Towering Over London
GUYS THESE TYPOS! I have some editing to do.
9 September 2018
London, UK
I still wanted to get up at 6am but I forced myself back to sleep.. and then I didn’t get up until 10. Good thing I didn’t have plans!
First order of business was the broad street pump in Soho. I missed it the last time I was here and I really wanted to visit - the source of the Cholera outbreak on 1854 that ended when John Snow, the father of modern epidemiology, determined that the pump was the source of the infection. I’m actually glad I missed it last time because there is a newly erected (July 2018) replica of the pump next to the original site where previously there was just a pink granite block.
I toured the streets for a bit and got a nitro maple cold foam cold brew from Starbucks. My phone hasn’t been working as it should (my plan recently includes texting and data in 210 countries but my service has never worked properly in my four times overseas) so I decided to call T-Mobile to try and take care of it. London intimidates me, especially when I don’t have access to my phone... it’s SO BIG and I don’t want to get lost (and haven’t found a good free map). Unfortunately after I hung up I realized the guy (who when I said I was in London tried to search that as a country instead of UK..) hadn’t fixed it so I wrote a message on their Facebook and they responded and took care of things (after multiple tries) via private message. While this may seem annoying to some (and I assure you I was annoyed), I still stand by and recommend their service. The fact that I do have free texting and data in 210 countries, excellent service everywhere that I’ve been in the USA, a monthly plan that includes unlimited everything (including data with no slow downs), good customer service, and the ability to upgrade my phone whenever I want, are all important qualities to me in a phone carrier.
Anyway, while this message exchange was going on I traveled to Harrods (they also have free WiFi) and checked it out. It’s apparently THE department store; they had some beautiful looking cakes and I was really tempted to buy a Hermès scarf.
The Tower of London was also on my list so I headed there next. On the way I saw a banner for the NFL games here and thought that might be cool to go but I don’t really care about football. Also there is a cycling race called “Tour of Britain” and that was happening today so I got to watch a couple of cyclists finish.
When I approached the Tower of London I saw a bunch of tents in the former moat... there was a FOOD FESTIVAL happening! I headed down there first and walked around tasting wine and moonshine. Got myself a mini pot of mac & cheese and a prosecco to wash it down.
The Tower was cool, a lot of history there. I especially enjoyed the ravens (even though I got completely duped by an animatronic one) and of course the Crown Jewels - the biggest reason I wanted to go. I also very much wanted to go to the Tower Bridge but unfortunately they were already closed. Bloody Sunday! So I googled what else there was to do and this building I’d been seeing all day that looked like it was under construction was actually called “The Shard” and it’s the largest building in Western Europe. Who knew?! So I decided to take a ride to the top and have a glass of champagne as an early birthday celebration! It was a little cloudy but the views were still great and I went at the perfect time where I was able to experience the scene in daylight and darkness. They also give you the option to purchase these ridiculously obviously photoshopped photos but you get the digital downloads for free.
I’m loving having the Furbo camera and even though it had to be moved because I was afraid Lucy would fall over the half wall trying to get the treats out, it’s still in a position where I can check on the nuggets and throw some treats at them. Big shout out to BB for taking care of them this week even though she has her own European vacation coming up!
After the Shard I grabbed London’s best vegetarian burger (according to more than one list) from Honest Burgers. They also carry local beer so I tried a Shape Shifter (Bermondsey West Coast IPA) by Fourpure and it was excellent. The burger was good too.. and I took the house made rosemary “chips” back to the hotel to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One.
Cheers!
