So, we're on the move again, which means limited internet access. Here's a quick rundown of the last few days.
July 18th - Our last night in Paris. We went back to our favorite steak frites place and reminisced about best parts of the trip so far. (I liked the
gypsy caravan, and Nick liked
Fete de la Musique.) Then we bought two beers and wandered down to the river. I don't really remember much after that, other than that I insisited at some point that we go to the corner store for another beer run.
July 19 - We woke up in a world of hurt, which was, as Nick pointed out, all my fault. We had to rally, though, because it was our last morning. We bought trois croissants (un for Nick, deux for me, as usual) and walked along the river to the Place des Vosges, where we watched an old man in a track suit do squat exercises among the pigeons. I'm going to miss Paris.
We took the train to Brussels afterwards, and spent the next 24 hours drinking and eating. Street waffles are awesome, by the way. Why hasn't this concept been imported to America yet? Thanks also to Alex for pointing us to a fantastic Belgian friterie.
July 20 - We fly to London and meet up with my cousin Bekah, our host for the evening. At around 11 PM we headed over to the Harry Potter queue party in Piccadilly, and I realized that the problem with going to the best Harry Potter queue party in the whole world is that people started lining up there days in advance. Not only did we not get a book that night, we didn't even manage to walk the whole length of the line, it was so long. It was fun, though, watching the crowds of costumed fans chanting, "HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!" and generally freaking out as the midnight hour approached.
July 21-22 - We bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in King's Cross station on our way to meet up with Nick's friends, which I thought was pretty neat, since I mostly know about King's Cross from Harry's adventures there. Nick's friends invited us down Pool, which is apparently known as the British Riviera. It seemed quite nice, although I can't say for sure because I spent the entire weekend inside, reading and not talking to anyone. It was totally rude, but I couldn't help myself. Harry Potter 7 is GREAT.
Tomorrow we're off to enjoy some of England's non-fiction highlights, assuming Nick can tear himself away from HP7. If you've got any London must-sees to recommend, holla!
9 comments:
Sounds amazing.
it would have been amusing to see the die-hard Harry fans.
I hear the statue of King Leonard the Third outside parliment is grand. But that's just something I remember from my vast, awe-inspiring knowledge of English history.
My friend says that Windsor Castle is pretty cool...as is The Tower of London, The Tower Bridge, Westminster...if you can see if Parliment is in session its supposed to be interesting to see. My friend also says taht the views from the top of the London Eye on a clear day are amazing.
I'm going to London in a month and those things are all on my list. =)
I also understand completly about hibernating while reading the final HP7. Many of my friends and family didn't understand. The party in Picadilly must have been AMAZING!
Everyone understood when I shut myself up for a day reading HP7, because I had been warning them that it would happen for several weeks already. :)
Your trip sounds fantastic. I am extremely jealous.
xo
Miss S
Whenever I'm in London I always make a point to take a walk along Southwark.
I'm not sure where you are staying but if you go to the City (District line: Blackfriars or Mansion House) you can walk across the Millenium Bridge and then check out The Globe Theatre (Modeled after the original Shakespearian one) and see a Shakespeare play for only 5 pounds (called 'groundlings' you'll be standing but it's worth it!).
Afterwards you can turn left out of the globe and walk along the river towards the Tate Modern which has excellent stuff (last April there were slides that were built and we could go down for free).
Walking past the Tate there are pubs along the Thames that have outdoor seating and are lovely if a bit touristy. Eventually you will hit Westminster to the right and Waterloo Station to the left. At Westminster you can check out the Eye of London, the Aquarium, and Parliament, of course.
Well, enjoy! Have a good trip, London is excellent! Hope you get some sun because it hasn't been such great weather there this summer, unfortunately. :)
The Tower is fun, though obviously quite touristy. The Tate Modern is absolutely essential. I like it much better than the MOMA, and I make a point of visiting every time I'm in London. A lot of people are very into the Victoria & Albert.
What else? Food-wise, there's a lot of good Indian, pretty good dim sum, and an EXCELLENT tapas place on Old Compton b/w Wardour and Dean, on the pedestrianized bit, I think. And I love S&M (sausage and mash) Cafe, which has got locations in Spitalfields and Notting Hill. Sadly, you're going to miss the Notting Hill carnival.
Finally, London has some great walking. I especially enjoy walking around Notting Hill & Kensington/Chelsea, and being very jealous of the people who can afford homes there.
Oh, and get an Oyster card if you're there for more than a couple of days. So very worth it.
Pretty cool to be in London for the release of HP7. Hope you are blazing through it contentedly.
I so enjoy your blog. Intelligently written with a fun, free attitude.
Thanks.
I'm enjoying the heck out of your stories. I'd say I'm jealous but I've been to Paris and it's fun. I stayed in Paris-St. Germain area and stumbled into the Red Light District one evening. Actually a friend told me where it was at and not to go. Well, don't tell a monkey not to do something. I went and thought they were strip clubs and not the Amsterdam type places. I went into one place and got propositioned. I said no and the next thing I know I'm running down the street chased by an Asian pimp. Besides that little episode I had a blast.
I love London!!! I spent 4 mos about 3 hrs north and was, unfortunately, not able to get down there as much as I would have liked.
The one thing I would suggest is to see a show! Any show, doesn't matter. I saw Les Miserables, and now it's so cool to say, "Oh, Les Mis, yeah I saw that in London!" I know, I'm a big dork. There is just something special about catching a show there.
As touristy as this is, Harrod's is a must, too! Make sure you allow enough time to see the whole thing. It's amazing all that's sold there.
I agree with Irish that Windsor Castle is worth seeing - there is some cool art there. Plus, it's a nice little town to walk around. And, the countryside is just wonderful.
Looking forward to your next entry!
Blessings!
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