Encore! - London, UK

Wow, I need to get off my butt and update more often. It's been over a month (over 7 months...) since I've last logged my travels... jeebs. Since then I have gone to a few nice places and can't wait to write about them!

Let's start off with the next overseas I went to after Seoul.

Remember I made a to-do list when I go back to London? Well lucky me, I was able to fly out there again back in April.
I deadheaded to Calgary and worked with a very nice Calgary crew. We worked on the Airbus 330 (one of my favourite planes) and the economy cabin was pretty much half full ... so it was nice and sweet :).

I was the float position, which I found to be my favourite position for overseas flights, because you get a taste of both executive and economy. It also keeps you really busy which makes time go by faster ;)

Nothing much to say about the flight, except that it was nice and smooth. It wasn't rainy this time when we arrived, and I knew exactly what my schedule was for this layover. I made sure that it would be much more productive compared to my first London layover.

When we arrived at the hotel, all the rooms were assigned to us already, and when I opened the door........... AGAIN I got stuck with 2 single beds. I wasn't having none of that, so I called concierge and asked to change my room. Luckily, the swap was quick and this room didn't smell of smoke. Plus, I asked for a travel converter in advance, so I was ready to roll.

Stop #1 - Borough Market, Tower Bridge
I ran to Baker Street, got my day pass and headed on over to London Bridge. The first place I stopped by was Borough Market... and I fell in l o v e..............

Chutney, Preserves, Piccalilli!

Since it was the weekend, there were crowds of people in and around the market. There were oodles of samples and it was nice to see so many local produce. I was totally ready to buy some piccalilli and chutney, but had no currency. I was even willing to risk going through British customs for this....! It was that good.

After the market, I walked towards the bridge. It was actually quite far even though I could see the bridge.. and when I finally arrived, I was starving. I took a few shots and wanted to quickly tour Buckingham so I can go to M&S for some grub.

Tower Bridge from afar

Buckingham Palace was amazing - like everyone, I wanted to catch a glimpse of Prince William & Kate... fat chance? haha

The golden gates were very pretty closer up, and I can definitely see how the Brits could get into the Royal Family so much. I even saw Kate's replica rings... and they look gorgeous on your finger! I was tempted but not that tempted to get one ;)

Buckingham Palace

Shopping is always delightful in London. Last time I went to Knightsbridge, and barely could afford anything. This time I went on my to the famous Oxford Street.

Oxford Street is definitely in a twenty-something's budget. It's a very long street of stores, boutiques and department stores offering a vast array of anything. Notable stores include Primark, Selfridges, M&S, River Island, and Uniqlo.




I would say besides Harrod's being located in Knightsbridge, I enjoyed shopping on Oxford much more. I have heard about how you can easily get pickpocketed in Oxford Street and I can see that. The streets are crowded at any time of the day, so watch your belongings, zip your bags and keep your passports close to you!

Some tea & crumpets? - London, UK

London was not my first overseas trip - it was actually Hong Kong, but due to some unfortunate circumstances, I wasn't able to take any pictures. I hope to visit (or maybe live there!) soon, and when that time comes, I will definitely give HK its deserving post.

But for now, let's talk British.

This London trip/work was a total fluke. I found out someone had gotten food poisoning and couldn't continue working, so they needed someone quick to fill in (YAY!) I was doing my thing around the house as any on-call flight attendant would when I got a call from scheduling..

"You're gonna be going to Edmonton to work a flight to London, then working back to Toronto, staying there for a bit and deadheading home."

Ok, sounds like an ordinary pairing.... I was naive to think that it was London, ON and not London, UK until I checked my schedule in detail. Oddly enough, I wasn't screaming in joy either; it wasn't a place that I was DYING to go see, but I've always wanted to visit once in my life, and it was a perfect opportunity!

**

???

Working the flight to London was pretty smooth, since almost half the plane was empty. There were a lot of Punjabi speaking seniors, so I quickly msged my friend for some simple vocabulary. If you're curious, "water" in punjabi is "paani" ;) ...

Now our arrival in London was a bit weird. While we were descending, we were descending in loops (see image) - but nothing crazy happened, so it was ok!



