I hope I’ll never stop being in awe of this job. Crew scheduling blessed me with another trip to London. I was called from standby so I had no idea until 50 minutes before scheduled departure.
When we got there, two other crew members and I decided to just hit the ground running and head out for the day. One of the girls had never been to London before and with a semi-short layover (only 22 hours), we took her to the big spots.
Buckingham Palace is an obvious must see. I don’t say “must do” because it’s actually a little complicated to tour the palace. When my brother and I visited a few years ago, we thought you could just walk up and get a tour but you actually have to purchase your tickets ahead of time. It was a cold day in London but the sun was shining and made for some beautiful pictures.
After that we walked toward Westminster, where I realized the city has almost zero trash cans on their sidewalks or walking paths. In a city like New York, there’s trash cans everywhere because the city would want people to toss their garbage there instead of on the street. But I walked around for a long time with an empty Starbucks cup before finding a trash bin.
You know you’re getting close to Westminster when you start seeing crowds and crowds of people. It’s a central area for tourists and for good reason. You’ve got Westminster, Big Ben, The London Eye all right in the same area. Nearby you can see the Wellington Arch, walk through Hyde Park, and visit the Covent Garden neighborhood.
We also stumbled across a New Zealand Day bar crawl. A couple hundred people dressed in matching costumes. Kiwis know how to party.
Before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep before the flight home, we stopped by Nando’s, a popular local chain known for their chicken dishes. I’m vegetarian but still found plenty to pick from on the menu. The food was pretty good, but the service was very subpar. Maybe it was the location, but I was not impressed.
Overall, London once again proved to be a dream city where you can walk and walk and walk for hours and always be marveled by what you’re seeing.
Until next time London..
AAdventure Seeker 