London

Day 1 – London – July 20

Our train from Glasgow, Scotland dropped us off at Euston Station in London at 10:45 pm. After 6 hours of training, and backpacks feeling twice as heavy as when we started, we decided to splurge on an Uber. We got picked up in a luxurious black Mercedes with an interior highlighted by blue LEDs, and began our terrifying experience of weaving through all the drunk people on a Saturday night. We eventually made it to our AirBnB in east London – you could say we are staying in the projects – and were shown our humble room and shared bath with the three other guests. We slept soundly.  The next nights would not be as restful.

Day 2 – London – July 21

We woke up to an overcast, but warm morning. Elizabeth did some laundry, since we were running out of clean underwear. The Europeans, as previously discussed, by and large don’t believe in drying machines, which is super annoying. The washing machine barely drained the water out of the clothes – even after putting it on extra spin and drain cycles, so Elizabeth rang everything out in the sink before hanging them up still dripping wet. It was time to figure out the Tube and go into the city. The closest station is the Shadwell overground station – there is an overground and an underground rail system. Ryan did some research and we are able to just tap our credit cards at the turnstiles instead of buying tickets, and we get charged a discounted rate at the end of the day.  What a convenience! Now we don’t have to stand in the ticket lines.

We took the overground to the underground connection and it was a 30-minute ride to the Westminster area. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth prior to doing research that morning, the Westminster Cathedral is actually Roman Catholic but gets confused as protestant because of the Westminster Abbey. We had time for some tea and pastries prior to the noon service. The cathedral was beautiful, but ominous. The interior walls and ceilings were built from dark gray brick and the dim lighting from the chandeliers, combined with the thick incense in the air, gave the church a very gloomy disposition. Mass was packed – we’d never actually seen a cathedral at max capacity and the organ was beautiful. Most churches Elizabeth had visited in Europe weren’t open to visitors during mass; this one however, had people rolling suitcases and taking pictures up and down the side aisle throughout the service.  It was nice to see the church being inclusive and open at all times.  Even if Ryan thought it detracted from the solemnity of the occasion.

Next, it was time for food, so we headed up to Piccadilly Circus. On the way, we passed by Buckingham Palace to fight our way through the hordes of people then walked through Green Park. The sun was out and the temperature in the 70s. People were enjoying their Sundays laying out on the lawn and playing soccer.

The Piccadilly area is like the times square of New York. A cluster of theaters, shops, bars, pubs, clubs, and restaurants.  Ryan found an Udon Noodle shop called Koya Soho and we sat at the bar, shoulder to shoulder with 30 other people waiting to get our soup and tempura.

After lunch, we walked down Reagent Street, which is home to all the major retail stores.  The road is closed off to automobile traffic every Sunday in July for pedestrians. There were several tents of live music and activities for kids.  Asics even had a couple of Ninja Warrior-style short walls set up for people to try their legs at.  Ryan thought Elizabeth should give it a shot, since she was wearing hers.  She declined.  We strolled a little further and stood listening to two men playing traditional Irish music. Even Ryan had his fill from Dublin though, so we resumed our walk after a short while.  The goal all along was finding dessert. As you can imagine on a hot, sunny day in London, every ice cream and gelato place we found was packed. Eventually we found a Ben and Jerry’s where we got waffle cones. At this point it was 4 pm and we wanted to have dinner in this area, so we resigned ourselves to drinking until we were hungry again.

The first bar we found had a large open storefront, so we had wine and beer, enjoying the weather. We sat by a group of kids and tried to figure out how old they were, drinking age being 18 opens up a lot of age possibilities. Next we wandered through Chinatown ogling all the roasted duck and pork in the windows and variety of bakeries. We found another bar with a happy hour special: 2 Peronis for 5 pounds. We even got lucky enough to secure two chairs out on the street. While enjoying our refreshments, we struck up a conversation with a local Londoner and his friend visiting from New Zealand. Both men were a little drunk and had lots of unsolicited (and dubious) life advice for us.

Ryan made us 7:15 pm dinner reservations at an Indian restaurant called Masala Zone so we said our goodbyes and headed over. Dinner was delicious and we ate chicken korma and another curry we forgot the name of, before ending with dessert and chai tea. We’ve been so excited to eat Indian food in London and finally our dreams were coming true. We had a 30-minute subway ride home then attempted to sleep in an uncomfortable bed, without AC, right next to the train tracks. I don’t know how people live here normally.

