A Great Weekend in London

Trip Start Nov 08, 2009
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Trip End Dec 15, 2009


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Where I stayed
Clive's Pad
(London hotels)

Flag of United Kingdom  , England,
Saturday, December 12, 2009

Another tour of a new, unique and interesting country was winding to a close.  As I left India, I certainly had a new appreciation for its 1.2bb people and their their food, social customs, religions, struggles and drive.  What one of the country's founding fathers, Jawaharal Nehru, had noted over half a century before was still true today: the country was as diverse in its geography - towering mountains to plains to beaches and deserts - as in its citizens.  I now knew that the people of India could not be stereotyped, as they spoke thousands of different languages and dialects, had both fair skin and blue eyes and dark skin and brown eyes and worked as doctors and IT gurus in big cities as well as farmers and chai wallahs in tiny towns.  Each had an individual sense of pride in his/her own heritage, whether hailing from the fields and mountains of SE Asia, the deserts of the middle east or even the plains of central Asia.  Altogether, though, Indians were a people who greeted you with a smile, welcomed you generously to their villages or homes and were pround of who they were
Ethiopian Dinner With Clive
Ethiopian Dinner With Clive
.

Once again I had also met a handful of great people from not just India, but from around the world that I hoped to stay in touch with. While I was excited to head back west to see
"old" friends and family and enjoy the creature comforts of my own home/city, I would miss the company, conversation and friendship of those I had met in India.


Day 1 Post-Tour (Dec 12): Delhi to London

~3:30am came way too quickly and hot water wasn't yet working in my hotel room (so no shower), but my taxi to the airport was on-time and made it to Delhi's airport in 35 mins

~Taking advantage of free access to the business lounge at the airport (all of that previous travel for work paid off in the end), I had a filling breakfast and coffee before heading to board my flight to London

~Other than having a rather large Indian woman and her baby (which she changed in front of me while at our seats!) sitting next to me and nonchalantly extending well into my seat on the plane and often jabbing me w/ her elbows [note to readers: thanks for letting me vent], my flight was non-eventful and passed quickly with the help of a little wine and several recent Hollywood movies (Time Traveler's Wife, Postgrad and The Hangover)

~Arriving awake and mostly alert in the UK, taking the Heathrow Express train then the Tube to Kings Cross Station, where my friend Clive (who was my great roommate during my tour/trek through Nepal earlier this year) met me and showed me the way back (all 5 mins on foot) to his flat

~After brushing my teeth and showering, deciding to fight my sleepiness and tough it out the rest of Friday by exploring London with Clive

~Enjoying a good jerk chicken burger and pint at a neighborhood pub before heading out on a Tube ride then walk towards the South Bank area of London, past St
Harrod's Streetfront
Harrod's Streetfront
. Paul's, the Globe Theater and to the Tate Modern museum (where I not only learned of a few new eclectic modern artists, but also that most museums in London are free of admission)

~Walking in the cold night (much cooler, especially with the wind, than N India) along the Thames, past cafes, pubs and even markets selling books, maps and Christmas decor and crafts

~Warming up briefly at a local Tapas restaurant/bar (boy did I miss red wine in India!) with Lynn, one of Clyde's friends, before heading to dinner at Addis, an Ethiopian restaurant serving tasty spicy chicken, vegetable and beef fare on a large "pancake" called injera

~Welcoming the sight of Clyde's fold-out sofa/futon shortly after dinner and quickly calling it a night for 9+ hrs of solid sleep


Day 2 Post-Tour (Dec 13): London

~After catching up on a few sports games and news at Clyde's flat, taking a breakfast of a granola bar and a breakfast shake as we headed out to explore London again via Tube and foot

~Window shopping and then browsing the numerous fancy and sometimes exotic food departments at the world renowned Harrod's dept store on Knightbridge (whose Christmas window display theme this year was a sassy version of the Wizard of Oz)

~Trekking past Buckingham Palace and waving to Big Ben/Parliament and Her Majesty's Theater (think Phantom of the Opera) before making a brief stop at the Texas Embassy Cantina (site of the actual Republic of Texas embassy in London) near Trafalgar Square

~Shopping at the local supermarket (Sainsbury's) for the rest of the ingredient's for tonight's Sunday duck roast to be cooked at Clyde's building's basement community kitchen

~Heading down the street to a local church to enjoy a beautiful performance of two of Mendelssohn's compositions by the all-string orchestra of one of Clyde's violin-playing friends, Amy

~Joining Amy, Will and two of Clyde's other friends after the concert to warm up with hot mulled wine and pints at a local pub

~Heading back to Clyde's flat to prepare a festive dinner of carrots, potatoes, sprouts, onions, stuffed roasted duck and even pigs in a blanket (in which the "blanket" was thick bacon and the "pig" small sausages)

~Much enjoying with Clyde, Will, Amy, Amy's roommate (Jen), and Clyde's flatmate from Norway (Jonas) a great meal, warming red wine, stimulating conversation and even the end to Britain's version of American Idol called "X-Factor" (our favorite contestant, Joe, was the winner in case you were wondering) before having to call it a night so Clyde's guests could catch the Tube home before it stopped running at midnight
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