Welcome to London!

Well we have arrived in London after a really short but sleepless transatlantic flight. And by we, I mean myself and my good friend and permanent travel partner, Leah. So here is a summary of the past two days, which has really felt like one very very very long day for us.  

This picture is of us before we took off and transformed into disheveled, jet-lagged hot messes. 

Best part of the day: We were unable to do a lot today but we did cross one thing off our list and that was to see a musical. We got tickets to see "Once" which I had only vaguely heard about but decided it was worth a shot since the tickets were half price. With moderate expectations, we were very surprised at how great this musical was. I have been to quite a few musicals and this one was different in that there is not an orchestra of instruments but the actual stage actors are the orchestra and play their instruments on stage throughout the performance. It was quite an incredible experience and we both really loved the songs and creativity of it. You can see in the picture below that the actors play songs before the show starts as audience members get drinks at the bar that is part of the set. It was a really unique experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in musicals. 

Pre-show warmups:

Date night:

**Leah's best part of the day is the four cups of coffee and a five hour energy shot she consumed to make it through the jet lag. 

Worst part of the day: since this day was mostly devoted to traveling, the worst part has to go to our trek from the airport to our hotel which totalled about 3 hours.  Since we are frugal (sounds better than cheap...?) travelers, we opted out of the £50 private car ride to take the £5 tube to our hotel. Sounds pretty easy and I'm sure it is for most unless you are lugging a medium suitcase, carryon suitcase, and a "personal item" which really doubles as a carryon, all while hiking up and down the stairs for the tube.  Leah decided she had to make two trips after almost taking a guy out with one of her bags.  Those 360• spinners have a mind of their own.  This sojourn was made more treacherous by our pitstop in Leister Square to buy tickets for a West End show and to pick up our travel passes. Nothing screams "tourists!" like two girls each carrying 70+ pounds of luggage through London's version of Time Square whilst frequently trying to read a map. So I think in retrospect, £50 is a small price to pay for an air-conditioned ride from the airport straight to your hotel.  Btw we are staying in a lovely (and super wealthy) part of London at the Gardens Guest House. So even though our journey to the hotel sucked, the neighbourhood is worth it: 

My future house 

Or I'd even settle for one of these condos:

I think Gio would enjoy walking down this street: 

Best thing we ate: We ate a late lunch at a local pub called The Washington near our hotel. I was not prepared for how delicious pub food could be. We decided to split the fish & chips and order a pan fried chorizo on focaccia. Both were extremely delicious and definitely devoured.  Oh yeah, and some coffee. 

Totally making this in the US:

Best discovery: There are two discoveries I would like to share. First, London has a T.K.Maxx which is (obviously) their version of a T.J.Maxx but much more organized and with way high end designers like Versace and Alexander Wang.  Leah also discovered retail self-control she didn't know she possessed when she said no to a £70 pair of silk Alexander Wang pants. #maxxinista 

The second discovery is also a helpful trip for any future travelers.  When we were checking into our flights at the airport, we needed to change our seats so that we could be next to each other for the transatlantic flight.  Upon looking at the available seats, we decided to take a chance and choose a seat on either end of the middle aisle so there was an available seat in between. The hope was that no one would want to choose a middle seat and if we were lucky, we could have extra room. It totally worked and I think we both benefited from not being so cramped the whole time. 

#winning #lookatallthatspace #stilldidntsleepwell

Most awkward moment: I did not witness this firsthand but Leah relayed her experience back to me and I think it's worthy of awkward moment status.  Let me preface this story by saying that we: a) have no idea what the proper tipping ettiquette is for London* and b) cannot easily discern which of the seven coins is worth what.  Keeping this in mind, Leah goes to the bar at the theater and orders a glass of Prosecco and tips the bartender what she assumed was £1. When she got back to her seat, she told me the bartender looked very perplexed at this gesture. After reviewing the coins, she discovered she had actually tipped him a tenpence, which by American standards is an insult. Whomp whomp. And too many coins, Britain. You need to reign that in a little. Although I do have to admit, I love the paper notes. 

*we have since researched proper tipping and we aren't expected to tip at bars. #crisisaverted #yourewelcomebankaccount 

Best quote:  Leah: "How do you like my British accent? I know it's good, right?" (In all honesty, it's quite a stretch). Also I'm pretty sure I mentioned how hot it was about 100 times today since London is experiencing a "heat wave" of 75 deg with 65% humidity and I have yet to find a building with AC. Sorry bout it. It's freaking hot.