Day 3 – London – July 22

The next morning it was time to check out another rock-climbing gym. Ryan settled on one called Mile End Climbing Wall about 1.5 miles from our AirBnB. We’d seen on the Google map options a bike path and found out we could rent bikes through Uber. Ryan found us a pair just five minutes from our hostel and we began what Google claimed to be a 15-minute ride. The bikes are called JUMP and are electric-assisted, which Elizabeth had never ridden before. You simply begin to pedal and the bike helps power you along the way. Thankfully we spent the first 10 minutes following a wide and well-defined bike lane. After a few twists and turns Ryan had us down riding along the river. The river looked disgusting and yet beautiful at the same time covered in a thick green sludge. There is nothing more terrifying than sharing a lane with joggers and other bikers, while having to ride on the river-side where there was no railing. Elizabeth was so scared she was going to careen right into the river.

Eventually we managed to get to the gym and tried to park the bikes. You just reengage the lock, and the bike finishes your ride – or so we thought. Apparently, we’d ridden into the no parking zone and Uber was trying to charge us 10 pounds each to park our bikes there. This whole adventure was supposed to be cost saving so we got back on and biked back towards the city. If riding by a river was scary, riding along ongoing traffic was horrifying – especially the double decker buses! Eventually we made it to a parking zone and had to walk 20 minutes to get back to the gym.

The gym ended up being really cool.  Upon our arrival it looks small and dingy, but like most things in the UK, a small storefront opened up to a surprisingly large interior.  Being a Monday afternoon, it wasn’t too crowded and it was mostly filled with regulars. We basically had the rope room (about 10 different top ropes and 10 lead sections) to ourselves. We climbed for about an hour inside then discovered a path to the “secret garden.” The secret garden was open to the outside and had a lot of cool bouldering options. We climbed for another 45 minutes and watched the young shirtless Brits cling to small holds and cracks in the wall.  Ryan overheard a couple of them chatting and found out they were going to participate in the competition that weekend.  After we finished up, we quickly showered and were back on the streets headed into the subway to venture towards Wimbledon.

Beginning Thursday, we were housesitting for a second time, this one in Wimbledon for a large dog named Randall.  An absolute unit according to his owners.  His owners, Dot and James and their new daughter Ripley, wanted us to come early so they could show us his walking paths, meet us, etc. We hadn’t eaten yet and were starving, but slightly behind schedule, so we popped into a gas station to get some snacks for the Tube. Elizabeth got a cold ham and cheese pocket, Doritos and a Mars bar while Ryan got a cherry croissant and spicy Thai chili crisps. The tube ride took about 45 minutes before spitting us out at Southfields station. From there is was a half mile walk up a large hill to their house. James and Dot are very kind and friendly. Dot is a music lawyer and James a producer and musician, they are very rock-and-roll. James took us to the large park near their house where he walks Randall and we spent a few hours chatting with them and reassuring them we wouldn’t kill their pup – who is a giant, thick, drooly teddy bear.

A heat wave is rolling through the UK at the moment with temperatures in the 90’s. No one has A/C here, so everyone is suffering. It was back down the large hill and another 45-minute Tube ride to Brick Lane, where we’d enjoy our second night of Indian food. Brick Lane is located about a mile north of our AirBnB in what used to be a rough neighborhood in the 90’s and early 2000s. It is now home to a street filled with Indian restaurants. We walked along getting heckled to come in and eat here and there before finally finding our destination Meraz. Meraz is the oldest Indian restaurant on brick lane opening in 1973 and primarily served laborers who were homesick and wanted a comforting meal. Elizabeth again ate korma and Ryan got vegetable biryani. Both were delicious and we enjoyed watching the endless flow of Indian music videos on the screen above us.

Satisfied, but not full, we ventured next door to Dark Sugars Cocoa House. We stayed strong and walked past the gelato, into the shop with chocolate covered nuts and fruits and alcohol. We got a small bag then walked along Brick Lane gazing at all the curries and eating chocolate cherries and apricots. Next, we obviously needed a night cap and we walked halfway back to our Airbnb stopping at a bar called the Dog and Truck. This was definitely a local establishment. We sat outside on the back deck as long as we could, playing cards until the tobacco smoke became too much. Smoking isn’t as outlawed in public areas as much as it is in the States and it feels like everyone smokes.

