Showing posts with label london 2004. Show all posts
Showing posts with label london 2004. Show all posts

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Home from London

Sat Oct 30 14:23:02 EDT 2004
Hi all! Last night in London--I am really itching to get back home!! Going to go to sleep soon... in a couple of hours, even though it is still afternoon in Boston. Then, I have to wake up wayyy early to get to the airport and get my flight back HOME! WHEEEEEEE. Miss you all--hope you all got my post cards! :) See you all soon!

You can see my London 2004 Photo Album.

London 2004: Day 8, Last Day

Just shopping and relaxing before returning home... had lunch at Yo, Sushi! inside of Selfridges, my favorite department store.

Friday, October 29, 2004

London 2004: Day 7, Tower of London

Woke up late due to too much partying the night before. Had Indian food for lunch... yum!. Went to the Tower of London where we saw the Crown Jewels of England.. 500+ carat diamonds and everything... it was insane and really amazing. Walking around the towers was very interesting--to think that they started building it in 900 and it is all still there... and you're just sitting on the bench next to it. :) Pretty cool stuff. Anyways, decided to come back to the hotel... was still tired. Then, went to Wagamama again for some yummy noodle soup.

London

Fri Oct 29 19:09:09 EDT 2004
Okay... so where did we leave off? We went to Cafe Pacifico in Covent Garden for my birthday, where we shared an entire pitcher of mango margarita... and it was NOT a small pitcher. It was one of those big plastic pitchers that you normally server water out of. We started out with some enchiladas: lobster and mango, some chicken one, some brie one with mango or papaya. And I had this sampler type platter that had a beef taco, chicken enchilada, and cheese quesadilla. Yum, it was sooo good... and, I guess we had drinks for dessert too--I had some type of vanilla liqueur. :) Mexican food in London, go figure.

Thursday: Woke up and actually made it to the British Museum. :) Had a light lunch and walked around... took a bunch of pictures, saw the Rosetta Stone--how cool is that?! It's all so very interesting, but being that the museum is so insanely huge, I predominantly visited the Egypt, Assyra, and Greece halls. Then, took a walk through Covent Garden and onto Picadilly Circus, where we did some shopping. Thought about going to see a movie, but instead went to Fortnum and Mason for traditional English tea! Fortnum and Mason is this huge, super-posh department store, known for their food hall. I bought a selection of teas and jams and marmalades. :) Anyways, we went to their restaurant on the top floor where we had afternoon tea for an hour and a half! (See my London Phone Picture Journal). Bottom up, there were sandwiches: cucumber, ham and cheese, chicken and taragon, and salmon. The next tier had scones: fruit and plain, with clotted cream and jam. The top plate had little cakes: a lemon tart, chocolate cake, chocolate eclair, and fruit tart. When it comes, it doesn't look like much at all... but it was a lot! And then, some more shopping and tried to walk the tea off. Walked up Bond Street... designer shopping mecca! I had to take a picture in front of the Chanel store. :p I didn't go in to any of the shops though... I can get that stuff back in the States (and for cheaper). Thursday night, went out... to some bar, and then another posh and trendy bar called Denim where the bartenders were rather cute, and then we went to some other bar/club thingie... well, that was a lot of fun. :)

Friday: woke up late due to too much partying the night before. Had Indian food for lunch... yum!. Went to the Tower of London where we saw the Crown Jewels of England.. 500+ carat diamonds and everything... it was insane and really amazing. Walking around the towers was very interesting--to think that they started building it in 900 and it is all still there... and you're just sitting on the bench next to it. :) Pretty cool stuff. Anyways, decided to come back to the hotel... was still tired. Then, went to Wagamama again for some yummy noodle soup.

As for the rest of the trip, I'm just relaxing now (Friday night) and going to finish up some shopping tomorrow... then, I leave early Sunday! It's been fun in London--it is a bit huge and sprawling, which kind of sucks. But, I really can't wait to get back home to Boston!! :) Sucks I missed all of the Red Sox games... I tried to watch, but fell asleep every single time. :p I even left the tv on until 4am during game 4 and woke up periodically to check the score. :) Well, I can come back and watch the Patriots... And, I'll have to have an English tea party when I get back as well.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

London 2004: Day 6, British Museum

Woke up and actually made it to the British Museum. :) Had a light lunch and walked around... took a bunch of pictures, saw the Rosetta Stone--how cool is that?! It's all so very interesting, but being that the museum is so insanely huge, I predominantly visited the Egypt, Assyra, and Greece halls. Then, took a walk through Covent Garden and onto Picadilly Circus, where we did some shopping. Thought about going to see a movie, but instead went to Fortnum and Mason for traditional English tea! Fortnum and Mason is this huge, super-posh department store, known for their food hall. I bought a selection of teas and jams and marmalades. :) Anyways, we went to their restaurant on the top floor where we had afternoon tea for an hour and a half! (See my London Phone Picture Journal). Bottom up, there were sandwiches: cucumber, ham and cheese, chicken and taragon, and salmon. The next tier had scones: fruit and plain, with clotted cream and jam. The top plate had little cakes: a lemon tart, chocolate cake, chocolate eclair, and fruit tart. When it comes, it doesn't look like much at all... but it was a lot! And then, some more shopping and tried to walk the tea off. Walked up Bond Street... designer shopping mecca! I had to take a picture in front of the Chanel store. :p I didn't go in to any of the shops though... I can get that stuff back in the States (and for cheaper). Thursday night, went out... to some bar, and then another posh and trendy bar called Denim where the bartenders were rather cute, and then we went to some other bar/club thingie... well, that was a lot of fun. :)

