields Market - one of the largest in London. There has been a market on the site for over 350 years. Mind you, the market of today is very different than the one in 1638 when King Charles I gave a license for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold on Spittle Fields, which was then a rural area on the eastern outskirts of London. Today's market is craft stands, restaurants, and food stalls. . . and we loved it!

After wandering the market (where I picked up a great pair of socks and some treats for the cats) we walked back to the apartment. Along the way we passed the Ten Bells pub which is where Jack the Ripper is said to have been a patron and where he connected with two of his victims.

We also discovered a candy store that makes giant suckers that look like people. You might recognize this character:

I think the hair gives it away.

We also spotted this wash house from the 1840s.

This was built through subscription of the wealthy. It was a place for the poor to come and get clean and wash their clothing. Now this building forms a part of the London University.

The wind had really picked up and it was cold and drizzly. Rather than wander about for hours we decided to pop into a Tesco express (a small inner city grocery store) for provisions (mostly coffee essentials, wine, Walkers Crisps and Cadbury chocolate) and head back to the apartment. I will say that compared to the small stores for urban dwellers in Rome this one sucked. It had essentials but you couldn't have cooked a proper meal with what you found there.

Later we decided to head out for some dinner. There was a Greek restaurant nearby and they were able to fit us in without reservations.