London, Parts 1 & 2
On the morning we left Paris for London, Mike and I used a taxi to get to the train station from Mark’s home. Mike managed to accumulate more than he could handle (in books and clothes) so I had to carry some of it. Somehow, since my luggage was on wheels, I managed to get stuck with the bag-o-books. It rolled on the handle of my roll-away luggage, but made it quite heavy and uncomfortable.
Long story short -we arrived at the train station cranky, hot, and over-flowing with luggage. Once in line after getting our tickets, but before going through customs, Mike wanted to go outside for a smoke. Not wanting to have to get back into line again, I said I’d stay and he should go without me. He wanted to leave his luggage with me while he went (meaning I’d have to move his 4 bags plus my 3 all on my own). I refused (rather crankily, I’m reluctant to admit) and I think we had our first fight.
Things got better once we got on the train and sat very comfortably for the 2.75 hour ride through the Paris countryside, under the English channel, and into Waterloo Station in London. I’m so impressed at European rail service compared to in the states. Their urban areas are just as dense (if not moreso) yet they have rapid train transit going from city to city/country to country. All we’ve got is the Acela from Boston to NYC/DC…and it barely goes high-speed but for a few miles in Rhode Island.
OK – back to Europe. We arrived in London and hailed a taxi to get us to our hotel in Soho. Leave it to us to do the bulk of our traveling from city-to-city during a heatwave…but that’s what happened. Since the London subway isn’t air-conditioned (and costs around 3 pounds….that’s nearly $6 to Americans) we opted for the taxi.
Their taxis rock. They look kind of like model-T Fords, but they’re huge in back (room for four people facing each other and lots of luggage). Our route to the hotel was complicated by the EuroPride Parade (more on that later) so it took us a bit longer than expected. But we finally checked into the hotel around 1PM (we left Paris at 10:20AM), unloaded our bags and went out to explore.
Now, EuroPride is a roving celebration for Gay Pride and this year it took place in London. We ventured down to the parade and found a shady spot to stand. The parade was much more fun than Boston’s or Paris’s (or San Francisco and Minneapolis, for that matter). People had loads of fun and it wasn’t all church groups and politicans, like Boston.
Later, as we meandered about, we stumbled upon a concert stage at Leicester Square where performers were singing. And it just so happened to be Boy George! Such fun! We stuck around for the next few acts then headed off for dinner (which we had at a yummy little pub – I had my first Yorkshire Pudding).
That night, we walked the streets of Soho (particularly the Old Compton Street). I couldn’t believe the number of people. This event must have attracted at least 500,000 people. Entire neighborhoods were blocked off from traffic and it was an even larger affair than the Fete de Musique in Paris.
As the night progressed, we were both commenting on how much work it would take to clean the streets after this. There were no trash cans about (probably because of terrorism….what with the old IRA bombings and with last year’s subway bombings) so litter filled the streets. I’m talking 2 feet or more of the curb being filled with bottles, plastic cups, flyers, cigarette packages and papers. Nasty.
But most of it was gone by morning. We headed out for breakfast on Old Compton Stree then did some touring: Parliament, Big Ben, Thames. We eventually made it over to the London Eye and managed to go for a spin on that. Then we headed over to Tate Modern museum (apparently, you’re not supposed to use “the” in front). We walked back over Millennium Bridge, then into St. Paul’s Cathedral and back to the hotel.
We had dinner at this place in Soho called Kentner’s (I think that’s the spelling). It was an old place with a few rooms. It looked reserved and somewhat formal, but we were seating in a room with a table of lesbians, a table of older gay men, and a pianist playing Cole Porter songs.
The minute she stepped away for a break, one of the gay men walked over to the piano and started playing. He was really good (and really drunk). Soon, he started doing sing-alongs. Mike and I knew almost none of the songs, but had a blast just the same. One song that went over particularly well was a Monty Python song about sitting on one’s facing and saying you love him/her.
I must say it was perhaps the most enjoyable dinner environment I’ve ever had. Everybody was laughing and eating and drinking and having a great time. We almost didn’t want to leave.
But we did. We had to call it an early night since we were flying back to Boston the next morning.
With a subway system lacking air-conditioning, a heat wave, and Mike’s ever-expanding mountain of luggage (he bought more in London), we used a taxi to get to the airport, which, in the end, only cost slightly more than it would have to take the express train.
It was sad to say good bye to a great vacation. Looking back on all three cities (Paris, Amsterdam, and London), I’d have to say that Paris is still my favorite. It’s just so beautiful. Amsterdam would be a second. Not as beautiful, but compact and charming and so very interesting.
Although I enjoyed London, it just wasn’t as pretty. Although the buildings for government and the monarchy are quite lovely, the rest of the city is such a hodge-podge that it felt chaotic. It’s also such an unbelievably large city and so dense and active (like Manhattan without the hi-rises). I’d go back, but I think I’ll focus my travel on Paris as the homebase – then take trips from there.
So, the two and a half weeks are over….I slept on my own bed last night (ahhhhh)…and I’m ready to go back to Paris.
In the meantime, here are some photos of London. FYI – I’ve edited the photos in my London 2006 Gallery and Paris 2006 Gallery. Although the Amsterdam 2006 photos are posted, they’re still unedited.
I took this photo while on the London Eye. This “capsule”, as they call it, was at the top.
And here’s St. Paul’s Cathedral
Here’s a view across the Thames of the London Eye
I think this was just off Trafalgar Square on EuroPride Day.
Anybody who watched AbFab will know why this photo was taken (Patsy lived above Odd Bins)! This was around the corner from our hotel near Soho.
A traditional English pub near our hotel (we didn’t eat here).
Ahhh – EuroPride. Need I say more?
Once again – I have trouble preventing distortion when posting pictures here. The originals are in my photo gallery (link on right).
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Beautiful pics Karl. I’m glad you’re home safely and that you had fun.
Oh, EuroPride looks great! 🙂 Of course, the weather was just wretched for Boston Pride this year, but there were only three or four brave leatherguys from the Ramrod shaking it stripped to the waist. Boston definitely needs a jolt in the future.
OOOPS – I forgot to mention that we also went to the British Museum on the same day as the London Eye and Tate Modern. We were productive that day.
So here’s the big question . . . after all the last minute stuff, did you come back totally bankrupt? Or were you a kept man and that ever cute Mike help you pay for all the extra parts of the trip that were a “surprise”? Don’t you just love nosy friends? 😉