We went to London and it didn't rain!... that much

On one of the few Swiss long weekends, we caught some cheap Easyjet flights across the channel to visit London, a place neither Jenny nor I had been before. We were struck by many things while we were (t)here, but let me just say straight-away, as I write this on our last day here, my brain is really struggling to know which way to turn my neck when we cross the street...

We wound up going with a hotel here, rather than an Airbnb. Both have advantages over the other, for certain situations. In general, I think Airbnb can be a better value play for longer stays, or when you have a few people that would have required multiple hotel rooms. The use of a kitchen in an Airbnb can help save some coin on these occasions as well. Lastly, Airbnb can give you a better feel for local culture, given that you are staying in a real home and not a cookie cutter room. However, for shortish stays for just one couple, when eating out is part of the plan, the luxury offered from fresh towels and daily bed-making can be quite appealing.

We stayed at a place in Kensington near the Earl's Court tube stop. From here, we struck out most mornings on walks of varying lengths, avoiding transit costs while our feet were fresh. We decided to start with the free things to see: the British Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and checking out the Royal Parks. Normally we were quite tired on our feet by the afternoon and went back to the hotel to regroup, and do some reading/writing (or coding, in Jenny's case) at a coffee shop in the afternoon. Evenings were spent walking around some more in search of tasty eats and getting more street vibes. Here are a few impressions of things we took in (primary inputs were through our eyes and mouths).

British Museum: We were struck by the sheer volume of things to see here. Highlights were the watch exhibit, an exhibit of a naturally mummified man who was a few thousand years old (and still had hair on his head!), the Rosetta Stone, and sculptures from the Parthenon in Greece. It was interesting to see the legalese used by the Brits to justify having so many treasures that are not native to the British Isles. In particular, the incredible sculptures taken from the Parthenon, which were deemed so valuable as to "transcend national borders, making them mankind's treasures, rather than Greece's" (paraphrased slightly).

Just a snapshot of all the Greek sculptures and friezes on display at the British Museum.

Incredible Egyptian (above) and Assyrian (below) statues.

The most popular attraction: the Rosetta Stone.

Deliciously Ella: We stopped by the restaurant of the popular kitchen book author and tasty health treat personality "Ella"!

Museum of Natural History: It was really incredible to witness of sheer volume of what is on display at this museum. We really enjoyed the bird exhibit, exhibits about humans and genetics, and of course Jenny's favorite, the elephants!

Hyde Park: huge park in the middle of the city near our hotel with tons of trails, forests, monuments, gardens, etc. 

Using Fancy Bathrooms at Hotels: A new trick! Act confident and you can use some of the nicest bathrooms in town in the hotel lobbies!

The Tower of London: Our one paid attraction! If you aren't familiar, Tower of London is a historic castle located on the north side of the River Thames. It was built nearly 1000 years ago (about 1066) as part of the Norman Conquest of London. It served as a royal residence initially and has had many roles throughout history, such as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. It surprised us to learn that the Tower was used as a prison as recently as the two world wars, where 12 men were executed there for espionage! The Tower was damaged in the second world war by the Blitz, subsequently repaired, and then opened to the public. Today it is one of the countries most famous tourists attractions and still home to the Crown Jewels.

Overall we really liked London! The trip came about 5 months after moving, and it felt just a very little bit like we had gone home for a visit. From our observations, the contrasts to our way of life back in Canada are much less striking in London compared to Lausanne. The architecture reminded us of some of the architecture in the old parts of Hamilton and Toronto (which we are very partial to - we love red brick!). We also enjoyed the ease of communication with strangers and restaurant/hotel attendants and caught ourselves eavesdropping in on peoples conversation (a privilege you don't have when you don't speak the language well!). We still needed to exercise the language center of our brains a little bit and picked up a few English words: rubbish, loo, jumper, chips, biscuit (instead of garbage, washroom, sweater, french fries, etc). We also enjoyed going into familiar stores that aren't in Switzerland: WholeFoods, lulu lemon, J-crew, etc.

June turned out to be a very busy month as a week after London Jenny went off to a conference in Sweden for a week and then two days later we turned around and met my parents in Amsterdam for about 2 weeks of holidays and travels around. More on that in the next post!