London Diaries: Volume I

First, a word about reasons for trekking abroad in early April: an international moot court Competition in Vienna with 163 law schools around the world. My route to Vienna includes 2 ½ days in London, Vienna, then to Prague.

After a fun-filled 9 hour flight, we finally arrive at our destination: London. We get off the plane; drag our suitcases around the airport and just before getting on the London tube…wait a minute...what’s this little yellow ribbon on my suitcase? I don’t remember tying that there…. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I got the wrong suitcase. Yes they looked the same, even if mine is navy blue and the one I dragged around town is black. Panic ensues as I contemplate gunning for the double doors leading to the luggage carousels that says “NO ENTRY BEYOND THIS POINT!” After 2 hours of running to different parts of Heathrow, I finally get the right luggage, and off to the tube we go!

We stayed at a hotel in South Kensington (the Shaftbury Kensington, daaahling) we got off at Earl’s Court (mind the gap! As the voice tells you when getting off the tube) and lugged our excess baggage around the charming streets of Kensington, with periodical interruptions of tripping, falling, and screaming over our bags. Our plight must have invoked deep sympathies of nearby construction workers, as they (about 4 men), decided to take our bags for us to the hotel (God bless them!). Sounding charming with their English accent, they tell us that we chased away the rain and brought the sunshine, for this is the first day in a long time where it's not raining in London. *sigh* ah Londoners, I fell in love with them right then and there.

After unpacking and finally figuring out how to turn the lights on in our hotel room, we three gals headed towards Trafalgar square and Piccadilly Circus for some night sightseeing. Walking past enormous statues, old fashioned telephone booths, and cars driving on the “wrong” side of the road, off in the near distance was Big Ben, lit up under the blackened London sky, half hidden behind various buildings with histories I only wish I could remember. Off to the side of the road was Sherlock Holmes pub. As an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, I was more than happy to indulge in an evening of food and beer at the pub.

Styled according to the sleuth’s books, Sherlock Holmes pub serves beer on the first floor and food on the second. The restaurant has a very “Holmsian” feel to it, with a section of the room a recreation of Sherlock Holmes’ study filled with Holmes paraphernalia from his novels. As for food? I had fish and chips with mushy peas (I couldn’t resist having fish and chips on my first night in London), Maria had the steak and ale pie, and Sondra had toad in a hole (two sausage links in pudding (pudding is just a bread crust, much like the crust on chicken pot pies) drenched in gravy). Not a big fan of malt vinegar, I timidly asked the waiter if they carried tartar sauce (remembering my bouts with the Italian waitress in Florence). With a quizzical look on his face, he responded, “tartar sauce? What’s that?” resulting in me red faced (oh god I just committed a cultural feux pas) and him laughing heartily at me saying, “of course we have tartar sauce, just a moment.” Ah Londoners.

Dinner was fantastic. Mushy peas looked just like mashed potatoes, except it is green in color and tasted like peas, which created tremendous cognitive dissonance in my mind as my synapse were expecting the taste of buttery potatoes. After dinner we walked around Trafalgar square some more, asked about Phantom of the Opera tickets at Her Majesty’s Theater in Piccadilly Circus, and tubed back to our hotel room.

Lovely, Lovely day.