We ventured inside for a while – though it was very hot, nothing seems well ventilated – and a group of people who had come from a funeral were drinking to their lost friend and one woman sang a few songs on a microphone. We found another patio, less smoky, and spent the rest of our time playing scrabble. It was a close battle, but in the end, Ryan won by three lousy points.

Day 4 – London – July 23

We decided to go for a jog before the weather got too hot and set out to cross Tower Bridge. The bridge was only a mile away so we crossed and continued along the Thames seeing great views of the city.

After showering and cleaning ourselves off, we walked 40 minutes past Tower Bridge to London Bridge. We crossed the Thames and headed to a late breakfast at a place called Breakfast Club. We shared a smoothie and English breakfast. Elizabeth’s favorite thing about Irish/Scottish/English breakfasts is that they come with buttery-garlic mushrooms. The ones at the Breakfast Club came in small bowl of melted butter.

We had a 2 o’clock appointment at the travel clinic around the corner to finish getting our vaccines for Southeast Asia and Africa. The yellow fever vaccine is backordered in the US so we weren’t able to get it before we left. After spending an alarming 30 minutes in the office, as they told us all the horrible diseases we could contract in these areas, it was time for two shots – yellow fever and a combination typhoid and hep A – one in each arm. It even ended up being cheaper to get our shots in the UK, so we left with sore arms.

Ryan, if you hadn’t been able to tell from photographs, had been growing quite hairy and wanted to clean up. We parted ways briefly as he went to get his cut (Alan’s Barber) and Elizabeth checked out Borough Market. This market is outdoor and full of fresh foods, food stands, and bars. After wandering through all the shops and sampling any cheese she could, she found the covered vista of a wine bar overlooking the market. She sipped away and waited for Ryan. He found her, looking very fresh and we enjoyed people watching and chatting about how much he should have tipped his barber.

It was time for Ryan to explore the market and we got a curry powder for our upcoming housesit and guanciale and pecorino so Ryan could make traditional carbonara. Not yet ready for dinner, we found an alley bar called George and shared a picnic table with a man from Belfast and a man from New Zealand. They gave us advice on places to travel in Europe and the Irishman, who was quite flamboyant and wearing a leopard-print shirt, told us all the great places to go to rave (an intense form of clubbing where people generally take ecstasy before dancing). They left and were replaced by two older couples, two of who now live in Australia, who were visiting for the day from central England. Eventually we got hungry and tired of small talk, so we ventured off to dinner.

We ate at a place called Katzenjammers which was located in the basement and is a German restaurant. The wall art was of the building and various stages of doing the dishes. We ordered a cheese covered pretzel, spaetzle, jäger schnitzel, and beer. Everything was delicious and we can’t wait to go to Germany. Land of beer, bread, and meat.

Ryan was in a party mood that night. We had a 40-minute walk back, so we obviously had to bar hop our way home. Our first stop was called Crutched Briars, a fancy looking establishment in the middle of the skyscrapers. We sat out on the patio and again discussed why so many people were smoking. Our second stop was called the Brown Bear. Here we watched some cricket and played lots of darts. Ryan wasn’t on his A-game so Elizabeth almost won, and almost winning at darts is huge. We made it home and tried to sleep despite the racket from the train.  

Day 5 – London – July 24

Wednesday started off entertaining but frustrating. At 4 in the morning a white car pulled up to the curb outside our apartment and began blaring Sam Smith – Dancing with a Stranger. Everyone had their windows open and had to have been woken up. Elizabeth obviously went to the window to investigate. An Indian looking man was sitting in his car screaming the lyrics and gesturing towards the building including flipping the bird. Key words include:

“Look what you made me do, I’m with somebody new. Ooh, baby, baby I’m dancing with a stranger. Look what you made me do I’m with somebody new.”

Hopefully he can get over his heartbreak and leave the neighborhood alone. We fell back to sleep and started the day a few hours later. Awaking hungry, and having not eaten any Indian food the day before, it was time to get Indian for breakfast. We hopped on the overground and went to Dishoom, the place we had eaten in Edinburgh. Breakfast was amazing – the greatest breakfast we’ve ever had. We split a naan breakfast sandwich filled with bacon and fruit and custard pancakes. We topped it off with hot chai lattes and a breakfast cocktail, essentially a fancy screwdriver. We decided to walk home (about 40 minutes) to get our steps in, but underestimated the sun and heat. It was supposed to be in the mid 90’s.