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

London 2004: Day 5

Woke up, and went to St. Paul's Cathedral... Then, took the tube to Picadilly Circus, where we first went to a pub, and then lunch at Wagamama's, a Japanese noodle soup place, which is quite modern and lively. Then we walked around Carnaby Street and up Regent Street towards Oxford Circus. We walked down Oxford Street more, with the intention of going to the British Museum.... but we were just too tired so we came back to the hotel... and that is where my story pauses for now. I saw a whole entire Muji store--this really cool Japanese stuff. And, there was an Urban Outfitters!!! :) Not nearly the same as Boston... but whatever. There were so many people out and about today--tuckered me out. :p

Okay... so where did we leave off? We went to Cafe Pacifico in Covent Garden for my birthday, where we shared an entire pitcher of mango margarita... and it was NOT a small pitcher. It was one of those big plastic pitchers that you normally server water out of. We started out with some enchiladas: lobster and mango, some chicken one, some brie one with mango or papaya. And I had this sampler type platter that had a beef taco, chicken enchilada, and cheese quesadilla. Yum, it was sooo good... and, I guess we had drinks for dessert too--I had some type of vanilla liqueur. :) Mexican food in London, go figure.

London Cell Phone picture journal

Wed Oct 27 18:26:04 EDT 2004
Check out my London Phone Picture Journal.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

London 2004: Day 4, Oxford

Took the "Oxfood Tube", really a bus, to Oxford, where my friend Holly went to school. We grabbed some McDonald's in the morning... I ordered a sausage and egg McMuffin... and the guy responded, "You want to know how much it is?", and I said, "No, I want one." Hehe... I guess they don't expect an American accent? Anyways, then we got to Oxford, walked around a bit... saw Trinity College and the Bodliam Library (where any book with an ISDN number has to be). We had a major curry chicken sandwich (must have had half a jar of mayonnaise in it) at Heroes... this small sandwich shop. Then, we started a little pub crawl... had some cider and wine, that was quite nice. The pubs were: the Goose (rather modern pub), the White Horse (a very small, traditional student pub), and the Turf Tavern (a larger tradition pub where we spent most of our time). Then, we were really hungry, so we went to Zizzi, an Italian restaurant with very nice thin-thin crust pizza. :) Yum!


Sunday, October 24, 2004

London 2004: Day 3, London Eye

We went to the London Eye--this huge ferris-wheel (but does not go nearly as fast) observation thing... it is across the Thames from Big Ben and Parliament. It was a great view of London. After that, we went on a walk through Westminster... seeing Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey. I had fish and chips at a pub... and then we continued walking to Covent Garden. Where we had tea and dessert... sticky toffee pudding! :) Then, we tried to find something to do in the evening, but just went to a pub for a couple of drinks and came back to the hotel.





London 2004: Day 2

Went out for dim-sum at Harbour City restaurant in Chinatown (just north of Picadilly Circus-- and walked through that area a little bit). Then, we met up with Holly's friend again, walking throught Green Park and St. James's Park. We also visited Buckingham Palace and walked through a lot of Hyde Park. Then, I went to buy postcards... had to find the cheapest post cards.. they were 15 for 95 pence. Then, it was raining, of course, and had Thai food at the Eat Thai restaurant.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

London 2004: Day 1

My friend Holly arrived, then we walked around Oxford Street (the main shopping street that my hotel is on). We had lunch in Momo, inside the huge department store that takes up a whole block. Selfridges. Selfridges is by far my most favorite store (better than Harrod's). Harrod's is just over the top--where Selfridges is pure, simple shopping. :) Then, quite randomly, Holly and I met up with one of Holly's friends and had dinner at their new "flat"-- their flatmate cooked us dinner... quite nice... but weird.


Greetings from London!

Sat Oct 23 04:07:58 EDT 2004
Greetings from London! Well, I had a crappy first day traveling wise... but everything is all settled now. :) Actually started to relax a little... took a walk outside... prices for clothes aren't that bad at all! Hehe, I think it's because most of the clothes are lower quality... but they still look nice. Anyways, I won't be buying any clothes for myself. *snap*--Should have totally brought my uGg boots... oh well. :) Seems like pink is really in here--good that I have like 4 pink shirts and sweaters with me. :)

I went to this really really huge babystore--and found some very cute things that I might get for little mui-mui and gummy. :) Kid's clothes are small enough to pack.

I'll have sporadic internet access here... It's funny--I have to essentially fix the internet access in the rooms... For example, I got this room, which had the (I assume DSL) modem plugged in to the hotel's fax port... so, it just did not work. I switched it to the phone port--and it worked. The room I had before... the phone jack was all messed up! There was a hole where the jack should have been in the wall... I tried to explain this to the people--and they said that it was just not turned on in my room. One lady from reception came up and I showed her--but I don't think she got it. Oh well... everything has worked out now... so, I am happy.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Leaving for London

Thu Oct 21 10:57:55 EDT 2004
I LEAVE FOR LONDON TODAY!!! My flight is at 7pm-ish... and I will be in London at 7am-ish!! Yay! I can't wait. :) I'll probably be online...

Books
DK Eyewitness Travel City Map London
Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide to London
Rick Steves' London 2004

Websites
http://na.visitlondon.com/index.html