"Perhaps in the darkest times all we can do is refuse to be part of the darkness."

- Guy Gavriel Kay (A Brightness Long Ago)

Euro trip - Nov 2019 - Part One

Last November (feels like forever ago now), I actually found a couple of friends - two of my closest friends from college - to go with me on a trip. 🤣 After a couple of months planning and coordinating -- none of us are within a thousand mile radius of each other, and one is even on the other side of the planet -- we finally embarked on our amazing-race-ish trip to Europe. We had a lot planned... we were too old for this kind of trip, we said; but still very young at heart so we would come out of it alive, or so we convinced ourselves. lololol. 

Our journey started in London (at least for 2 of us) -- I flew in from St Louis and arrived in London around mid-day while Michelle flew in from Manila arriving close to midnight, so I had a whole afternoon and half of the night to myself. 

After London, Michelle and I would head to Edinburgh and explore Scotland a bit for a few days before heading to Stockholm to meet Meann for the rest of our trip.

This was actually the only journal entry I wrote during the entire trip on the first night in London - I was either too wiped out most nights after this or I was too busy chatting with my friends, whom I hadn't seen in years before this.

*****

16 November 2019

8:57 PM - London

25,678 steps as of writing this, and I really only did most of the walking in the afternoon. I am exhausted right now, but I will try to write as much as humanly possible.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. fairly uneventful flights. no delays. long layover in NY as planned, which was good because I had to go to a different airport and the traffic from LGA to JFK was terrible. Flight from JFK to Gatwick was on a B787-9, which had those cool windows -- the kind where you push on a button to dim/block light from outside. 😎

2. Thameslink train from Gatwick to St. Pancras - not too bad. I had no problems finding the train station at the airport and I was able to sit down though there wasn't enough room in the luggage rack so I had to hold mine while trying to not block the aisle and hoping nobody would yell at me.

3. SIM card - unfortunately, advanced planning doesn't always work out; the one I bought at the airport vending machine (yes, I researched about this beforehand) was a total waste... £20 down the drain. But I was able to buy a new one at an EE store in Camden Market.

4. lunch at a Diner in Camden Market - not the most British way to welcome London but the line, umm excuse me, the queue (when in Rome...) at the Poppie's, where I originally wanted to have some fish and chips was too long and by that time, I was already literally shaking from hunger. It was past 1 pm at this point and the last meal I had was on the plane.

5. finally armed with a working SIM card, I started my "pasyal" for the day - took the Underground to Hyde Park but went back to the hotel first to checkin. Because of the whole fiasco with the SIM card, I lost some precious time so it was already starting to get dark when I arrived in Hyde Park. Still looked pretty though from what I saw of it.

6. from Hyde Park, I walked to Buckingham Palace and took some pictures there, along with my fellow tourists. 😁

7. I had planned on going to St James's Park next but it was already too dark at that point so I just took a quick photo of the one part of the park I saw.

8. then walked to Westminster Bridge. The last time I was in London (Nov 2018), Big Ben still had scaffolding covering most of it - it still did today unfortunately. 😞  I took pictures of what I could see of it and of the London Eye (with the pretty lights). I crossed the bridge halfway. 

9. headed to Trafalgar square next. By that time, my feet and legs were killing me and my bladder was about to explode. So I decided to find a cafe and take a break. The place was packed, probably mostly with tourists who needed to take a break like me, so I had to let someone else join me at my table. Chatted with a couple of people at my table and the table next. I find the British really friendly - at least the ones I talked to at the cafe today. :)

10. feeling rested enough to go back to walking, I took a few pictures in Trafalgar Square then walked back towards the Thames River to Cleopatra's Needle.

11. I had originally planned to walk all the way to the Millennium Bridge and cross it but finally accepted old age and gave in to my aching feet - found the closest train station and took the Thameslink back to the hotel, where I am now in bed writing this and waiting for Michelle to arrive.

12. oh yeah, I bought an Oyster Card which was really useful today - some £££ actually well spent.

Tomorrow, more London.