We made it home and showered and dressed for an afternoon and evening on the town. We took the tube back over to Westminster and planned to see Westminster Abby. We first walked around parliament and the many pro/anti-Brexit rallies. Boris Johnson was elected the new Prime Minister just yesterday so there were a lot of news cameras stationed outside the parliament buildings.

After going the wrong way and being quite sternly told so, we finally made it to Westminster Abby. The line was out the door and cost 20 pounds each. The backdoor attendant must have thought we were trying to sneak in.  Ryan has been told he has a dead relative buried inside, a poet, but we paid our respects from outside the fence.

Next we decided to walk back to the banks of the Thames to see Big Ben and the London Eye. We walked right passed Big Ben without realizing it. They are doing “essential” restoration work to the tower and it will be covered like this until 2021. We continued down the river walk – our destination being back to Chinatown and passed the National Museum and Trafalgar Square along the way.

We tried to find a place for high tea, even though it was 98 degrees, but the few shops were sold out. We didn’t think we’d need a reservation in this heat. Next we tried to go to a nice Chinese restaurant called the Duck and Rice for a late lunch but they had just closed and would reopen at 5:30. Scorned twice by food, we went back to the heart of Chinatown to grab a quick bite from the bakery and a bubble tea to hold us over until they reopened. Elizabeth had seen many people walking around with Cuppa Cha brand teas and needed to try it for herself. First stop the bakery we got two bread rolls one stuffed with custard and one with pork. We then stood in line to get the tea and had to wait 20 minutes to receive it after ordering. Everything was so worth the wait. Ryan got Earl Grey tea with milk, ice and tapioca balls and Elizabeth got iced Ooland peach tea with strawberry jellies. The rolls were also amazing.

Needing to kill a little more time before our 5:30 dinner, we found a bar called the Dog and Duck, so many things are called dog or duck here! We grabbed a few beers and sat in the back stuffy corner. Apparently, George Orwell use to frequent this pub.

Finally, it was time for dinner and the Rice and Duck was well worth the wait. We ordered prawn wontons, Kung Po chicken and crispy duck fried rice. The fried rice was out of this world and the chicken had the most delicious sauce. Bellies full we hopped on the train to the Victoria Apollo Theater to catch the evening showing of Wicked.

We arrived 30 minutes before the show and had to wait in an extremely long box office line to pick up our tickets. We made it to our seats about 10 minutes before the show started. Elizabeth has seen Wicked a couple of times in Omaha, but this was Ryan’s first experience. The singing was pretty good but the show was challenging to enjoy because the lack of A/C in the theater and the 2,000 bodies jammed into the room was hard to concentrate. We had good seats though and the audience was so excited and loud after each number, it felt like we were witnessing the greatest show that ever occurred.

After a hot subway home, we were both starting to feel a little sick from the heat. We had been using the convenience store Snackworld as our GPS input to get us home, since they are directly across the street. We felt obligate to patronize their shop at least once, so we popped in to buy a few powerades and headed back for our last night in our oven of a room.

Day 6 – Wimbledon – July 25

The next day we packed and got back on the subway for the hour-ish ride to Wimbledon. We were loaded down with all of our stuff, but had to wait until about halfway through the ride to find seats. Randall was waiting by the door for us and we spent an hour talking with Dot and James before they headed out for a music festival. Today was the hottest day of the week, reaching 101 degrees. We had all the fans running and windows open and spent the afternoon lying in the living room. Ryan made carbonara for lunch, and we were able to take Randall for a walk in the park around 7, when the temperature had cooled to the mid 90’s, though he still struggled. We basically had to drag him the whole time.  We walked back into town near the train station, about a half mile, and grabbed a frozen pizza, chips and beer for dinner. We relaxed the rest of the night, watching television and enjoying the lack of trains.

