London Calling

(This was written on September 7.  This is the first chance I've had to post.)

     I finally arrived in London…it looks really cool, but it’s horrendous to get around in…when you arrive on the one 24 hour strike so the London Underground isn’t running at all.  We took a super short flight (only an hour and 5 minutes) from the Dublin airport to London-Gatwick.  We spent the morning dropping off a bunch of excess luggage with Bernie at St. Pat’s before heading to Malahide and Portmarnock.  The coastal road was gorgeous and we got our second semi-sunny day in Ireland.  After finishing up our drive, we wandered around town on back roads and found a cool little café called That’s Amore, where we ate…paninis!  It was really cute and it started raining again while we were eating.  Dad and I meandered back to the center of Malahide to get the Ford Fiesta for the last time before heading back to Dublin’s airport.

     We dropped the car off and checked Dad’s bags before checking in for our flight.  His duffel was 4 kilos over…which added 80 euro to our trip.  Remind me to pack a tiny backpack for any other flight I’ll take on Ryanair!  By the time we made it to our gate, the sky had totally cleared back up.  For the first time in my life, we wandered out onto the airfield to board the plane.  It’s definitely not as glamorous as it usually looks, since everyone was clamoring for seats (as they’re all unassigned on Ryanair flights).  As we were first coming into England, Dad pointed out the Cliffs of Dover from the plane.  They’re gorgeous and gleaming white since the sun was actually out.  Anyways, it was better to pay attention to those instead of the French couple in front of me making out intermittently through the flight.  Customs was a breeze…I don’t think the border guard in England even glanced at my passport coming in.

            Getting to the hotel in Kensington was a whole new unexpected adventure all its own.  We collected Dad’s bag, picked up our second currency for this trip (British pounds), and bought tickets for the express train out of Dublin airport to Victoria Station.   Victoria Station is extremely busy…like a cleaner version of Grand Central.  People are coming and going in all directions and they’re all in a hurry.  Armed with our hotel map, Dad and I were all set to jump on the London Underground and settle in at our hotel.  It didn’t take long to figure out that we had managed to book our flight on the one day of the month that all of the Underground workers decided to go on a 24-hour strike.  Buses were going every which direction and lets just say that the directions the English give could use a little work.  They were extremely willing to help, but it’s hard to follow, “Jump on bus C1 to Kensington station, walk and get on bus 9 or 10, get off the bus when you see Boots, walk a couple blocks and the hotel should be on your…left…or…yeah, your left.”  After the first round of directions, a bout on a very crowded London bus, and 8 pounds down the drain, Dad gave up on the idea of walking and we took a cab to the hotel.  It took us longer to get to the hotel from the airport than it took to fly from Dublin to London. 

            Our hotel is down a quiet street off Kensington High Street, so we settled our stuff in the room and headed out to wander the streets of London in search of pictures and food.  The streets are beautiful at night.  The double decker buses, full to overflowing, and pristine black London cabs are still making their rounds.  Old, established buildings push right up against the posh, polished buildings that look like they were built yesterday in comparison.  Random flower markets, ancient churches, and solid statues dot the main streets, reminding you of how old London really is.  London has a really neat polished feel to the city, not as gritty or raw feeling as some of the cities in New England back home.  Tomorrow is our one and only day touring London, so it’s going to be a busy one.  By Thursday morning, we’re headed to King’s Cross rail station to catch a train to Edinburgh.

I've got another post I wrote in London, so I'll attach pictures to that one.