After the arrival, deplaning, etc., the entire crew was tired; we fell asleep while waiting. Hotel bus picked us up, took literally an hour and half to drive to the hotel, booked our rooms and settled for the day.

Being a junior flight attendant and having never seen British soil, I was determined to set out on my own.

The concierge man recommended that I get a day pass and take the bus to stroll around, but little did I know this would be harder than it seemed. NO ONE sold the day passes (I was told to go to a red machine at every bus stop), and those didn't sell day passes... the bus drivers didn't sell them, and told me that the red machines sold them (lies).
I eventually walked my butt all the way to a tube station and got a day pass for the tube instead (yes, in the UK buses and tube tickets are separate).

Big Ben right outside the station

1st Stop - Westminster.
When I stepped out of the station, I was in awe of the Victorian architecture. I was right in front of the Big Ben, and to my left was the London Eye. I snapped a few shots and walked around to admire the buildings. I realize now that I should really take some more pictures..... I literally took 10 pictures in total in UK, and they're not all nice...

I was going to go see the Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, but I thought I wouldn't have enough time to shop so I skipped those... hehe..




 
 
2nd Stop - Knightsbridge.
I've ALWAYS wanted to go to Harrod's. I had a choice between picking Oxford (which had Selfridges!) and Knightsbridge, so I went with the latter.

Knightsbridge at night

Harrod's is HUGE.
Being in such a posh place, I somehow felt like I should have brought my own coat, because the coat for work looked so bulky and unflattering. I browsed through the makeup section, their men's section, handbag section (which by the way... the European brands were naturally cheaper than in Canada & US... I was so very tempted to buy a bag), the dedication area to Princess Di and Dodi, and my most favourite, their market.

Harrod's Market was so neatly laid out in different sections - From fine meats to cheese, a sushi bar to an ice cream parlour... it was heavenly. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I was too busy ogling at the delicious displays of goodness. I had my dinner (smoked meat on pretzel bread, bocconcini salad with lemonade) there and decided to bring back some breakfast.

I left Harrods with a travel tote and a bag full of yummy goodies and ventured out onto Knightsbridge and Sloane street. Checked out Topshop, euro H&M, Burberry, Harvey Nichols.. all very lovely. I also got to eat at my favourite, pret-a-manger, and peeked into a Marks & Spencer food store which they had some more affordable options to choose from. British food is $$$ in comparison to Canada! Even a McDonald's sandwich was approx. double the price.

All in all, it was a nice day trip, and I wish I could have seen more of the sights but I believe I will have another chance at London.
Next time, I will:
     - go visit Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar, Tower Bridge
     - check out Piccadilly Circus
     - visit some local markets
     - go to Oxford for shopping
     - experience an authentic English high tea (I really wanted to, just didn't want to go by myself.)

Any suggestions for my future London visit?

Anyways I wrote a lot - do most bloggers write this much about what happened during their day? Hope you enjoyed my first travel post - I promise to take better pictures. haha

xo

I will also be making a small recommendations and hotel reviews section - hope it helps.

*Recommendations:

- If you do know your way around UK, do take the buses - you can complete your checklist of sightseeing much faster and you can tell everyone that you went on the double decker bus!

- DUTY FREE! - Heathrow has a vast array of duty free stores (Burberry, Tiffany & Co., Mulberry and Harrod's to name a few) and worth buying your goods from at a discounted price.

*Hotel Review (Danubius Hotel Regent's Park) : I actually had to wait to switch rooms cause they gave me a room with 2 single (and they were TINY) beds...... when I got switched they warned me that someone had smoked in the room previously and may smell like smoke... great.

Their rooms were ok, the bed is a bit hard but can't complain. As for the washroom, I really did not enjoy stepping out of the very high tub and almost killing myself. Maybe my room was jinxed, but the sink was also clogged. The hotel also has a limited supply of outlet converters, so request one as soon as you check in. On the plus side, the location is quite nice (near Regent's Park), apparently the rates are alright for when you come on personal trips. The lobby was nice, service seemed to be consistent, not much noise throughout the stay.