London -- our favorite things

In 1998, Esther and I did a British Isles survey, visiting London, Wales, Dublin, Edinburgh and Sterling, all in about a week. I left that trip feeling a little underwhelmed by London because it didn't seem all that great in comparison to the other places we visited. At the same time I was overwhelmed because it is so big and we barely scratched the surface, so I felt like I didn't really get a sense of the place.

This time, I felt totally different. It is a very fun and exciting city, with lots to do. I kept finding myself saying, "Well, we don't have time for that this time, we'll have to do it next time," whereas last time, I never even thought there would be a next time. In fact, that first visit, I may have even spit on the ground, as the people of Scotland did, whenever we mentioned London. We had (mostly) great weather. And it's the first time that I came back from a vacation and didn't think, "How do I live in this crazy city?" because London is kind of like this crazy city in a lot of ways.

My top three things:

1. Does it sound lame to say that my #1 is their subway system, the tube? It is so easy, fast, clean and comfortable. With the unlimited fare cards, it could not be better getting around. Anytime we arrived just as a train was pulling away, there was another one 1 minute away and a third train 3 minutes away (I know because there is a sign that says when the next train is due to arrive. although this was nice, I still think it's a little bit pointless and I don't think we need them here in NYC, which has been discussed. but that's another story.) The only negative thing I could say is that we almost never got a seat. But that wasn't too bad because we usually were only on for a couple of stops.

This is a picture of me at the Waterloo station (obviously), where I went to see the play Inherit the Wind at the Old Vic Theater, which was great.

2. The National Gallery. This is one of the most interesting and best-laid out museums I have been to. Here I am in front of it. I also enjoyed the Portrait Gallery next door, with an awesome museum shop.

And here is Trafalgar Square, which faces the museum

3. Shopping. Everyone knows that I'm a sucker for an outdoor market and/or street fair and we went to two in one day. When we arrived, Heidi and I had some slight disagreements about what we should do. She said we had to go to Borough Market and I said we had to go to Portobello Market, and neither of us had heard of the other's market. The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: "The Rough Guide said that Portobello was their #1 pick. We have to go."

Heidi: "My Time Out says that Borough is a foodie paradise. We have to go."

So, we did both.

Here is Borough Market from above. Although this is a "foodie paradise" we ate at a regular restaurant first, so this is a picture from their window. Then we got a piece of cake from the market afterwards, but there was a little bit of everything there.

You can get a sense of the market, divided up into stalls, here:

Behind the market you can see a pub, which will be revisited later in this post.

This is Portobello Market. The stores along this road are open all week, but on Saturday and Sunday, they put some of their wares outside on tables, and more vendors fill in the gaps. I bought some china at the market, and Heidi bought a Shetland wool scarf.

The advantage of going to this market is that we got to see the area of Notting Hill, which turned out to be my favorite neighborhood. So cute! No wonder they made it the background of the silly and annoying, and yet watchable, movie starring Hugh Grant & Julia Roberts.

Heidi's faves:

1. The Tube (seriously, it's awesome). Also note on this sign: public bathrooms all over the city. Which is something that I really appreciate in a city. They are clean, had soap and TP and were almost always empty (which would not be the case here, I'm sure).

2. The Thames Pub walking tour. My friend, Trevor, who visits London often, recommended taking a guided walking tour. Our first night we decided to do this one. It appealed to me because the views along the Thames were supposed to be great (and they were). It appealed to Heidi because she was interested in the pub culture, which is huge. Here is Heidi in front of pub #2, with a local beer. This is also the pub that was pictured behind the Borough Market above. Isn't it quaint looking? I didn't try the beer, but did use the bathroom.

Along the tour, the guide pointed out some of the sights, including this one. This was Bridget Jones' apartment in the movie, which is a much better movie starring Hugh Grant.

The last pub that we visited had also been featured in some movies, including some Jane Austen movies (my favorite!) and maybe the books, too, but I didn't get a picture of that.

3. Regents Park. It is a lovely park, that was only about a 10 minute walk from where we were staying. Despite all the walking we did, we decided to go there a couple of times to run the track around the perimeter (believe it!!). The reason being that we did a lot of eating. A lot. Which is what I thought would be in Heidi's top three, since she's a foodie and all, but it wasn't. (more on the food, including cupcakes, to come.)

So, since the visit was technically supposed to be about exercising, I didn't take pictures, but there are plenty online, and here are some of them: