Whirlwind London Tour
The cheapest flight from Iceland flies to Glasgow and the cheapest flight to Croatia leaves from Heathrow. To take advantage of the low airfare, Nick and I decided to tour the UK for a VERY short 6 days. After much deliberation on how to tackle it, we decided on 2 days in Edinburgh, 2 days in Inverness/Loch Ness and 2 days in London. 2 days any of these places is not enough, especially in London. Nick had never been and, needless to day, beach fun time in Croatia is coming at the perfect time.
We spent most of the time in London running really boring errands. Nick needed a haircut, we both needed to do laundry, we were really low on toiletries, my computer totally died (such a bummer and really unneeded/unexpected expense), and we needed to send stuff back home to lighten our load. We decided to divide and conquer. Nick went to a barber and sent 13 lbs of stuff home (it's amazing what winter clothes for Iceland weighed!!). He also had some time to explore London on his own. I sent our laundry away to a 24 hour service, picked up toiletries and spent the afternoon at the Apple Store. It wasn't the best day I've ever had, but it made me feel like myself. It felt good to be handling "normal" things and London felt a little like home in that respect. It wasn't foreign enough where we both couldn't navigate it to get what we needed to get done accomplished. Also, we were both solo for the first time in 6 weeks. We were happy to see each other at the end of the day but it was also great to have a little time to ourselves.
Nick and I decided to meet up around dinner time and walk to Buckingham Palace. Our apartment wasn't too far and the weather was perfect to wander around. We walked around the parks and stood in front of the palace for awhile and went home to make dinner. Not the most riveting 2 paragraphs you've ever read, I'm sure.
The next day, we had a little more time to see the city. We started out by visiting the British Museum. Not only is it free, but it has great exhibits such as the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian Mummies. After about 2 hours wandering around the museum, we decided to take the tube to the Tower of London. We had every intention of touring it but it cost £25 per person!! We couldn't justify spending nearly $60 on it, so we will have to come back and tour it another time. Instead, we walked over the Tower bridge and read all the street side factoids along the way.
Mummies at the British Museum
Samurai suit at the British Museum
We are absolutely horrible at selfies
The absolute best part of this day was our new hotel for the night. Nick surprised us with a night at the Georgian House. For those that don't know, this hotel has an entire wing dedicated to Harry Potter. Nick and I have a personal connection to Harry Potter and it was perfect. First of all, you have to use a hidden door under the stairs to get to your room. (I know!) They lit candles, had a smoke machine and decorated the room so it looked exactly like you were at the dorm at Hogwarts! It was major cheese but we were like little kids. It was awesome.
So happy at the Harry Potter Hotel (it had a 4 post bed!!!) and looking so handsome after a much needed haircut :)
After geeking out for about an hour, we decided we couldn't leave London without having a curry and Chicken Tikka Masala was invented in London. We did our research and decided on Punjab in Covent Garden. It was rated the best place to get this dish. It did not disappoint. Happily full of food, we headed back to the Harry Potter hotel. Our flight was leaving at a ridiculous 7am the next morning. Next stop Zagreb!
Final Thought:
Being in London felt like being back at home. We officially got homesick for the first time on this whole trip. It took 2 months. Nick said wandering around London reminded him of when he first moved to SF, put on his backpack and explored it for the first time. The two places are very different but the sentiment is the same. We miss our own beds, our cat and, most importantly, our friends and family (did I say cat already?) We've started really discussing how to come back home. It's a little sad because this trip is amazing but are half way through it, so I guess it's time. It's interesting how the everyday, "ordinary" things in life are what you end up missing the most.
Side note:
It has been difficult to make anything we do sound cool after Iceland. We promise we'll stop being boring in Croatia :)
