London Trip

When did we go….

• Sep 13-19, 2024

 

Why did we go…

• we hadn’t been away since early January and wanted to explore London more thoroughly than the two previous times when I only spent 1-2 days there

 

How did we get there…

• 8 hour direct flight on Westjet
• 45 minute train ride to the Liverpool station and then a 15 minute walk to the hotel

 

 

Where did we stay…

Hoxton in Shoredtich

• good walking access to the Shoreditch area

• boutique hotel with a very eclectic and fun atmosphere
• very popular spot for people to hang out and work at
• numerous food and beverage amenities
• had a leak in the lobby on our first night, which created two impressive (not for the hotel) showers
• we moved out after three nights as it was very noisy and a bit far from the core of the city

Grand Hotel Bellevue

• boutique hotel nestled in amongst other hotels on a quiet street on Norfolk Square in the Paddington district
• we hoped that we were arriving at a quieter hotel, but they were doing a major reno on the building beside our room, and they also moved subway cars into storage somewhere underneath the hotel, which added to the noise factor
• well-appointed hotel with small rooms without a desk, but I was able to hunker down in the lounge as my de facto office
• near Hyde Park and lots of fun areas to explore
• also a short Uber ride to the other core neighborhoods of London

 

 

Where did we eat…

• Gloria (lunch, Italian food, cool vibe including a couple with two French bulldogs)

• Llama Inn (dinner, rooftop patio at our hotel, great city views, very good food)

• Dishoom (lunch, popular Indian restaurant that we had seen on the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil, great service and food)
• Cecconi’s (dinner, excellent food, very fun server)
• Pho Vietnamese Street Food (lunch, decent food, quick and easy)
• The Brush (dinner, upscale dining but average service and food)
• The Lucky Cat (dinner, Gordon Ramsay restaurant, amazing Asian food, beautiful ambiance and excellent service)
• Les Filles (breakfast, nice quaint spot on a side street that our friend ‘Phil’ recommended
• Poppies (lunch, quaint London pub, great fish and chips)
• ROVI (dinner, exceptional food and service, another Somebody Feed Phil recommendation)
• JUSU Brothers (breakfast, amazing Asian inspired cuisine, beautiful ambiance and great service including our server from Montreal)
• The Churchill Arms (lunch, historic London pub, interesting that the chow was Thai but very good)
• The Palomar (dinner, Israeli theme, unique dining experience in a small restaurant with predominantly bar seating, great small plates but fast service to get us on our way)

 

 

What did we do…

• checked out the Shoreditch area, which had an eclectic and fun vibe (Redchurch Street, Brick Lane, Spitalfields Market, Regents Canal – fun walking along seeing all the riverboat houses, Columbia Road Flower Market)
• walked around the Hyde Park area (well maintained historic buildings with beautiful architecture)
• went to see the play Hamilton (amazing theatrical performance other than being hard to make out all the words, a historic venue that opened in 1911)
• checked out the usual tourist districts of Covent Garden, Soho and Westminster (enjoyed Gordons Wine Bar, walking along the Thames, Leicester Square, Chinatown, Piccadilly Square and shopping on Jermyn Street)
• cruised the Notting Hill and Kensington areas (famous Portobello Market street, Notting Hill bookstore, cool colored flats, Kyoto Garden/Holland Park, The Designer Museum, chatted with an elderly ‘property manager’ for a fantastic property, Kensington Palace and the bordering street with all the embassies and other amazing properties)
• enjoyed after drinks at Sawyer Arms at the end of our block, observing many unique people

 

 

Background:

• London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom
• 9M residents in the city and 15M in the wider metropolitan area, making it the largest city in the UK and third largest in Europe
• situated on the River Thames in southeast England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea
• the city has been a major settlement for nearly 2000 years
• its ancient core and medieval center, the City of London, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries
• it is the most visited city in Europe
• the diverse culture encompasses over 300 languages
• it is the only city to host the Summer Olympics three times

 

 

What did we not do that is on the agenda for next time:

• go to a football match
• check out more neighborhoods in London
• see more plays as they are known for their vibrant theatre scene
• check out more museums and historic attractions
• venture out to some of the towns/cities near London and perhaps up to the Langley Moor area, where my mom’s family is from

 

 

Final thoughts:

• London is seven time zones ahead of Calgary

• the weather was pleasant, with highs in the mid-twenties and lows around 8 C
• it was a bit of a last minute getaway but quite an easy trip with the direct flights
• we avoided any major amount of jet lag, but Mare caught a bout of vertigo that knocked her down for two days
• the Shoreditch area is thought to derive from the Old English term ‘Spoersditch’ meaning ‘Sewers Ditch’, however, many believe the name was attributed to Jane Shore, the mistress of King Edward IV, who died and was buried in a ditch in the area
• there are vintage stores everywhere in the Shoreditch area
• you have to be super careful walking around crossing streets as it seemed like pedestrians were fair game for motorists, motorbikes and all the Lime bikes
• had a few fun experiences:
• the first was with a gal that I told had to pay me 100 British pounds to borrow a chair from our table and she said ‘how about a smile’…what a great line
• another occurrence was walking along a street in Notting Hill and an elderly gal asking me if I was Tom Patty (who she used to work with) with which I was not but it is ironic that my dad was named Tom and my mom was named Pat
• the final one was that during a trip to the loo I noticed that my underwear brand was Sunspel which I have no idea where I got it from but five minutes later we walked onto Jermyn Street and came across a Sunspel store which has been around for over 160 years with a very interesting brand history including supplying 007 with many outfits