Day 7 – Wimbledon – July 26

We woke up to thunderstorms, Randall doesn’t like the sound of rain, so he barked until Ryan could calm him down.  He also doesn’t like getting wet, and refused to go onto the back porch to use the restroom.  For a big boy, he’s a bit of a priss. A couple hours later, we were able to take him out for a quick walk between storms and happily the temperature had dropped back into the 70s. We spent the morning finishing our laundry and just enjoying not roasting alive. Around noon, Elizabeth decided to take a 3 or 4-mile jog around the park. Six and a half miles later, due to getting lost and finding herself in the middle of a golf course, she collapsed back home covered in poison ivy. After a shower everything was cleaned off and we took Randall with us back down to the town square to get groceries for dinner and to visit a Gordon Ramsay approved butcher. Ryan made roast chicken and potatoes and we spent the evening burning through season 2 of The Sinner – it was a wild and crazy Friday night.

Day 8 – Wimbledon – July 27

We’ve been eating yogurt and granola every morning for breakfast. We didn’t know we were such hippies. Ryan made us chicken goan curry using the leftover roasted chicken and the spices we got from Borough Market. It was delicious and spicy. We spent the afternoon trying to figure out what path to take through Europe after Morocco and catching up on important Netflix things. Around 8 pm, after walking Randall, we decided to hit up the local watering hole down by the train station called The Old Fields. As we approached, we noticed there was a huge crowd standing outside and we wondered if it’d be too busy for us to get in. As we got closer, we saw the inside was nearly empty and it was just the outside that was packed with what looked like 18 year-old kids and their 17 year-old friends. We found a table and grabbed some beer and split a delicious hamburger.

We sat near the bathrooms and watched a string of drunk and emotional teenagers stumble to the restrooms. After fighting to order at the bar and feeling like we were back in college, we headed home to eat cookies, tea, and more beer and appreciate the sweet sounds of the television.

Day 9 – Wimbledon – July 28

We got up and walked the pup and headed to Our Lady and St. Peter Roman Catholic church about a 10-minute walk up the road. The lectures were very dramatic, with their British accents and long, one might say too long, pauses during the readings. After Ryan made a delicious breakfast including Cumberland sausage he’d gotten from the butcher. We were only a 10-minute walk from Wimbledon, so we wanted to check it out. We were able to wander through parts of the grounds and visit the gift shop, but they wanted 25 pounds per person to visit the museum and fields.  Everything in the gift shop was hilariously overpriced and we decided to jog around park across the street from the grand tennis facility. We didn’t expect it to be so hilly and the 3-mile run home practically killed us.

After showering we Ubered over to the Warren Hotel, very fancy hotel with beautiful grounds, to meet Elizabeth’s coworker Sebastien and his wife Elise. Sebastien has just been transferred to the London office, and they are over for a week looking at houses and schools for their two kids. We had drinks and ate dinner out on the patio, discussing work and things we’d recommend they do when they move to the area.  It was refreshing to actually have a real conversation with someone.   We are hoping to eventually move to the UK ourselves so it was interesting hearing about all the things they had to do. We learned a valuable lesson in checking pictures after they are taken or taking multiple. See below: the only one we have, both boys managed to blink at the same time.

Day 10 – Wimbledon – July 29

The day was spent doing more laundry, planning and packing for our 9:40 pm flight to Morocco. Ryan cooked up the rest of the sausages for lunch, venison and boar, and we shoveled down any remaining leftovers. We took Randall for one final walk into town and shared a chocolate gelato. The journey to Gatwick Airport took around an hour and a half and, luckily, we left at 5 pm – almost 5 hours before departure. We flew AirArabia which had a mix of good and horrid reviews. They don’t allow you to check in online for Gatwick flights (who knows why) so we arrived when the gate agents opened, 3 hours prior to our flight, and the line was already huge! It took about an hour to get Ryan’s bag checked and our boarding passes. Then while going through, security they thought our GoPro selfie stick was a bottle, so we were stuck there for an extra 20 minutes. Our boarding passes said we boarded at 8:40 but the departure signs said gate information would be given at 8:45. We were able to spend 30 minutes in the priority pass lounge Ryan gets with his Amex, and enjoyed a beer and some macaroni and cheese with a few other treats. Finally, we boarded the plane and somehow, on an otherwise completely full flight, were given exit row seats with the third seat in our aisle vacant.  The three-hour flight from London to Marrakech signaled our departure from the comforts of the English language and western civilization.

Things we learned in London:

1. You can wear whatever you want – no matter what shape you are.
2. English people are very polite in the subways and very vulgar in the pubs.
3. Not really a lesson but a reinforcement – Indian food is heaven.
4. If you ever move to Europe invest in A/C and a clothes dryer.