London Town

Obviously one of the main reasons we decided to move to England was the endless traveling we imagined ourselves doing. So many countries just a short hop away! One of the greatest cities on earth just a train ride away!

However, the lack of a second paycheck has gone on longer than we anticipated, so we have been trying to be conservative and not spend money unnecessarily. London is close and cheap to get to compared to, say, coming from Seattle. But when you're trying to save money, a few hundred dollars is a few hundred dollars. (The cost of train tickets, a night in a hotel, tube fare and whatever we want to do around there.)

Nevertheless, we decided it would be good for us to remind ourselves why we took this opportunity in the first place, so we went on a little trip to London. And it was well worth it, although now it's ignited a "let's go all the places" fever which I need to keep in check.

It turns out that you get both Good Friday and Easter Monday off here, so we went overnight Saturday-Sunday of that weekend. The train tickets were about £45 each round trip, and if you get a direct route, it takes about 1 hour 50 minutes. It makes many stops between Nottingham and London, but you don't have to change trains.

We mapped out all the places we wanted to go and decided to book a hotel near the Victoria Station, in the borough of Westminster. It was the Park Plaza, and I'd recommend it. We got a pretty good deal on it, but we did splurge a bit there. I'm a sucker for a nice hotel. My only complaint about it is that instead of the usual hotel 18 pillows piled on a bed - one of my favorite things! - there were only two. They were nice pillows, and really, do you need more than the one your head is on? But still. It seemed a bit barren on that bed.

At any rate, the hotel was so convenient to the tube that we had no problem getting anywhere we wanted. The first day we bought a day pass at £13 or £14 each. It let you travel unlimited between 6 zones or something. Turns out we didn't need that as they cap your travel at £7 within a 24 hour period if you pay via contactless and stay within Zones 1 and 2, which is central London and a bit beyond. I can't really figure out when the pass becomes cost efficient, but Sunday we just paid as we went and saved a bit of money.

We had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back. It was such a different experience to be so laid back about our itinerary, knowing we could come back at virtually any time. Normally I have a spreadsheet and schedule laid out by the minute so we can cram everything in. This was way better. (Although my way is valid too!)

Here's what we did, Day One:

We took the 7:45 am train from Nottingham and arrived at King's Cross St. Pancras around 9:30. We only had backpacks (also a new way to travel!) so we took the tube to Covent Garden, which is a lovely shopping area and also the West End/theatre district. (Yep, theatRE.)

Empty!

Lyle wanted to go to the Apple Store, so we did that and then wandered around the open-air market called Apple Market, no relation to the Apple Store. We also saw the first of many Shake Shacks, which we tried to eat at but they weren't open for another 15 minutes so we kept walking. We also saw Din Tai Fung - yay for glimpses of home! And a place called the Avobar, where everything on the menu had avocado in some form.

Apple Store

Apple Market

Missing out on Shake Shack meant that when we passed The Halal Guys a little bit later, we were hungry and they were open, so we stopped in. I was excited to try them, having missed out on their opening in Seattle. And it turns out this is the only one in London so I guess we got lucky. I had the falafel and it was delicious.

After that we were in Leicester Square (almost spelled that right on the first try), where we stopped in to Lego's flagship store. Across the street was what has to be the world's largest M&M store at four stories. That's four stories of M&M candy and paraphernalia, and if there's anything they haven't thought of to put the M&M brand on, I'd be shocked. It was nuts in both stores.

That's made of Legos, in case you can't tell.

You could mix colors AND flavors.

Our next intentional stop was Taylor of Old Bond Street, which was in the direction of the hotel. It's the quintessential fancy shaving place, and since Lyle has gotten into shaving with a straight razor and all the accoutrement that entails, he wanted to check it out. It's a small shop with lots of stuff and people, so I waited outside.

We passed by the palace, waved to the Queen, admired the beautiful blooms and then stopped in at the hotel to drop off our stuff and plan our next move.

Lovely!

A friend had told Lyle about the Design Museum, so we headed to Kensington to check it out. The best thing about London museums is they're all free/pay by donation, so you're not breaking the bank by going to a lot of them, and you don't have to spend all day in them to feel like you got your money's worth. And I got rid of all my dumb pound coins, so yay.

Kensington is a super fancy and beautiful area. The Design Museum "offers an introduction to the history of contemporary design with free display Designer Maker User, and opportunities to explore the present and future of design through a programme of temporary exhibitions and pop-ups." You do have to purchase tickets for the temporary exhibitions, which we didn't do. A Kubrick one was coming the following week which looked like it would be pretty interesting. The permanent display was fine, but Lyle and I both agreed it wasn't quite what we were expecting. We spent about an hour there but weren't overly impressed.

It'll cost you about £15,000 a month
to rent one of these apartments.

After that, we walked by Kensington Palace, hoping as ever to catch a glimpse of Kate's glossy hair. (It's one of my goals while we're here.) No luck.

Next was the Natural History Museum, just the dinosaurs please. It was also super crowded and HOT, like no central air, so we pushed our way through the dinosaur skeletons and then moved on. Beautiful building, though, and I'm sure we'll go back and see what else is there another time.

Raawwwrrrr.

After all that we were tired and hot, so we went back to the hotel with the plan to go back out after a bit and eat dinner at Dishoom. Well, obviously once we got back to the hotel we didn't want to go out for another outing, so we ate dinner at yet another Shake Shack nearby and decided to save Dishoom for lunch. No regrets.

Day Two: 

Dishoom "pays homage to the Irani cafés and the food of all Bombay," and we had one of the best meals of our lives at the one near King's Cross St. Pancras the last time we were in London. We visited the one in Covent Garden this time (they have 4 or 5 locations), and the vibe was just as cool and the food just as memorable. It's a must-do.

After that it was off the Imperial War Museum London (they have five museums total). And wow. We only got through WWI before we had to leave, but it was phenomenal. The exhibits, signage, immersive nature etc. is all just so well done. We will definitely be back to finish it out.

After that we hightailed it to the train station and made it on the 5:14 pm train with a few minutes to spare. We were back in Nottingham a little after 7 pm.

It's so bizarre that this is our life now, and I'm really glad we decided to take the trip and remind ourselves. I can't wait for more adventures!