Mind the Gap

London has been a breath of fresh air! We have really enjoyed the time that we've spent here and could see ourselves coming back for another vacation in the future. There is so much to see here that it is impossible to walk down the street without seeing something amazing and there is no way for us to take it all in during such a short trip.

As soon as we got to Heathrow Airport we were impressed by how easy it was to get around the city. We took the train from the airport into town and got off at Paddington station. We knew that our hotel was near by but had no idea which way to go as we left the station. That is when Ryan's excellent sense of direction kicked in. He picked a direction and basically headed straight to our hotel which was no small feat considering how many little hotels are squished into the row houses in this neighborhood.

As we walked we were pleased to pass many restaurants, pubs and corner stores. We stopped to get some snacks and then settled in our hotel room for the night. We crashed really hard after a long day of excitement and travelling.

Our first tourist trip was to head to the British Museum. We went to Paddington station and bought our Oyster cards which are a pay as you go cards for travelling on the underground and buses in London. Once we figured out which tube line and direction we needed to go it was quite easy to figure out where we were going. The bonus of being here in London is that we can ask for directions without the potential of a massive language barrier.

There was so much to see at the museum that we weren't able to see it all with one trip. We were very surprised to learn that there is no admission fee and we were allowed to take pictures! The highlight for me was definitely the Rosetta Stone which I have wanted to see since I was little. The Roman and Greek sculptures and artifacts were very impressive as was the clock room. There were many shiny pieces of jewelery and old weapons that were in varying degrees of degradation. Unfortunately we both developed intense headaches and after grabbing a hot dog from the cart (which turned out to be more like a sausage in a bun) we decided to head back to the hotel to try to relieve our brain pain.

After reviewing our wardrobe for our upcoming trans-Atlantic cruise we realized that our warm weather clothing was severely lacking. This was never a problem during our time in Asia and Egypt but the winds off the Atlantic during September can get awfully chilly. So after getting some advice on where to shop in London on a Saturday without getting run over by crowds we headed to High Street Kensington.

Our shopping went really well so after having lunch we took a double decker bus to Trafalgar Square which is the 4th most visited tourist site in the world. It was a busy place on the weekend with many tourists and visitors to the National Gallery. We did not intend on going to the gallery while in London but since we were there (and again the admission was free) we decided to head in and check it out. I am so glad that we did! I have a much greater appreciation of fine art after seeing the amazing paintings that were housed there. I have never seen anything like it and we were both awestruck. Monet, Picasso, da Vinci, Van Gogh and Ryan's new favorite Rembrandt were all there and we spend more time than I would have thought wandering around in a mind blown stupor.

After a long day of walking we decided to take it easy the following day. We headed to Hyde park in the afternoon which is very close to our hotel. Proms in the Park was going on which is a classical concert held by the BBC so there was many people in the park on their way to the concert. We stopped and listened at speakers corner to the brave people who stand on their soap boxes and spout on about almost any topic, with the main themes being religion and politics. The lady with the largest crowd was annoying and egging the crowd on with a racist theme which encouraged many audible and passionate retorts. It was quite the sight to see and although we did not agree with most of what any of the speakers were going on about, it was excellent to see everyone being able to speak their mind and spark a discussion.