After a nice breakfast with the Harris family, (Steven continued to sample English foods, discovering set honey) we discussed books and movies. Rhiannon lent Steven the autobiography of Stephen Fry and let him borrow a Harry Potter audio book, which is also narrated by Stephen Fry. We made it to the train station, said our goodbyes, and had a very hot ride to London. Arriving at King’s Cross Station, the first priority was finding platform 9 ¾. Seeing as we arrived on platform 9 we thought this would be an easy task. After wandering around a bit we decided to give up. We stopped walking to turn the other direction when we noticed a sign in front of us, “Lost? Are you looking for platform 9 ¾?” Apparently, others had done the same as us and probably in annoyance at the tourists’ need for directions someone at the station had posted the sign with detailed map on how to proceed around the corner. After a quick stop at the site and a photo we headed to the underground.
The owners of the bed and breakfast we would be staying at gave us excellent directions and for the first time on the trip we found the place in one try. The owners were very pleasant and instantly commented on our young age, which seems to be a typical remark when we check in. We have discovered that bed and breakfasts (called pensions in Germany) are the way to stay in Europe and UK. The rates are cheaper than a hotel and the accommodations and way better than at a hostel. The biggest benefit, however, comes from the interaction with the owners. The owners are always able to provide the best information for site seeing and traveling. They also provide a historical insight to the area and are very friendly. Breakfast is included with the stay and they put the US continental breakfast to shame. Besides the offering of cereals, breads, jams, and yogurts, the owners will cook up a full English breakfast if you wish. After dropping our bags we headed back into central London when The Hunger struck. I, in my zombie-like state, was of no use so I passed the handy Rick Steve’s guide off to Steven and he was able to decide and navigate us to our restaurant, The Opera House. It is a hidden restaurant on the second floor of a building, so it was not a touristy place but a typical English pub. After a delicious meal of meat pie and bangers and mash, Steven surprised me by ordering dessert, a raspberry sponge pudding. With The Hunger abated we set off to wander. We managed to walk past Big Ben, Admiralty Arch, Parliament, St. James Park, 10 Downing Street (kind of, it’s all blocked off now), Government ministries, and the Horse Guard. One of the highlights of Steven’s day was when we walked through Trafalgar square and saw all of the monuments there. Thinking I had recognized the historical figure on the top of the large and impressive column in the middle of the square, I asked Steven “Is that Napoleon?” Steven couldn’t hush me quickly enough, and after scoping out the area to make sure no one had heard my offensive remark about Lord Nelson, he went on to explain that this was possibly the worst place in the world to confuse the two men. Oops. We walked to Leicester Square to see the Harry Potter movie but it would be playing too late, so we had ice cream and decided we would need to come back. We made it back to the B&B for a little R&R.
Signing off,
Snoozing Steven and Lounging Lib